Squirrel

Let’s not go down the ‘military in sports’ wormhole, please. Hosken, to your point about players playing in a bubble without their families, I think it’s an unrealistic ask. It’s not what they signed up for and not the expectation of their careers. If baseball can’t be played safely without entire teams, on field staff, other necessary personnel remaining in a bubble for 3 months, it’s probably not going to be played ... at least not if the expectation is anything close to mlb level of play. Some may choose to play while others won’t. We’ll see, but I fully expect baseball to shut down before the first pitch gets thrown in this abbreviated regular season.

It's difficult for me to answer that for myself because I'm not in that position. I just hope that no one gets seriously ill, or dies, as a result of baseball going forward because, well, money, and people seem to need to be entertained by it.

As Tom said, lots of logistics to work out. Frankly, I've thought this all along ... the 'we vs them' between players and owners/mlb in pay and revenue mean nothing if they can't field and/or keep a team fielded during this time. Will players from outside the country be granted access to come into the U.S.? How quickly can all the paperwork get done for this to happen? What will the protocols be? What happens when one person tests positive, then 3 ... what if half a team needs to be quarantined? Who is asymptomatic and who gets seriously ill? Sure, most of the players are in a low risk group, but, not all of the personnel from onfield managers, coaches, trainers, etc are necessarily low risk. A lot of time has been wasted when these issues, and right now I'd say they were the larger issues, haven't been addressed, at all. And it wouldn't surprise me if this is the reason baseball won't happen this year, which tells me it probably never was going to, and all these negotiations were just posturing.

I hope they can retain him in some way into the future post playing career. He's a good human being.

Moderator hat: Please keep the discussion of Covid related to baseball and resuming play safely or not. We tried to have a Covid discussion thread in the Sports Bar forum and it devolved into a political discussion and a lot of misinformation, depending on which individual website posters decided was the most factual and which expert/non-expert we felt was most trusted. We probably won't really know what's what in regards to rates of anything until we are truly on the other side of this, and all data is collected and analyzed. So ... back to baseball related conversation. Non-moderator, regular poster hat: I still go by what I said above ... I really don't see the feasibility in keeping teams fielded. I think it becomes logistically difficult. Whatever your belief on risk and safety, the minute someone tests positive, three test positive, and quarantine protocols will be put in place. What happens if half a team needs to be quarantined? And when members of one team test positive, how will that affect whether or not a team wants to play at that team's facility? And that doesn't even begin to discuss issues of risk for family members and on-field staff and other personnel, which is yet another aspect. While we have all been focussed on the money issues and owner vs player issues, I think this is the issue that will potentially sink the season more than disagreeing about money.

They may have made some of those moves to 'be seen' ... however ... if so, I still think they were the absolute right things to do and support them for it. Removing the statue was a step in the right direction, imo. Agreed ... shouldn't have put it up to begin with, but times change.

How this affects baseball is something of a logistics problem, imo. While many players might be considered 'low risk' we don't know their specifics ... one might have asthma, another might have hbp, (heh, that's high blood pressure, not hit by pitch), and what about their families and other employees, and there may also be some who are outliers and could get it bad ... because they were forced into a situation of playing games and just couldn't protect themselves better because of close contact to others. Who is responsible for this? And even if they are low risk and contract it ... it could mean the entire team then tests positive or falls ill, even if only mildly. Some may be asymptomatic and able to continue playing ... but should they? No. How this affects a baseball team ... what happens if half the team contracts it? It's not even about what their risk is when/if they get it ... it's that they could spread it to others ... their families, other employees, teammates, opposing players ... and so on. And once a player tests positive, they are out for a minimum of two weeks, longer if they get ill, and even longer if more seriously ill. What happens when a third to half the team needs to be quarantined? The feasibility of playing is really questionable for me. Again, this isn't even talking about what risk they bear in how sick they could get, it's how spreadable it is, who they spread it to and who then is out and for how long. It's really a logistics question. And I say this from my perspective of being in the 'entertainment' industry. Those who attend games, that's a choice we get to make ... but players? Hmm, are we 'forcing' them into a potentially hazardous situation just because we want to be entertained?

Thank you. My Dad had said a few things through the years that were cringe worthy, and was always corrected for it, but never anything like that. Never. And given the articles and comments made, at that time, it showed that it was even that bad then, and even more so now.

Okay ... I disagree with much of what you wrote ... but we are not getting into a broad political discussion here ... we are talking about one statue at Target Field. It doesn't change the history. No one is trying to rewrite history, but as many here have commented ... they didn't know about Griffith's comments, that it shed new light onto the situation.

Removing a statue does not remove the history. I’m fine with removing the honor. It doesn’t change what’s already been. I think it’s also okay to stop saying, ‘Well, that’s just the way it was then,’ and acknowledge the behavior as wrong in order to correct behavior today, imo..

Moderator note: Let's keep comments to topic, please.

Nice write up, Seth ... thank you!

I’m not sure it was a player. It sounded like someone that was around the locker room when both Hunter and Hawkins were on the team, and was still there when Hawkins and Hunter were hired to be in the FO, and then was fired/released/let go. But I can’t remember who all was around then not.

Did any of you actually read the article, or are just commenting on the title thinking you know what all it said? Just finding it difficult to respond to the article and the posts at the same time.

Yeah, being out for too long in direct sunlight isn’t a good thing, either way, but more so with masks on. And yeah, keep hydrated, either way! Chicago has been fairly strict, but then, being in a dense urban area, we have also been hit fairly heavily. You can’t even go into stores without them. But then, as I was grocery shopping last week (I go once a week, no more), once inside, people remove them and evade employees. I get needing to take them off when sitting outside and in the hot sun for three hours, but less than an hour in an air conditioned store not in the sun? Hmmm ... I usually just get in and get out as quickly as I can, shopping early on weekday mornings, when fewer people are there. I’m actually less worried for myself in all of this, but take precautions for others around me. Going to a game, I’d be the same ... unless and until it becomes either too uncomfortable or too compromising for me. Again, weighing the risks ... I also live in a condo building and have very elderly neighbors to either side of me, plus we have fairly strict in-building rules, so I’m just getting used to the routine at this point.

It’s why this was an interesting question. We all assess our risk factors differently depending on age or experience and what expectation we have for the protocols imposed and/or practiced. Even though I’m older, and take COVID seriously, wear my mask, distance, wash/sanitize my hands, etc., I miss baseball that much, that it would get serious weight into going to a game. That said, I would keep my mask on, and if it became too difficult to do so, or it became too crowded, or too many others not following protocols, I’d probably leave and learn an expensive lesson that next time maybe I should just watch from home. Until we are actually faced with that decision, though, not sure what I’d actually do. It all depends. But getting to a game on public transportation in this era of COVID, is an even bigger factor for me. Day game, I bike, easy decision; night game? Trains post-game are very crowded. Guess I could drive, but that seems so silly to pay hefty parking fees when I’m 2.5 miles away. (I live in near South Chicago, btw, and am referring to attending games here, when and if they are played.)

I was just going to say this ... I mean ... HELLO! Renabanena? If that's not No. 1 on anyone's list, go back and start over.

Moderator note: I want to caution everyone here to be careful about being publicly blasé about COVID-19. If you have assessed your own risk level to be low, great. Want to go to a game? Great. Don’t know anyone or have family who have/had it? Greatest yet. But your comment ‘Time to move on’ is thoughtless when there could be people here who have lost loved ones from this so please be more thoughtful.

Yes, most definitely a dad joke.

yeah ... here, too ... and scan to phone menus

maybe. Since I'm in Chicago, the game would have to be Sox v Twins, here, at <whateverthenameoftheirstadiumisthisyear>. And it's an easy enough bike ride away, so I wouldn't have to be on public transportation.

Fear. Anger. Frustration. Sadness. Indifference. Loss. Apathy. Fear. Anger. Frustration. Sadness. Emotions are powerful things. They can lead us down paths for betterment and fuel change. But they can also cause harm as we lash out because of them. In this thread they have run the gamut and I see no further purpose to continue with this discussion here and now, today, in this thread, on this website. I do think further conversation and thought out in the world is necessary, but not right here and now in this thread. Just to remind everyone what is in our comments policy: "Please be mindful that comments relating to racial, cultural, religious, national, gender and sexual identity can be offensive, ditto locker room talk, even when there is no disrespectful intent." Please be mindful. Thank you.

Point taken. And let's not go there. We've raised enough issues for one week.

Or maybe understand that your heroes are also only human. And I still <3 Rosie and always will! No matter what!

I think I'm one of two moderators who represents a 'diverse' demographic being the lone female on the moderator team. While I can't know what PoC go through, and have their entire lives, I do know what it's like to be disrespected, demeaned, disregarded and dismissed solely because of my gender. How's that for alliteration? Being on this site has been TOUGH at times. TOUGH. But I'm tough, because I've had to be, so I've stuck it out, mostly because I love baseball. But there have been many times i've just wanted to pack it up and leave ... ask Brock, because I've written to him dozens of times over the years, 'I quit!' And the sucker I am, I let him talk me into sticking around. Remember all those threads about Sano and the accusations of sexual assault? Yeah, the things being said about women in those threads were horrible to read, especially when it went into areas about women in general and what they hope to gain by crying rape. How about the anonymity I used to have, yet a couple of posters felt it necessary to determine my actual identity and broadcast it on another site. While i kind of laughed at that, and what a dumb thing to do, and rolled my eyes at the idiocy, but still ... there was nefarious intent behind it. Good times. We now have policies regarding that. There have been other women here and there on this website, and more recently we've added a few more ... but it has not been the easiest road being in the minority. There aren't many who really, truly 'get it' and have easily dismissed my concerns. But it's never intentional, which makes it that much more difficult to call out. It has also been difficult navigating complaints from other posters here who feel unwelcome here because of mostly casual, unintentional biases or unintentional stereotyping. It hasn't come up a lot, but it does come up. No one ever goes out of their way intentionally to offend someone, but yet things get said in jest or casually, without real regard or mindfulness about perspective from another 'demographic'. And yet, when we try to have a discussion, it is usually met with defensiveness, I didn't mean it that way, lighten up, you're being overly sensitive or this isn't the place to talk about that. How do you deal with actions that are so unintentional yet cause discomfort or hurt? We have this line in our comments policy: "Please be mindful that comments relating to racial, cultural, religious, national, gender and sexual identity can be offensive, ditto locker room talk, even when there is no disrespectful intent." It calls for all of us to just think a little, try to think of something from someone else's perspective. Am I perfect? Heck no. We're all only human, and I get it wrong, too often ... but I do really try. It's tiring ... either side of it ... it's tiring. Really listening is tiring, taking action that is met with disdain is tiring, putting up with disrespect is tiring. Many times it's just easier to go along with it. But I think trying to think a little more broadly, to maybe go out of our comfort zones just a little, to try and read what we post through someone else's eyes, just might make it a better world. One little website at a time. While I don't condone violence, at all, while I've looked on in horror and heartache of all that's transpired, I understand the frustration because of the alliteration I mentioned above. It's all I got.