Play ball? Experts send mixed signals on MLB 60-game season
NEW YORK (AP) — Thirty baseball teams from 28 cities, trying to play 60 games each amid a coronavirus pandemic that seemingly hasn’t peaked in the United States.
Plausible? Worthwhile? Unconscionable?
Even among experts, it depends on who's talking:
“Baseball games can work,” said Dr. David Hamer, professor of global health at the Boston University School of Public Health. “I think it's feasible.”
“There are certain sports that are higher risk versus lower risk,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “Baseball is sort of an intermediate risk.”
“I’m very nervous about MLB’s plan,” said Dr. Zach Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University. “It could be a disaster.”
Public health experts have mixed feelings about baseball’s hopes to open its season July 23. There is optimism because of the nature of the sport itself, which produces less on-field risk than basketball, football or hockey. Then again, players and their families face a daunting task staying safe away from the ballpark, especially with teams traveling to and from hard-hit regions, including Florida and Texas.
Unlike the NBA and NHL, Major League Baseball teams won't be sequestered into bubbles — they'll be traveling all around the country.
Most of all, though, there's uncertainty.
“I don’t think you can completely quantify exactly what the risk will be,” Adalja said.
MLB has provided teams with a 113-page operations manual detailing protocols for its pandemic-shortened 60-game regular season.
Players will be tested every 48 hours. Masks and social distancing are a must at all times, except on the field. Backups can watch games from the stands instead of the dugout. No sunflower seeds. No spitting. No licking fingers....
