The Red Sox Saturday, March 14, 2020

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Baseball matters become inconsequential as Red Sox, MLB stare down long delay

Peter Abraham

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy, chief officer Chaim Bloom, and general Brian O’Halloran took questions from reporters for nearly an hour on Friday afternoon.

None of us asked about how the final two spots in the rotation will be filled, whether the roster might include a third , or if has started to swing a bat.

What would be the point? Baseball questions have been rendered meaningless as sports are covered through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic. Everything now is logistics, timetables, and what could come next.

We heard about being disinfected over three days starting on Saturday, and that the Sox will consider some kind of plan to support their game-day staff if they start missing work.

The team even has its own coronavirus task force. The only topic that’s important is dealing with a national emergency.

Sox officials were careful to say that public health and the well-being of team employees were paramount in their thinking, and certainly everybody understands that.

But people also want to know when they can expect to see a baseball game at Fenway Park or on their television again.

Sports may be trivial, but take them away for even just a few days and you realize how important it is to have something like baseball to look forward to, if only to shut your mind down a little bit.

“We know a lot of people out there look to sports and look to the Red Sox for a distraction, for a pick-me- up during tough times,” Bloom said. “It pains us, all of us in the front office, our staff, our players, that right now we’re not going to be able to provide that.”

It’s not going to be any time soon, either.

On Thursday, it appeared that teams would hunker down at their sites and continue to prepare for the season. That changed Friday after a meeting in Arizona that included commissioner Rob Manfred and Players Association chief .

Now players have a choice to stay at their spring training locations, go home, or go to their team’s home city. The Sox, like other teams, will want to know where the players are going and how they’ll get there.

“We’re in the process of figuring that out,” Bloom said.

The Yankees, according to reliever , voted unanimously to stick together in Tampa and work out as a team. It’s not yet clear how the Red Sox will approach it.

The Sox players met on Friday morning, well before the agreement was made to let the players go home if they wanted.

That the players are being allowed to go home strongly suggests that there is little chance of the season starting after only a two-week break, which is what MLB suggested was possible on Thursday.

It’s clear that some kind of mini spring training will be needed to get players ready to play once there is a date for .

“Certainly we’re talking a few weeks. But how long exactly may depend on when we’re able to start up again,” Bloom said. “There will still be a need for build-up.”

The only baseball matter that came up was whether would start throwing again to test the condition of his left elbow. He will, sometime in the next few days. The Sox need to figure out whether he will need surgery.

But even that seemed inconsequential given the other questions.

Kennedy was asked at one point if any person in the organization had been tested for the virus. It hasn’t come to that yet, fortunately. A few people were sent home sick, but none with symptoms that suggested they need a test.

“But we are realistic,” Kennedy said.

That will be the next step in this fast-moving story, how baseball reacts when a player or contracts the virus. It seems inevitable given the circumstances. MLB players come from across the world, and a typical spring training roster at this stage has 45 or so players.

If even one team is directly affected, that could push the season back even more.

“This is unprecedented,” said Bloom, who has a wife and two children he’s concerned about. “We’re all doing the best we can with it.”

Red Sox leadership addresses suspension due to coronavirus: No one sick yet; players are welcome to leave

Julian McWilliams

FORT MYERS, Fla. — The recent coronavirus outbreak has sent much of the country into operation shutdown.

Major League Baseball joined the rest of the major professional sports leagues Thursday afternoon with its decision to suspend spring training and two weeks of the season. On Friday, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, and general manager Brian O’Halloran outlined how the team will press forward.

“None of us here at the Red Sox have ever lived through anything like this,” Kennedy said via conference call. “Hopefully we’ll never have to experience anything like it ever again. When these things happen, there’s no script, there’s no playbook. For the Red Sox right now, we’re guided by one thing, and that’s public safety.”

The organization met with players Friday morning to map out what’s considered a fluid plan. At that time, it was unclear if players would be allowed to go home if they chose; the league and the MLB Player Association granted them that opportunity later Friday. If players decide to stay, they can utilize the JetBlue Park facilities, with no restrictions as of this point relating to on-field workouts.

“Obviously we’re going to continue to intensify all the precautions we take to make sure this is a clean and safe environment for everybody,” Bloom said. “It’s a new situation for all of us. We wanted to make sure that we were keeping everybody informed. We’re all adjusting on the fly here as we learn more about what this means for the country and what this means for our industry.”

The sudden halt also puts a stop to the players’ progression. Nate Eovaldi, for instance, had at least two more Grapefruit League starts. The work stoppage will set not just him, but all the back. Once the Sox can resume play, Bloom acknowledged that there will once again have to be a build-up process, or, in simpler terms, a second spring training. He thinks it would take the players a few weeks to get back into playing shape.

Particularly for the pitchers, it will be tricky.

“This is one of the tougher questions every club is going to have to answer, because a lot of preparation for the season is usually working backward from a known and defined start date, and we don’t have that right now,” Bloom said. "[Pitching coach] and our other staff have been communicating with players on this. Given the news today that we know some players may choose to leave, that might change the guidance a little bit. It will be different, case by case.”

Chris Sale still hasn’t thrown. This layoff might give the Red Sox a bit more time to determine if he’s healthy enough to take the mound this season.

“Right now for Chris, strictly from a medical perspective, nothing really changes with that because we knew that he would be unable to pitch in a game for a while,” Bloom said. “Obviously there’s uncertainty over his pitching status generally, and we’re still going to want to resolve that. We’re still going to want to progress him.”

Back in Boston, the Sox are taking every precaution necessary. They have told workers, with the exception of security, to stay home, and said they have hired Aramark to perform a three-day deep cleaning of Fenway Park.

The MLB season is currently scheduled to begin April 9, when the Sox are slated to play the at their place. Not only is that date a stretch, Washington has a ban on events with more than 250 people through the end of March.

Regardless of when the season starts, Kennedy said MLB has a soft plan in place to make up lost games.

“The current thinking is that MLB games missed before the schedule starts will be added on at the end of this season,” Kennedy said. “Subject to change, but [that] means the regular season would be pushed into October.”

Kennedy added that the club has thought of every scenario, including playing in empty stadiums.

“We’ll see what happens,” Kennedy said. “Certainly no firm plans. Obviously we’ll have to be in agreement on whatever plan we come up with. Whatever final plan we come up with, there needs to be a mutual understanding with the Players Association. I’m confident everyone will pull together.”

* The Boston Herald

Red Sox players cleared to leave spring training facilities due to coronavirus

Steve Hewitt

As the Red Sox come to grips with the ongoing coronavirus crisis that’s put the pause button on the sports world, they’re not unlike any other team or league.

Simply, there’s not much clarity about how they proceed from here.

“Clearly an unprecedented period in our world’s history, certainly in our country’s history,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said on a conference call Friday. “None of us here at the Red Sox have lived through anything like this and God willing, hopefully never have to experience anything like it ever again.”

Concerns over the coronavirus global pandemic have accelerated rapidly this week, particularly in the sports world, where joined several other leagues in suspending operations. Spring training was suspended indefinitely and the start of baseball’s regular season pushed back at least two weeks due to the national emergency.

Within the Red Sox, there are naturally still far more questions than answers.

“Obviously when these types of things happen, there’s no script, there’s no playbook,” Kennedy said.

Everything, right now, is revolving around safety. After having an off day in Fort Myers on Thursday, the Red Sox met together as a team Friday morning for the first time since the news. By the afternoon, MLB and the Players Association had agreed that players would be allowed to leave spring training to go home or wherever they feel comfortable going if they so choose. If they didn’t want to leave, they would be allowed to stay in Fort Myers, where the facilities would stay open to them.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom called it a “developing situation” that remained fluid late into Friday afternoon and night as the organization worked with players and communicated with them about the next steps.

“We’re trying to make sure that that happens in a safe and orderly manner,” Bloom said of players potentially leaving camp for the time being. “This is a new situation for all of us. We wanted to make sure that we were keeping everybody informed, that we were available to them to answer any questions, but we’re all adjusting on the fly here as we learn more about what this means for the country and what it means for our industry.”

Bloom said he didn’t have a sense yet of how many players are going to stay or go. But there are several concerns as players potentially leave. In the midst of a pandemic, sending players home to other places around the country and the world as the disease continues to spread could present issues.

“It’s definitely a concern. That’s one of the things we’re talking through,” Bloom said. “Obviously, it’s not just about the country where they’re from. It’s about making sure that we’re respecting everyone else’s safety in arranging travel. Even though we have no reason to think that anybody here is infected, you want to make sure you’re doing things safely.”

It’s still unclear how exactly the players will train during the off time, which will last at least a month. In Tampa, players on the Yankees voted unanimously to remain there and work out together. But for the Red Sox, it will depend where they want to go and Bloom said each player is a case by case basis on what they need to do to stay ready. If they choose to stay in Fort Myers, the expectation is that there won’t be any restrictions on what they’re able to do at the facility.

Uncertainty about when the regular season will actually start also represents a difficult challenge. Spring training is designed to be long to allow players, particularly pitchers, to build up to get ready for the season. But without a real idea of when Opening Day will be — MLB is delaying it at least two weeks, but it could be longer — it’s almost impossible to accurately prepare.

Bloom said it would take at least a “few weeks” to ramp back up again, but even then, it will depend on how long the players would have been down for. That won’t be known until MLB determines the Opening Day date, which could take a long time.

“This is one of the tougher questions every club is going to have to answer because a lot of preparation for the season is usually working backward from a known and defined start date and we don’t have that right now,” Bloom said. “And even having the tentative date of two weeks into the season with the uncertainty surrounding that you don’t want to a full gallop too soon and then have to hold that if the season doesn’t start then. It has been something we have had a lot of conversation about.”

However they proceed, though, Bloom made clear that the organization’s priority in a time like this is safety.

Red Sox president expects MLB to make up games lost due to coronavirus

Jason Mastrodonato

Eventually, the Red Sox expect that all 162 games will be played.

The start of the Major League Baseball season has been delayed “at least” two weeks due to the coronavirus, but that timeline seems generous. It’s hard to imagine games starting back up anytime in April, given the upward trends of confirmed cases and medical experts’ projections going forward.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said during a conference call Friday afternoon that all players are now free to go home. When the coronavirus dissipates enough to allow them to return, they’ll need another few weeks to train before the regular season could begin, by Bloom’s estimation.

At this point, playing games in May seems like a stretch.

Opening Day was supposed to be on March 26.

But because of the fluidity of the situation, MLB has announced no firm plans on how it will handle the games that are missed. The Red Sox are expecting to play all 162.

“The current thinking in MLB is that the games will be added on the back end of the schedule, but it’s subject to change as the situation develops,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said. “We have not cancelled any of these games. We’re looking at rescheduling.”

If the games started on May 1, that would leave an extra five weeks of regular season games to be played starting after the season ends on Sept. 27. That would put the start of the playoffs sometime in November, and games sometime after Thanksgiving, assuming a normal playoff schedule.

It’s difficult to fathom, given the serious nature of the virus. As it is, MLB may have kept its slate of exhibition games alive too long.

The Red Sox were not “entirely comfortable” doing it, but continued to host three spring training games even after the country’s leading health organization said it was unsafe for older adults to gather in public places, Kennedy said Friday.

It was last Thursday when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its website to announce all older adults and anyone with underlying illnesses should avoid crowds and “stay home as much as possible” to best avoid the coronavirus.

But MLB continued packing folks into stadiums in Arizona and , where many of the fans in the area are retired. The Red Sox packed about 10,000 people in JetBlue Park three more times after the CDC’s advisory last Thursday, playing games on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday.

Kennedy was asked why the team felt comfortable with the decision to keep playing games.

“I wouldn’t say that anyone was entirely comfortable,” he said. “As soon as we learned of the virus, it set off a viewing of uncertainty. However, we followed the direction of CDC and the WHO and Major League Baseball’s guidance with respect to precautions and steps and measures to take in Fort Myers.

“We determined that it was safe and OK to go forward at that time. But obviously the situation has changed and deteriorated rapidly, so we adjusted on the fly as you saw yesterday.”

While MLB took action to keep players away from reporters starting on Tuesday, they didn’t suspend exhibition games until Thursday, a week after CDC posted its advisory.

Friday, the Sox announced they closed JetBlue Park to the public through at least Sunday. The park’s closing will affect all fans, media members and family members of players and staff. Players are still welcome to show up.

Going forward, the Red Sox are uncertain when play will resume, but Kennedy said there are options being discussed.

“Every different scenario has been discussed,” he said. “We’re talking about having games in spring training facilities to ramp back up because there may be some states on lockdown. Playing games in empty stadiums has been discussed as well. Certainly no firm plans, but just about every variety has been discussed and obviously there will have to be agreement on whatever plan we come up with.”

There also needs to be a mutual understanding with the players’ association and local governments.

“The country and the New England region, we need that distraction,” Kennedy said. “And it’s important that we’re all working toward that goal.”

The Red Sox have already asked their Boston-based employees to work from home amidst the crisis.

As of now, they have no confirmed coronavirus cases among their employees or players.

“We’ve had folks that we’ve sent home who have not felt well and we’ve been encouraging people to stay away to the extent they don’t feel well,” Kennedy said. “But right now, we do not have any positive tests.

“But we are realistic that, given what’s happening in Boston and Massachusetts, it feels like a sense of inevitability that we’ll have a positive test from either someone who has been at Fenway Park or a member of our front office family.”

Red Sox close JetBlue Park to public, players still welcome

Jason Mastrodonato

Due to the coronavirus, the Red Sox have closed JetBlue Park to the public through at least Sunday, the team announced.

Players are still welcome to attend and can use the facility, but there are no formal workouts being held, according to a team spokesman. And there are no inter-squad games being played.

The players and staff were scheduled to meet at the complex on Friday to discuss how to proceed going forward.

The park’s closing will affect all fans, media members and family members of players and staff. The park is typically open daily during the spring for fans to attend, free of charge. Dozens, sometimes hundreds, often line the cages of the practice fields watching batting practice, fielding practice and simulated games.

Members of Red Sox leadership have yet to take questions from reporters on their plans.

The club announced that an update on the remainder of spring training will be provided no later than Sunday.

MLB announced on Thursday that they’d be suspending spring training games for the foreseeable future and the start of the regular season would be delayed “at least” two weeks. The season was scheduled to start on March 26.

The Sox issued the following statement to season-ticket holder son Thursday night:

“The health and safety of our fans, players, and employees is of paramount importance. We thank them for their patience and support during this unprecedented time. We support Major League Baseball’s decision to suspend Spring Training games and to delay the start of the 2020 regular season. Effective immediately, all Fenway Park and JetBlue Park tours and events are suspended until further notice. We hope our fans and everyone across the country remain safe as we all work together through this challenging time.”

Spring training season-ticket holders will be issued a credit on their account that can be used for spring training games in 2021. Individual game tickets will be refunded.

* The Providence Journal

Baseball matters are secondary for Red Sox executives

Bill Koch

As of Friday afternoon, no member of the Red Sox organization had tested positive for the coronavirus.

That was the most important takeaway from an hour-long conference call with Boston president/CEO Sam Kennedy, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and general manager Brian O’Halloran. Health is paramount in their current daily discussions, placed ahead of other matters like resuming spring training, a possible date for Opening Day and Major League Baseball’s intention of playing a full 162-game season.

Kennedy spoke from his office at Fenway Park. Bloom and O’Halloran were on site at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla. The immediate direction of the organization was the topic of conversation, and it had nothing to do with eventually cutting down to a 26-man roster.

“None of us here at the Red Sox [has] ever lived through anything like this,” Kennedy said. “God willing, hopefully we’ll never have to experience anything like it ever again.”

Players were given the option to return to their homes in a Friday meeting. JetBlue Park and its training facilities will remain open to them but closed to the public through at least Sunday. Major League Baseball issued a statement later Friday night formally suspending all organized spring training activities.

“It’s been agreed that our players can leave if they choose to and go home or go wherever they need to go,” Bloom said. “We’re trying to make sure that happens in a safe and orderly manner. We’re working on that as we speak.”

Boston has taken several steps to monitor members of its organization. The Red Sox formed an internal coronavirus task force on March 4, implemented new travel and facility cleaning procedures on March 5 and restricted clubhouse access to only players and essential personnel beginning on Monday. Boston conducts three internal conference calls per week and participates in an additional two with MLB.

“Right now, we do not have any positive tests, but we are realistic,” Kennedy said. “Given what’s happening up here in Boston and in Massachusetts, it feels like a sense of inevitability that we would have a positive test from someone who had been at Fenway Park or a member of our front-office family.”

The Red Sox have yet to open the facility that houses their Dominican Summer League team. Their minor leaguers are still in the Fort Myers area and were awaiting assignment to their respective affiliates. Those will also be delayed, and Boston would be in a better position to offer assistance to those lower-paid members of their organization at JetBlue.

“This may be the best option for them,” Bloom said. “We want to make sure it is a good option, but also that they have the ability to go other places if they need to. It’s something that we’re working on.”

The Red Sox will conduct a three-day cleaning of their home ballpark beginning on Saturday. Kennedy said “every square inch will be disinfected and cleaned.” Employees began working from home on Thursday and scouts were ordered to cease any airplane travel as of Wednesday.

“Generally speaking, our scouts are at home and will be conducting their work from there through video,” O’Halloran said. “We’ll be in communication with them daily.”

The two-week postponement of the season announced by MLB pushed the Red Sox to April 9 at Seattle. Series at the Blue Jays and Orioles and at home against the White Sox and Rays would be tacked on to the end of the schedule. The current season finale is set for Sept. 27 against Baltimore.

“Obviously, that’s subject to change as the situation develops,” Kennedy said. “We have not canceled any of these games. We’d be looking at a rescheduling, but clearly subject to change as the situation develops.”

Kennedy didn’t offer any specifics but said Boston was committed to financially assisting its seasonal employees in the event that home games aren’t played as scheduled. Fenway Park’s beer vendors and souvenir store workers are part-time and don’t carry benefits from their jobs with the club. New Orleans Pelicans rookie forward Zion Williamson made headlines Friday when he pledged to cover the total salaries of arena workers at the Smoothie King Center for the next 30 days.

“We’re going to do what we can to support all of our employees during this difficult period,” Kennedy said. “We’re all trying to pull together the best we can.”

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker gave Kennedy a late call Thursday and informed him that gatherings in the state would be limited to 250 people or fewer for the foreseeable future. Kennedy has also been in close contact with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh regarding possible home games over the next few months.

Both Baker and Walsh are avid sports fans and, like Kennedy, would like to see the Red Sox on the field as soon as possible.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” Kennedy said. “But I’ll say the larger picture — the enormity of what’s going on in the country and in the world — has taken hold.

“Really, we’ve been so busy just trying to focus on how we take care of our players and our employees that it really hasn’t sunk in yet.”

* MassLive.com

Coronavirus in MLB: Will COVID-19 cause league to freeze rosters? Red Sox’s Chaim Bloom says no directive yet, but there’s reason to believe it will happen soon

Chris Cotillo

Major League Baseball hasn’t officially frozen its clubs’ rosters, but it sure seems like it’s headed in that direction.

Amid a league shutdown caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus in the , it’s unlikely the league will allow its club to make transactions. But so far, teams have not received specific instructions on how to handle their rosters.

“We haven’t gotten that directive in any formal way,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Friday. “This weekend in particular, there’s a lot of issues on the table between MLB and the Players Association and just generally, for the industry. We recognize there’s going to be new developments, not just with the coronavirus but for industry business as well. We’re fully prepared that the next several days are going to include a lot of new information.”

Earlier Friday, White Sox general manager told reporters (including MLB.com’s Scott Merkin) that all transactional activity was frozen, at least through the weekend. With all 30 camps being shut down Friday, it stands to reason that the freeze would last much longer.

The suspension of league activities, which came two weeks before Opening Day, hit everyone at an awkward time. The Red Sox still had 47 players left in major league camp, meaning significant cuts would need to be made before the team set its 26-man roster for the beginning of the season.

Now, like it is everywhere else in America, everything is on hold. Free agents will remain unsigned, veterans with opt-outs likely won’t be able to get out of their contracts and any ongoing negotiations regarding extensions or trades will have to wait. It appears likely Major League Baseball will fully enact these measures in the coming days.

Boston Red Sox coronavirus: game-day employees, part-time workers to be supported in some way, Sam Kennedy says

Christopher Smith

Opening Day at Fenway Park was scheduled for April 2, but it will be delayed because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Major League Baseball announced Thursday it has suspended spring training and delayed the start of the regular season by at least two weeks. But the delay likely will be significantly longer than two weeks as major league and minor league players are being allowed to leave spring training camps to return home to their families if they choose.

Professional sports leagues suspending games throughout the country could have a major impact financially on game-day employees. But the Red Sox plan to support their part-time workers in some way.

“I do want to acknowledge the uncertainty in our front office particularly with our hourly, our game-day staff and other part-time workers," Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said Friday. “We’re a family here at the Red Sox. While we don’t have details worked out with respect to significant issues as we go forward due to moving really fast, we’re going to do what we can to support all of our employees during this difficult period. So we’re all trying to pull together the best we can.”

But MLB also isn’t ruling out rescheduling games on the backend of the schedule.

“As it relates to the games on the front, the current thinking at Major League Baseball is that they would be added on to the backend of the schedule,” Kennedy said. “But obviously subject to change as the situation develops. So we have not cancelled any of these games. We would be looking at a rescheduling. But clearly subject to change as the situation develops.”

Boston Red Sox coronavirus: Fenway Park to undergo three-day cleaning; ‘Every square inch will be disinfected and cleaned,’ Sam Kennedy says

Christopher Smith

Aramark and Servpro will begin “three-day deep clean and disinfecting" of Fenway Park on Saturday morning as the Red Sox respond to the coronavirus outbreak, president Sam Kennedy said Friday.

“Every square inch will be disinfected and cleaned,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy also said all Red Sox and Fenway Park employees, except for security members, have been directed to work from home for now.

“We’re still open for business and we’re just doing it in a way that’s a little bit safer and in line with the recommendations from the health experts,” Kennedy said.

Public tours at both Fenway Park and JetBlue Park have been suspended.

The JetBlue Park facility remains open to players, staff and the medical team. But the complex is closed to media and fans through Sunday.

Governor Charlie Baker called Kennedy on Thursday to tell him he was limiting all public gatherings in Massachusetts to fewer than 250 people.

“That absolutely applies to us," Kennedy said.

No Red Sox players or staff members have tested positive for coronavirus.

“We are realistic that, given what’s happening what’s happening in Boston and Massachusetts, there feels like a sense of inevitability that we would have a positive test either from someone who had been at Fenway Park or a member of our front office family,” Kennedy said.

Boston Red Sox coronavirus: MLB’s 'current thinking’ is to reschedule games on backend but ‘subject to change,’ Sam Kennedy says

Christopher Smith

Major League Baseball announced Thursday it has suspended spring training and delayed the start of the regular season by at least two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak.

But with major league and minor league players now allowed to leave spring training camps to return home to their families if they choose, it appears the regular season schedule will be delayed much longer than two weeks.

What happens to those missed games? Will MLB have a shortened 2020 season or will games be rescheduled on the backend?

“As it relates to the games on the front, the current thinking at Major League Baseball is that they would be added on to the backend of the schedule,” Red Sox president Sam Kennedy said during a conference call Friday. “But obviously subject to change as the situation develops. So we have not cancelled any of these games. We would be looking at a rescheduling. But clearly subject to change as the situation develops.”

The Red Sox initially were scheduled to open the regular season in Toronto on March 26. Opening Day at Fenway Park was scheduled for April 2 vs. the White Sox.

“Every different scenario has been discussed,” Kennedy said. “Talking about having games in spring training facilities as we ramp back up. Or because there may be some states that are on lockdown, playing games in empty stadium has been discussed as well. Certainly no firm plans."

Boston Red Sox have no positive coronavirus cases, but Sam Kennedy says ‘there feels like a sense of inevitability’ that organization will be affected

Chris Cotillo

The Red Sox currently do not have any cases of coronavirus within their organization, team president and CEO Sam Kennedy said Friday.

Kennedy said the club is prepared for the situation if it arises.

“So far, fortunately, we do not have a positive case,” he said. “We are preparing for that as an organization. If that happens, we’ll be ready with our own protocols and with Major League Baseball’s protocols.”

The team’s employees are largely split between two locations: Fenway Park in Boston and JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida. Kennedy and other key decision-makers are in Boston while chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, the front office staff, players and coaches are in Florida. Players were told Friday that they’re allowed to go home or return to Boston if they wish.

Kennedy acknowledged that the Red Sox have had employees who have been ill in recent days and weeks. The club has sent some home as a precaution.

“We’ve got, probably like most organizations, we have had folks that we’ve sent home who have not felt well,” he said. “We have been encouraging people to stay away to the extent that they don’t feel well. We will continue to monitor that."

There are now 123 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Massachusetts, the state Department of Health announced Friday. The rising number of cases has Kennedy preparing for the outbreak to directly impact the Red Sox family soon.

“We are realistic that, given what’s happening what’s happening in Boston and Massachusetts, there feels like a sense of inevitability that we would have a positive test either from someone who had been at Fenway Park or a member of our front office family,” Kennedy said.

Two prominent athletes -- Utah Jazz players Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell -- have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. On Thursday, Major League Baseball suspended spring training and delayed the start of its season by at least two weeks.

Boston Red Sox coronavirus: Chaim Bloom says players are allowed to return home, but they can stay and work out at JetBlue Park facility

Christopher Smith

Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said Friday that Red Sox players are allowed to leave spring training and return home to their families if they choose.

But players also are allowed to stay in Fort Myers and work out at the JetBlue Park complex, which is closed to media and fans through Sunday.

Major League Baseball announced Thursday it will suspend spring training and delay the start of the regular season by at least two weeks because of the coronavirus outbreak. But there is no exact date when the season will resume.

No Red Sox player or staff member has tested positive for coronavirus, president Sam Kennedy said.

Bloom and the staff met with Red Sox players Friday.

“This is a developing situation,” Bloom said. "We had an off day yesterday so this was the first time we were in the same place to talk about this. MLB and the players association had jointly decided at that time obviously we needed to pause games. We needed to postpone the regular season. But for the time being, it made sense for everybody to stay at our facilities while we worked things out and while a lot of details were worked out.

“We’ve just gotten word, and are getting the word out to our players, that since starting to discuss this, it’s been agreed that now our players can leave should they choose to, and go home or go wherever they need to go,” Bloom added. “We’re trying to make sure that happens in a safe and orderly manner. We’re working on that as we speak. For players who want to stay here, we will have the facility available to them."

Bloom said he does not yet have a sense of how many players will return home and how many will stay.

“As we speak, our folks are making contact with them and we want to make sure we know what everybody’s plans are,” Bloom said. “That everybody is accounted for. But we don’t yet have a sense of who will be going where or how many players will want to stay here.”

Coronavirus forces Boston Red Sox to close spring training facility to public, media through Sunday

Chris Cotillo

The Red Sox announced Friday that their spring training facility in Fort Myers will remain closed to the public and all media through Sunday as a result of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The team will not have any games or scrimmages against other teams for the time being.

“This closing includes being closed to the public, including fans, members of the media, and family members and friends of players and staff,” the club said in a statement. “This includes any public or media access to workouts, practices, or intra-squad games. No inter-squad games will take place.”

The complex was open to the media Thursday, when the Sox had an intrasquad game at JetBlue Park. Media members were not allowed into the facility Friday after Major League Baseball suspended spring training and delayed the start of its regular season by at least two weeks.

The Red Sox had a team meeting to discuss their plans Thursday and club officials are expected to hold conference calls Friday afternoon. While the expectation is that players will remain in Fort Myers during the delay, the club has not confirmed any plans for informal workouts.

The club said it would provide an update for public/media access for the remainder of spring training no later than Sunday.

* RedSox.com

Red Sox given choice to leave, stay at camp

Ian Browne

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- On Friday, the first official day without Spring Training following the cancellation of games due to the coronavirus pandemic, some Red Sox players were in the process of making arrangements to get back to their offseason homes.

Others will stay back and continue to get workouts in at the team’s Fenway South headquarters as MLB faces the uncertainty of when the sport will officially start up again.

Given how quickly things were evolving as the day progressed, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom wasn’t sure as of late Friday afternoon how many Boston players would travel home and how many would stay in Fort Myers.

One thing that was emphasized on a lengthy conference call with the media that included Bloom, team president/CEO Sam Kennedy and general manager Brian O’Halloran is that the top priority of the Red Sox is the safety of those who are traveling out of Florida and those who will stay in town.

Players across the league were given the option to leave Spring Training after Friday discussions between MLB and the Players Association.

“It’s been agreed that now our players can leave should they choose to, and go home or wherever they need to go,” said Bloom. “We’re trying to make sure that that happens in a safe and orderly manner. We’re working on that as we speak.

“For players who want to stay here, we will have the facility available to them if they want to stay here and obviously we’re going to continue and intensify all the precautions taken to make sure this is a clean and safe environment for everybody here.”

The Red Sox invited the players to Fenway South on Friday to brief them on the shutdown of Spring Training and at least the first two weeks of the regular season due to the national emergency created by the coronavirus pandemic.

Unlike most other clubs, Boston had an off-day on Thursday, when the news first came out.

“So it was really just giving them that news as we had it,” said Bloom. “This is a new situation for all of us. We wanted to make sure that we were keeping everybody informed, that we were available to them to answer any questions, but we’re all adjusting on the fly here as we learn more about what this means for the country and what it means for our industry.”

From Fenway South to the real Fenway Park, the Sox were doing everything to make sure their work environment is completely safe for when the sport does ramp back up.

“In Boston last night at Fenway, we directed all of our employees, with the exception of our security force, to work from home until further notice,” said Kennedy. “We are still open for business, and just doing it in a way that's a little bit safer and in line with recommendations from the health experts.

“Tomorrow morning at Fenway Park, Aramark and their vendor Servpro will begin a three-day deep clean of disinfecting all of Fenway Park. Every square inch will be disinfected and cleaned. At JetBlue, the facility is closed to the general public, the media and for tours, but as of right now, the facility is still open to our players and staff, who are in a safe environment, with our medical staff on site.”

Though the games are secondary at this point, Red Sox executives look forward to the time when things stabilize enough for the fans to be able to have their team back on the field.

“We know a lot of people out there look to sports and look to the Red Sox for distraction, for a pick-me-up during tough times,” said Bloom. “And it pains us, all of us in the front office, our staff, our players, that right now we’re not going to be able to provide that. We look forward to, as Sam said, being part of the healing process when we can provide it, but public safety is number one, so we have to put this whole thing on pause right now.”

As for when it un-pauses -- whenever that is -- Bloom was asked how much Spring Training he thought the team would need to be ready for the regular season.

“It would be really a guess at this point because I think a lot of that has to do with when that is and how long we’ve been down,” Bloom said. “Obviously, in different ways, our players, while staying safe, are going to make sure that they are staying as ready as possible. Certainly, I think we’re talking a few weeks, but how long exactly, I think may depend on when we’re able to start back up again.”

With pitchers likely to keep their arms in shape whether they stay in camp or not, Bloom doesn’t think they would need a full buildup once MLB is able to reveal a time frame for when the season will start.

“I think that depends somewhat on timing and different guys, what they’ve been able to do during that time pause period,” Bloom said. “Wouldn’t necessarily be starting from scratch like that. There would still definitely be a need for buildup if we’re going to do this safely. Obviously, this is not something for which we have a playbook. We don’t know exactly what the circumstances will be when we get a chance to start up again.”

What is most important, Bloom added, is perspective.

“At the end of the day, to steal a phrase from one of my longtime mentors: Life is bigger than baseball,” said Bloom. “This is really one of those moments. This is way bigger than us, and this is way more important than the game that we play.

“And the most important thing for us is to have everybody’s safety in mind, and to make sure that -- especially being in such a visible industry -- that we’re doing our part, that we’re setting a good example, that we’re doing everything we can to help society minimize whatever damage might come from this pandemic. That’s just way bigger than anything that goes on on the field right now.”

* WEEI.com

Red Sox coronavirus conference call: Players given option to leave spring training

Rob Bradford

Speaking on a conference call Red Sox president Sam Kennedy, Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom and general manager Brian O'Halloran discussed how the organization is proceeding when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic:

- Red Sox players (both in the major league and minor league camps) have been told that they are allowed to leave the team's spring training facility. They are also welcome to remain at the JetBlue Park facility for their workouts while spring training is suspended.

- Kennedy noted that the current thinking is that games lost on the front-end of the regular season schedule will be made up on the back-end, although that plan will be dependent on how many games are lost.

- In terms of whether or not the players will continue to be paid -- with President Donald Trump declaring a national emergency opening the door for contracts to be put on pause -- Kennedy deferred to the commissioner's office which is currently in talks with the Players' Association.

- When asked about scheduling scenarios both for spring training and regular-season, Kennedy said, "There are a number of plans being drawn up. ... Just about every variety has been discussed."

- Starting Saturday, both JetBlue Park and Fenway Park will undergo a complete cleaning as another deterrent regarding the coronavirus.

- Bloom said there hasn't been a formal directive to freeze rosters. "We are fully prepared that the next several days will include new information," he said. He also noted that there are no plans to adjust roster size upon a return.

- According to Bloom, figuring out how pitchers will be ramping back up upon their return is currently a conundrum. "This is one of the tougher questions every club is going to have to answer because a lot of preparation for the season is usually working backward from a known and defined start date and we don’t have that right now. And even having the tentative date of two weeks into the season with the uncertainty surrounding that you don’t want to hit a full gallop too soon and then have to hold that if the season doesn’t start then. It has been something we have had a lot of conversation about. Dave Bush and our other staff have been communicating with players on this. Given the news today that we know some players may choose to leave that may change the guidance a little bit. It will be different case by case. Certainly starters and multi- pitchers it’s a little different from short relievers in term of the time that is required. We’re basically just trying to strike that balance between not letting pitchers getting deconditioned and making sure we’re maintaining some kind of workload. That the ramp-up is not damaging to them. While also making sure we’re not stressing them or overworking them during a time we’re not playing games."

Red Sox news: JetBlue Park shut down through Sunday

Rob Bradford

The suspension of spring training has left baseball in a holding pattern, pretty much living day to day while figuring out the best course of action. This, of course, includes how the Red Sox are approaching things. The following is the latest statement from the team when it comes to what the next few days will look like:

In light of the MLB Commissioner’s decision to suspend Spring Training games and delay the start of the 2020 championship season by at least two weeks in response to the coronavirus pandemic, JetBlue Park/Fenway South will be closed to the public and all media through Sunday, March 15, 2020.

This closing includes being closed to the public, including fans, members of the media, and family members and friends of players and staff. This includes any public or media access to workouts, practices, or intra-squad games. No inter-squad games will take place.

No later than Sunday, March 15, 2020, we will have an update for the remainder of Spring Training.

* NBC Sports Boston

Why Red Sox' Eduardo Rodriguez is one of MLB's best pitching bargains

Darren Hartwell

Whenever the 2020 Major League Baseball season begins, there's a good chance the Boston Red Sox will roll out a making less money than seven of his teammates.

It's a result of Chris Sale's elbow injury that Eduardo Rodriguez is expected to be the Red Sox' Opening Day starter. But Rodriguez quietly has done a good deal to earn that role.

The 26-year-old left-hander went 19-6 with a 3.81 ERA last season over a league-leading 34 starts, serving as the workhorse in an otherwise unstable rotation.

Rodriguez put up those numbers while earning just $4.3 million in his second year of arbitration, fractions less than prominent hurlers Sale, , and .

Tomase: Three Red Sox players who could step up in 2020 In fact, if you expand the scope to all of baseball, Rodriguez has given the Red Sox exceptional value.

With 32 wins since the beginning of 2018 -- fourth-most in MLB behind , and -- Rodriguez has cost the Red Sox just $208,594 per win, by far the lowest among that quartet, per Boston Sports Info.

New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is the only player in the same ballpark as Rodriguez, with 35 wins while making $20.25 million over the last two seasons.

But the 29-year-old just inked a historic nine-year, $324 million contract that will make him baseball's highest-paid pitcher in 2020, so needless to say, his cost per win will jump exponentially.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez still is on his rookie deal making $8.3 million this season and won't hit unrestricted free agency until 2022.

The sixth-year left-hander has a ways to go to become an elite pitcher -- he issued a career-high 75 walks last season and owns a career 1.296 WHIP -- but he's providing exceptional value for a club that's already focused on keeping costs down after trading away Price and .

* Bostonsportsjournal.com

A look at where things stand with the Red Sox as MLB’s shutdown begins

Sean McAdam

Major League Baseball’s decision to suspend spring training and delay the start of the regular season by at least two weeks is, obviously, unprecedented and brings with it plenty of uncertainty.

Since no one — least of all commissioner Rob Manfred, owners or the Players Associations — knows how long the coronavirus pandemic will last and what its impact will be, trying to project the next few weeks (or months) is futile.

Nonetheless, Red Sox CEO and president Sam Kennedy, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and GM Brian O’Halloran conducted a conference call Friday to attempt to address various issues.

The Red Sox have instructed their employees at Fenway Park to work from home for the time being while preparing a three-day-long deep-clean of the ballpark. They’re also working toward having Lee County – which owns their spring training complex — to conduct a similar cleanse of jetBlue Park. The team has also ceased airplane travel for scouts — both those who assess professional and amateur players — and urged them to also work from home and rely on video and other methods for evaluation.

The organization is working toward a plan aimed at addressing payment to part-time and hourly workers at Fenway, but does not yet have one in place. “While we don’t have details worked out, we’re going to do what we can to support all of our employees during this difficult time,” said Kennedy. Meanwhile, Kennedy deferred questions about major league players being paid once March 26 arrives, saying that’s an issue to be resolved between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association. (Players are not paid during spring training, beyond a per diem).

Players — both major leaguers and minor leaguers — will be allowed to return home if they so choose. Players will also be allowed to stay at their teams’ spring training complexes and work out at the facilities, while having access to training and medical staffs.

Kennedy said the Red Sox do not currently have any players or employees who have tested positive for the virus, but added: “But we’re also realistic. There feels like a sense of inevitability that we would (at some point) have a positive test from either someone who has been at Fenway Park or a member of our front office family, but so far we’ve not had any positive tests. But we are taking proactive medical precautions.”

According to Kennedy, the expectation — for now — is that MLB intends to fulfill a 162-game schedule, with the first two weeks (currently postponed) made up at the end of the current schedule, taking the regular season into mid-October, and by extension, the World Series into mid-November. “Obviously, that’s subject to change as the situation develops … but we have not canceled any of those (early-season) games; we’re looking at a re-scheduling.”

With players officially idled for the next month — the final two weeks of spring training and the first two weeks of the regular season schedule — it seems inevitable that teams will have to hold what is, in essence, a second spring training to prepare for the resumption of the season. “We wouldn’t necessarily be starting from scratch,” noted Bloom. “But there would still definitely be a need for a build up if we’re going to do this safely. … The short answer is we don’t know. We don’t know exactly what the circumstances will be when we get a chance. It’s hard to know. We’re all trying to figure this out as we go.”

The most difficult part will be monitoring pitchers during the shutdown. Said Bloom: “This is one of the tougher questions that I think every club is going to have to answer because a lot of the preparation for the season is usually working backward from a known and defined start date and we don’t have that right now. And even having the tentative date of two weeks into the season, with the uncertainty surrounding that, you don’t want to hit a full gallop too soon and then have to hold that if the season doesn’t start then. It’s been something we’ve had a lot of conversation about. (Pitching coach) Dave Bush and our other staff have been communicating with players on this. … It will be different case-by-case. Certainly for starters and multi- inning pitchers, it’s a little different from short relievers in terms of the time that is required. We’re basically just trying to strike that balance between not letting pitchers getting de-conditioned and making sure we’re maintaining some kind of workload.”

The team’s approach with Chris Sale, who was sidelined almost two weeks ago with a strained flexor muscle in his left arm, will not be altered by the shutdown. “Strictly from a medical perspective,” said Bloom, “nothing really changes with that. We knew that he wasn’t going to be pitching in games for a while and we also there’s uncertainty regarding his pitching status generally and we’re still going to want to resolve that. We’re still going to want to progress. We haven’t gotten to that point. But we’re still going to work during this time period, without games, to try to get some progress and some definition on his status.”

According to Bloom, there’s been “no formal directive” from MLB about freezing rosters during the shutdown. But Bloom noted there are some important dates in relation to the CBA — including the option for teams to release players and pay them only a portion of their contracts — for “industry business” this weekend and teams are seeking clarity on those from MLB.

* The Athletic

‘The short answer is, we don’t know’: MLB hiatus logistics uncertain for Red Sox

Chad Jennings

For nearly an hour Friday afternoon, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy, chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom and general manager Brian O’Halloran answered questions during a conference call about what’s happening now and what will happen next as the team responds to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here are 14 things we learned, but fair warning: What we often learned is that many questions don’t yet have real answers.

1. Where are the Red Sox right now and what are they doing? Upon direction from the league, Red Sox coaches and executives met with the players Friday morning and told them they are allowed to go home.

Players don’t have to leave the spring training facility — they can stay in Fort Myers and keep working out at JetBlue Park — but anyone who wants to leave can do so.

Whether at JetBlue Park or at facilities near their own homes, Red Sox players will continue working out even while formal workouts are on pause.

2. Does that apply to minor leaguers as well? The executives said there was no league directive on how to handle minor leaguers — though that might be coming — but the Red Sox gave their minor league players the same option. They can go home if they want. The Red Sox recognize, though, that minor leaguers don’t have the same financial means and might be more likely to stay. JetBlue Park continues to be disinfected as much as possible.

“We recognize, especially as we get into the population of minor leaguers, this may be the best option for them,” Bloom said. “And we want to make sure that is a good option.”

3. Well, then, how many Red Sox are going home? They don’t know. The Red Sox don’t have a final headcount, though they expect to have one soon. International travel is particularly worrisome, partially because the Red Sox don’t want to be responsible for the virus spreading to another country.

For now, the Red Sox academy in the Dominican Republic is closed with no one at the facility, but O’Halloran said that’s typical for this time of year. It’s supposed to reopen at the end of the month, and the Red Sox are still deciding whether it should.

4. So what are the Red Sox telling players to do? It depends on the player. But Bloom pointed out that spring training buildup is usually based upon working backward from a known point in time. Opening Day is usually on a specific date, and so players work to be ready on that exact day.

Right now, baseball has no idea when Opening Day will be, so there’s no working backward. The issue of building and sustaining is particularly tricky for pitchers as teams try to find a balance between sustaining their current status and not overworking for a start date that might be far, far down the road.

“You don’t want to hit a full gallop too soon and then have to hold that,” Bloom said. “… This is one of the tougher questions that I think every club is going to have to answer.”

5. Will some version of spring training start again? Sort of. Maybe. Depends on how long the shutdown lasts, and on what your definition of spring training might be. Bloom said he doesn’t know whether there will be a new version of Grapefruit League games, but he doesn’t expect regular-season games to start suddenly without some sort of buildup. What that buildup will look like is anyone’s guess.

“The short answer is, we don’t know,” Bloom said. “We don’t have enough of a sense of what this will look like when we start up again.”

6. Will players have to start over, building and at-bats? Again, it’s just too early to say, and it depends on how long this hiatus lasts.

“Not necessarily,” Bloom said. “I think that depends somewhat on timing and different guys, what they’ve been able to do during that pause period. So it wouldn’t be necessarily starting from scratch like that, but there would still be a need for a buildup if we’re going to do this safely.”

7. Is it realistic that games will start only two weeks late? When the league pushed back Opening Day, it announced that “at least” two weeks’ worth of games would be suspended. It’s impossible to say whether that will be enough time. It’s all going to depend on the spread of the virus.

“It’s hard to know,” Bloom said. “We’re all trying to figure this out as we go.”

8. Is baseball going to make up the suspended games? For now, that’s the plan. The current thinking, according to Kennedy, is that lost games will be made up at the back of the schedule, pushing the regular season into October and perhaps pushing the World Series into November.

“But obviously subject to change as the situation develops,” Kennedy said. “So we have not canceled any of these games. We would be looking at a rescheduling.”

9. Could rosters be expanded when the season starts? The idea, if players can’t build up as usual, would be that perhaps something like a 30-man roster would help ease workload concerns for a few weeks. That’s essentially what happens during spring training. For now, though, Bloom said there is no indication roster rules will be different when the season begins. But he also said the league has simply not considered that sort of detail.

“It’s reasonable to speculate,” Bloom said, “but there is no indication right now that anything will change (with the roster).”

10. Are teams allowed to make moves right now? Technically, yes. At least, Bloom said he hasn’t been told that rosters are frozen and transactions are off the table. But Kennedy stressed early in the call that a coronavirus protocol is the only thing the front office is working on at the moment. Roster moves might be allowed, but they seem highly unlikely.

11. How often are teams updated on the league’s status? According to Kennedy, the Red Sox created an internal task force nine days ago to handle virus issues, and that group leads an organizational conference call three times a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings). Additionally, Kennedy said, there’s a twice-weekly league conference call to discuss the situation. Those happened every Tuesday and Friday afternoon. There are daily updates and conversations as necessary.

12. What’s happening with Red Sox non-player employees? Kennedy was supposed to be in Fort Myers this week, but he’s still in Boston. Scouts have been told to stop flying and are “generally” doing all of their work from home through video and computers.

As for non-baseball staff, the Red Sox last night instructed all Fenway Park employees — except stadium security — to work from home. Beginning Saturday morning, Fenway Park will undergo a total wipedown by professional cleaning crews.

“Every square inch with bee disinfected and cleaned,” Kennedy said.

Details are not yet clear, but Kennedy said the front office is actively discussing ways to take care of hourly workers who will not be able to do their jobs (and thus, won’t earn a salary) while games are postponed.

“We’re going to do what we can to support all of our employees,” Kennedy said.

13. Are there multiple scenarios in the works, so the league can simply pick one when the time is right? Impossible, Kennedy said. It might make sense in theory — just prepare for a scenario in which Opening Day is delayed two weeks, prepare for another scenario in which it takes three to four weeks, and prepare for a more extreme scenario in which it’s delayed more than a month — but Kennedy said there’s too much involved.

“Given the coordination that will be required with local authorities, governors, mayors — (from) around the country — it’s going to have to be a plan that is put together with a lot of coordination from all 30 clubs and the players association,” Kennedy said. “Unfortunately, it is not as easy as pushing play.”

14. Have any Red Sox tested positive for the coronavirus? The short answer is no. Kennedy said the Red Sox have, of course, had some sick players who have been sent home, but so far no one in the organization has tested positive for the coronavirus. But Kennedy said he’s remaining realistic and “feels a sense of inevitability” that a player, a front office member or someone who’s passed through the Red Sox orbit will test positive.

“We are preparing for that as an organization,” Kennedy said. “If that happens, we’ll be ready with our own protocols and with Major League Baseball’s protocols.”

I’ve seen many shortened baseball seasons, but this one feels different

Peter Gammons

I was walking back through in Glendale, Arizona, around 11 a.m. Thursday, saying goodbye to people who had been reporting to work for a Dodger exhibition game. By and large, they are temporary workers. Some need the extra money, some need what spring training baseball gives them — friendship and games with Cody Bellinger, Mookie Betts and . Many are retired and for six weeks can see major league baseball while paying for medicine and a couple of dinners out.

It was a sad scene, weeks of their lives affected, that made me very sad for their loss. Then I thought of what might happen if baseball ignored the coronavirus, if two people already infected spread what they might not have known was in their bodies to dozens of others, including retirees that show others to their seats, or beer and peanut vendors. A doctor advised me a week earlier to think about employers’ liability and what was likely to happen across the country, the leagues, the stadiums.

“Think of the liability and hence the danger for employers requesting employees report to work and they become infected,” he said. Ticket takers. Clubhouse kids. Vendors. Analytics interns. Then come the $20 million players, not to mention their families. Media members, and their employers.

The NBA, NHL, NCAA, MLB, colleges and universities, public schools and institutions have had no choice but to try to distance potential victims from the masses. Driving here in the Phoenix rush-hour traffic, I heard from a friend at a Florida training camp saying there would be an owners’ conference call and spring training would be closed. Most teams had told scouts to go home. And when I got to Camelback Ranch, it was like a scene from Nevil Shute’s “On the Beach,” turned into an epic film by Stanley Kramer, a post-apocalyptic study of what in 1959 was something we could not imagine.

The bus taking a Dodger B-squad to Mesa idled in the parking lot. Then, little by little, players filtered out to walk to their cars. None seemed to have any idea where they were headed. “My family’s back home, I need to go home in case this takes a long time,” one said. Another said he’d have to find out if he should stay here and be allowed to work out at the complex. The daily housing and food allowances were stopped. The paychecks don’t start until the season begins.

Others clearly wondered what this means to the season they had geared up to hit running in two weeks.

My first spring training was in Winter Haven, Florida, in 1972. There had never been a baseball strike, but the union being built and solidified by future Hall of Famer Marvin Miller and counsel Dick Moss was taking on what the players viewed as a sort of slavery system protected by the reserve clause. We kept hearing they might strike after the games of March 31 over pension benefits and the right to be able to go to salary arbitration if a player chose not to accept what his owner felt like paying him.

The Red Sox played their last game on March 31, 1972, at the Tigers in in Lakeland. Bud Collins, the Boston Globe columnist, and I were prepared for the strike, even if we didn’t really know yet what it would entail. When we drove the 15 miles back to Winter Haven after the game, pitcher , one of the heads of the Players Association, awaited us and explained what it was the players were fighting for; remember, and Robin Roberts had only found Marvin Miller a few years earlier. Even two years after Curt Flood’s challenge to the reserve clause, we did not realize that Miller and Moss were laying a stone-by-stone foundation for the future, first with salary arbitration, then the fall of the reserve clause in December 1975.

A day later, I was on a flight back home out of Tampa. On April 13, the strike ended. On the 15th, the Tigers and Red Sox played at before 31,510. Detroit won, 3-2. The Tigers wound up playing 156 games, the Red Sox 155, and in the clinching game on Oct. 3, ’s Tigers won again, 3-1, before 50,653.

Then there was the spring training lockout in 1976, ended by Bowie Kuhn. The Red Sox were playing in Anaheim on June 11 when the 1981 strike hit, and lasted until Aug. 9. From the time I drove and to the airport to go back to Boston until the All-Star Game in that Aug. 9, it was a summer of the unimaginable; the Rochester Red Wings and the completed their 33-inning game — future Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr. and were participants — and over the summer I lost both my parents. The last time my brother Ned and I talked to our father, his words as we left his hospital room were, “The Red Sox will win the World Series in your lifetimes.” When one is raised in New England, the final words you heard from a father whose greatness was his goodness, one never forgets.

I was at just before the two-day strike of 1985 to see win his 300th game. In 1994, I was in Milwaukee on Aug. 12 when Bud Selig painfully announced the strike, and in a New York courtroom the next March when Judge Sonia Sotomayor ended it.

Unlike March 31, 1972, the rest all made sense to me.

Like March 12, 2020, Sept. 11, 2001, did not. I was in a motel that morning in Bristol, Connecticut, sipping coffee and going online when an AOL instant message popped up on my screen from a friend suggesting I turn on the television, which I did in time to see a plane hit the second tower. We at ESPN were told to go home; the three-hour drive from Bristol to Cataumet, Massachusetts, was suspended animation that kept me thinking about being told that, before I was born, my father was at the organ in St. John’s Chapel at Groton School on Dec. 7, 1941, when news of Pearl Harbor was announced, and he got up, walked in his vestments, bowed before the cross, and went on to confront something a continent and an ocean away.

Baseball confronted the horrors of Pearl Harbor, many heroically by serving the country. Joe DiMaggio, , , Moe Berg, and were among the stars who fought. Two, Elmer Gedeon and Harry O’Neill, lost their lives. One of my favorites, Virgil (Fire) Trucks, might have been a Hall of Famer had he not volunteered.

After 9/11 and a week’s worth of postponed games, there were constant reminders of baseball’s contributions to the restoration. and first come to mind, Derek (Mr. November) Jeter, then and .

In both eras, baseball played significant roles in restoring some of the innocence that helped people survive the horrific reality. In the case of the coronavirus, in time our professional sports can help assuage the fears of being in a crowd. But, for now, and we have no way of knowing how long, a crowd is a threat.

As I walked to my car in the Camelback Ranch parking lot, I passed an elderly man and his wife who were looking for their car. “When baseball gets taken away like this it makes me a little afraid,” the man said to his wife. “For five weeks every spring, baseball brings us back to when we were young. Take it away like this, and we’re left with reality.”

Especially this reality.

* The New York Post

Coronavirus 'would spread like wildfire' through MLB: ex-Red Sox

Justin Terranova

Will Middlebrooks is worried about his friends in baseball.

The former Red Sox infielder explained why he thinks the potential spread of coronavirus could be so dangerous within MLB, which shut down spring training games and delayed the start of the season on Thursday afternoon.

“Hopefully no one in a baseball clubhouse has been infected… that would spread like wildfire,” Middlebrooks wrote on . “So much shared… think about how many guys lick fingers for grip on the baseball… strike 3 and fire it around the infield. This could be bad.”

Middlebrooks, who retired in January, is echoing the concerns going through the sports world after Jazz center Rudy Gobert and teammate Donovan Mitchell tested positive for the deadly virus. Gobert’s positive test Wednesday night led to the suspension of the NBA season, and MLB, NHL, college sports and MLS took similar paths on Thursday.

Players are currently staying with their teams at spring training sites in Florida and Arizona as MLB decides the next steps to take.

Nationals ace offered an ominous warning ahead of MLB’s suspension.

“I think we’d be kind of naive to think that there’s not one player in any one of the camps across MLB right now that has not contracted it yet,” Scherzer told reporters Thursday morning, per MASN. “You’ve got to think here that somebody probably has it. It’s just going to matter at what point now. That’s what kind of the experts are projecting here with this outbreak. So, how are we going to handle that? That’s the direction of the medical experts and how MLB wants to handle that. We’re going to obviously follow their guidance.”

* The USA Today

MLB letting leave spring training as coronavirus delays baseball season

Jesse Yomtov, Gabe Lacques, and Bob Nightengale

A day after Major League Baseball announced it was canceling spring games and pushing opening day back two weeks, baseball has made the decision to let players depart training camp if they desire.

Players were initially left wondering what they would do in the coming days and weeks.

"It’s been agreed that our players can leave should they choose to, and go home or where they need to go," Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said. "For players that want to stay here, the facility will be available.’’

Opening Day was scheduled for March 26 and the best-case April 9 start date now seems to be unlikely as MLB appears to be bunkering down for what could be a lengthy layoff.

Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy said there have been no positive tests in organization, though he feels it may be "inevitable" a club employee tests positive given the preponderance of cases in Boston and Massachusetts.

Kennedy also said MLB is still hoping to play162-game schedule by adding games onto the back end “but obviously things are changing rapidly so it is understood that may not be the case.’’

With starting pitchers nearing the end of their progression toward Opening Day when spring training games were canceled, Bloom acknowledged that building them back up will pose the biggest challenge once MLB determines a season start date.

"This is one of the toughest questions clubs have to answer, since most clubs work backward from a defined start date – and we don’t have that right now," Bloom said.

Kennedy said MLB will consider playing some games at spring-training sites or without fans when the season begins if certain markets remain under restrictions.

"It really hasn’t sunk in that we won’t be playing baseball on April 2nd at Fenway," Kennedy sa. "It’s a new world for all of us."

While no MLB players have publicly tested positive for coronavirus, employee Donovan Mitchell Sr. was being tested out of caution due to exposure to his son, Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell Jr.

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Ted Cox, ex-Red Sox with hits in 1st 6 at-bats, dies at 65

MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (AP) — , the first major league player with hits in his first six at-bats, has died. He was 65.

Cox was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in November and died Wednesday at Hospice Quality Care in Midwest City, according to his son, Billy.

Cox was born in City, played at Midwest City High School and was selected by Boston with the 17th overall pick of the 1973 amateur draft.

“He really enjoyed coming up through the whole Boston farm system,” Billy Cox said Friday. “He got to brag quite a bit that he was coached by Ted Williams.”

Cox made his major league debut for the Red Sox on Sept. 18, 1977, at Baltimore and singled twice and walked off , then singled and doubled against Scott McGregor. The next day at Fenway Park, he singled twice off the ' Ed Figueroa to break the record set by Cecil Travis of the 1933 Washington Senators. Cox grounded out against Figueroa in the fifth inning.

“His record was a big thing. We talked about that a lot,” Billy Cox said. “He was very proud of that.”

Cox hit .362 in 13 games that September, then was traded to Cleveland in the offseason with catcher Bo Diaz and right-handers and for right-hander and catcher .

He spent five seasons in the major leagues with Boston (1977), Cleveland (1978-79), Seattle (1980) and Toronto (1981). Cox hit .245 with 10 homers and 79 RBIs in 771 at-bats over 272 games.

Cox also had the first game-winning RBI in history, a tiebreaking, two- off Dave Lemanczyk in the first inning that put Seattle ahead 4-2 in an 8-4 win over Toronto on April 9, 1980. Game-winning RBI was an official statistic from 1980-88.

After his playing career, he opened batting cages in Oklahoma City, served as Oklahoma baseball director of the United States Specialty Sports Association, and assisted as a coach at Midwest City High School and Oklahoma City University, Billy Cox said.

In addition to Billy, Cox is survived by his wife of 46 years, the former Debbie Pulliam; mother, Ernestine; son Joey; godson Milen Darby; grandsons Carter and Cole; sister Luana Albright and half sister Sydney Gard.

A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday at Barnes Friederich Funeral Home Chapel.