Commissioner Ostrich: "I Am Not A Quitter"

I think that if everybody does what they are supposed to do, we can continue to play, have a credible season ... We think it's manageable.

Dave Sheinin, Washington Post, August 2, 2020:

Still under self-isolation at their Milwaukee hotel amid a weekend's worth of postponed games, the St. Louis Cardinals were bracing Sunday for more positive tests for the novel coronavirus as baseball's worst current outbreak deepens, potentially threatening more games in the coming week.

Multiple reports said the Cardinals were expecting additional positives when the latest results of testing arrive. It would be the latest in a string of new positive tests for the Cardinals, whose three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers was postponed ... [The Cardinals' four-game series against the Tigers was scheduled to be a home-and-home, but all four games will now played in Detroit, with a doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday]

The number of confirmed positives for the Cardinals is unknown and complicated by the fact the team is running rapid tests for its personnel at a hospital, in addition to the saliva tests being run through MLB's laboratory, and the results reportedly have not always agreed.

"[W]e do not anticipate having any updates until [Monday]," the Cardinals said in a statement Sunday night.

The Cardinals confirmed Saturday night that one player and three staff members tested positive but said an additional player and three additional staff members received results that were inconclusive. The infected personnel were heading back to St. Louis in cars, while the rest of the team's traveling party remained at the Milwaukee hotel.

The Cardinals' outbreak appears to be the second biggest in baseball, with the season only a week and a half old. The Miami Marlins had 18 players and two coaches test positive last week ...

All told, 19 games have been postponed.

Comissioner Rob Manfred tells me “We are playing. The players need to be better, but I am not a quitter in general and there is no reason to quit now. We have had to be fluid, but it is manageable.”

— Karl Ravech (@karlravechespn) August 1, 2020

Couching this in terms of being a "quitter" -- given the connotations and character judgments that entails in a sports context -- is predictably poor form from Manfred, especially on a day a major star opt-ed out. https://t.co/u4ei8rgAPg

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 1, 2020

The more I think about this the more steamed I am. At best this the sort of thing we've heard from addle-minded public officials who speak of beating the pandemic via a good attitude or whatever. At worst it's a shot across the bow of any players who are considering opting out.

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 1, 2020

Either way, it makes me less confident that Major League Baseball is going to make reasoned decisions based on the facts on the ground as opposed to doing everything it can, reasonable or not, in order to try to get the season in and then cast blame if they can't.

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) August 1, 2020

Sacrifice the workers for the owners wealth, I think I’ve heard this sentiment before

— Paul Broos (@pbroos1) August 1, 2020

This statement is only 6 hours old and it’s already been subsumed by developments. The Cards are now shelved until Tuesday. 4 of their tests are “inconclusive.” A healthy Marlin bailed out.

Manfred blaming the players, when the owners’ plan is full of holes, is seedy and cheap. https://t.co/f4E33tUkr4

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 2, 2020

If only MLB had spent as much time developing a functional process, as they have blaming the players for not making the unworkable work. https://t.co/s9ndErFxEm

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 2, 2020

“Manageable,” says Commissioner Ostrich. https://t.co/PGiLGY0KJ2

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 2, 2020

Can we get another statement from Commissioner Ostrich https://t.co/HrbMoWyJiw

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) August 2, 2020