Dear ESPN: I just wanna watch baseball. If I want sermons, I'll go to church.
So what they are doing (and by the way I'm Ok with) is doing the kneeling thing before the National Anthem but standing for the National Anthem. But who knows how long that will last.
Wow I wish the Dodgers could play the Giants every game this year. They outscored them 17-2 in two games. The Giants look like a minor league team. Dumb plays and errors everywhere.
Verlander might be out the rest of the season for the Astros. Earliest return is a couple of weeks. Arm strain. https://www.foxnews.com/sports/astros-verlander-out-at-least-two-weeks-with-forearm-strain You have to wonder if the short pre-season will have an effect on pitchers. Ohtani for the Angels looked horrible today. Taken out in the 1st with 5 runs on no outs! Kershaw missed his first start with back problems.
Could be the start of bad times for MLB. Cancelled games today due to positive COVID tests, and it's likely some players who elected to play will now stay home (thinking of Mike Trout, whose wife is expecting). The NFL is only 45 days away, so whatever happens to MLB will spill over to them.
MLB made a bad mistake in not going with "hub" cities. They could have isolated 3 cities in the bubble and travel would be a minimum. It seems impossible to have every team going to every city and not have a problem here and there.
And with their expanded playoffs, they also face issues at the far end of the season with weather - cold, rain and snow don't fit well with the sport. At least they won't have to worry about hitting a fan with any foul balls. If it weren't for the fact that a lot of people who really need the money won't make any (food vendors, security, ticket agents, etc.), I'm not bothered by owners and players being able to feel what it's like for the rest of us to have to work for a living.
Right now I'm watching the first NHL game and they did a great job of blocking off the seats and making it not look "empty" They add crowd noises but keep all the sounds of the game. Apparently each team submitted unique sounds for their arena like the sound of the horns and the crowd chants. Honestly it doesn't look much different and after 5 minutes you just forget about it and enjoy the game. But everyone in the NHL is in a bubble for 2 months if they last until the end of the season.
Baseball Analyst Says Cardinals Players Visited a Casino Before COVID-19 Outbreak Hit Team The St. Louis Cardinals became the latest Major League Baseball team to have players test positive for COVID-19, and a broadcast analyst insinuated that a trip to a casino may be to blame. Busch Stadium, the home of the St. Louis Cardinals, is located within a mile of two casinos. Baseball broadcaster Jerry Hairston, Jr., claimed Cardinals players recently paid a visit to a casino before a COVID-19 outbreak hit the team. (Image: BallparksofBaseball.com) Former major leaguer Jerry Hairston, Jr. made the claim Saturday on Twitter after news that the Cardinals game that day against the Milwaukee Brewers would be postponed. The Friday contest between the two squads was also postponed after the Cardinals learned Thursday players tested positive for the coronavirus. The Cardinals tests come after the Miami Marlins saw their season suspended earlier this week after testing discovered that more than half the team had contracted the virus. A few Marlins go to a club & now hearin a few Cardinals went to a Casino? That’s not following protocols,” Hairston tweeted. “#MLB Players are furious cause 28 other teams have worked hard to follow guidelines.” An MLB press release Saturday indicated that two St. Louis players initially tested positive, which led to the league testing the entire team. That round of tests on Friday uncovered one more possible positive from a player. On Saturday evening, MLB announced a doubleheader scheduled Sunday between the Brewers and Cardinals has been postponed. The Marlins outbreak also affected the Philadelphia Phillies, who hosted the Marlins during the outbreak. Philadelphia is expected to resume play on Monday at the New York Yankees, while the Marlins could get back on the field as early as Tuesday in Baltimore. No other teams reported positive tests on Friday, MLB announced. Casinos by Busch Stadium Where might Cardinals players have visited a casino? On Wednesday, when the initial Cardinals tests led to the positives, St. Louis was wrapping up a two-game series in Minnesota, where tribal casino gaming is allowed. However, none is located in Minneapolis near the Twins field. Prior to that, the Cardinals opened the season at home with a three-game series last weekend against Pittsburgh. Two casinos are located within a mile of Busch Stadium, Lumiere Place Casino and Hotel in downtown St. Louis and the newly rebranded DraftKings at Casino Queen across the Mississippi River in East St. Louis, Ill. Both casinos have reopened under their respective state government’s guidelines, which include operating at reduced capacity. COVID-19 Impact on MLB Betting Unlike the NBA and NHL, which are using bubble systems where players and staff are staying at restricted hotels and cannot leave without permission, Major League Baseball is allowing teams to travel within regions to play a truncated 60-game schedule. Prior to the season starting, David Main, the head of US sports trading for BetMGM, told Casino.org, COVID-19 could have a drastic effect on betting lines. “I’m expecting there to be some fairly significant price movements on the games each day around player news… Not to mention that impact a positive Covid-19 test may have on a team, particularly if multiple players test positive,” Main said. The news of players testing positive has led to some people wondering if MLB should stop play entirely or even go so far as cancel the season. Commissioner Rob Manfred shot down any thoughts of suspending the entire season in an interview ESPN on Saturday. However, he added that COVID-19 may keep teams from playing all 60 games by the time the regular season ends on Sept. 27. “We’ve got to be flexible on that,” Manfred told the Associated Press. “Look, this is one of the reasons that we revisited the issue off the expanded playoffs. If it turns out that some guys play 60, some guys play 58, they have this new thing called winning percentage. We can sort that out.” Teams not playing a full 60-game schedule could effect some futures bets made on total wins for teams. Some sportsbooks stipulated the bets would only be valid if the team played all 60 games.
If the season couldn't get any weirder..... The Marlins are in 1st place! If they never play another game will they win the pennant? Image Unavailable, Please Login
The Mets are Chanel # 5 compared to the Phils... why don't we just save ourselves a lot of trouble to end this misery now?
Cubs at Cardinals weekend series cancelled. That's a shame as it's one of baseball's great rivalries. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/29615086/cubs-cardinals-series-opener-postponed-another-positive-coronavirus-test
Dodgers off to a great start with a league leading +55 run differential. No one even close. The Dodgers offense is pretty amazing. And a good chunk of the reason is Mookie Betts who is playing lights out. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Well, the Red Sox sure miss him. The Yankees are about to beat them yet again. I heard that the Red Sox are 3-24 in their last 27 games against New York and Tampa Bay. That's no way to try and win your division.
3-24 is real. This whole thing is almost 1/2 over and the Sox are already out-it's more than Mookie. Maybe it's Price? Kidding Snell looking real good against the pinstripes right now. Tampa vs Dodgers? Braves vs Yanks? Yanks vs LA (Angels) kidding again
There was a serious incident at Fenway Park when a fan fell 37 feet from his seat above the Green Monster. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login The attending physician said fortunately he is a cardboard cutout and should be fine with a few weeks rest.