Public Comment

It is time to pull the plug on Major League Baseball. From the beginning, I suspected from the beginning that the reopening of the pandemic-shortened Major League Baseball season would be short-lived. Given the raging pandemic, MLB was unwise to reopen in the first place.  

I cannot think of anything more non-essential and out-of-place as professional sports. It’s become an article of faith that having baseball back would be a morale booster to society suffering from the virus. This assertion is self-serving and overstated. MLB just didn’t want to miss its $10+ billion in annual revenue. 

Although, players are in sort of a bubble, a bubble that disappears once the players leave the stadium. It is clear that the MLB cannot keep its players safe. Fifty-eight Major League Baseball players tested positive for the coronavirus upon reporting to their team, while an additional 13 tested positive after workouts began, according to data released by MLB on July 24. And at least 14 members of the Miami Marlins and their staff have tested positive for the virus in recent days. And each passing day, we learn about new players testing positive. 

Now the National Football League is planning games as does the Pacific-12 Conference. The PAC-12 plans September 26 openers with a 10-game, conference-only football schedule even though four conference schools are in California and two in Arizona, states with raging infections. Are the players going to wear masks when they face each other across the line of scrimmage? And forget about social distancing. 

Let’s get the pandemic under control before reopening sports.