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While Major League Baseball didn’t specify it was considering playing all games in Arizona to start the 2020 season, players and coaches reacted to the reports the state was being discussed.
Putting all 30 MLB teams in the Phoenix area and playing in one of the city’s 11 empty ballparks is a plan that had been tossed around, according to reports from the Associated Press and ESPN. MLB said Tuesday a one-site plan had been discussed, but nothing was going to be set in stone until health officials gave the clear for sporting events to happen, even with empty stadium seats.
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Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Brett Anderson tweeted a part of ESPN’s report on the plan, which read that players may not be able to see their families for at least four months while sequestered in Arizona.
One unnamed New York Yankees player also expressed his wife was concerned about him being away from his family for months at a time.
“I'd have to hear a lot more about the plans for these issues,” the player told the New York Daily News. “I want to get back, but my wife wasn't exactly excited about the idea of me going away for four months. I don't like the idea of not seeing my baby for that long either.”
Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale, who is on the mend recovering from Tommy John surgery, added: “I don’t know if I could look at my kids just through a screen for four or five months. Same thing goes with my wife. That’s a long time. But people have done it in harsh scenarios, I guess. I think there’s a lot of figuring out to do.”
Kansas City Royals manager Mike Matheny expressed some optimism.
“Just jump in and trust that we may not know when we’ll reconnect with our families, and trust that when health officials decide it’s OK we’ll be able to do that,” Matheny said. “But in the meantime, do something that would really help the healing process.”
Safety would be a top priority for all players and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego echoed that sentiment.
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“There is not a person on the planet who doesn’t want to get back to a time and place marked by familiarity, and there is nothing more familiar than sports, especially the great American pastime of baseball,” she said in a statement. “All of our lives post-COVID-19 will look different. At the city we value flexibility and innovation and are willing to work with the many different sports franchises that call Phoenix home, but only if public health leads every single discussion.”
MLB made clear it has not yet settled on contingency plans to restart the 2020 season after it was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The league released a statement Tuesday, saying it was exploring a few plans to play games when medical experts say it is safe to have them. Officials delayed the start of Opening Day and canceled spring training as the U.S. worked to combat the spread of the illness.
“MLB has been actively considering numerous contingency plans that would allow play to commence once the public health situation has improved to the point that it is safe to do so. While we have discussed the idea of staging games at one location as one potential option, we have not settled on that option or developed a detailed plan,” the league said.
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“While we continue to interact regularly with government and public health officials, we have not sought or received approval of any plan from federal, state and local officials, or the Players Association. The health and safety of our employees, players, fans and the public at large are paramount, and we are not ready at this time to endorse any particular format for staging games in light of the rapidly changing public health situation caused by the coronavirus.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.