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July 16, 2021

Red Sox-Yankees Will Play Tonight

The Red Sox-Yankees game last night was postponed because at least six Yankees have tested positive for Covid-19. However, a decision was made this morning ny MLB to play tonight's game.

Because one of the positive players is Aaron Judge, there are issues of contact tracing with the five Red Sox who were at the All-Star Game: Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, and Matt Barnes. The vaccination status of the five players is not known, though Martinez has previously broadcasted his ignorance spoken about his reluctance to take the vaccine.

Gio Urshela and Kyle Higashioka tested positive on rapid tests and are waiting for confirmation from regular tests. Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes Jr., and Wandy Peralta are already on the Covid-19 injured list. GM Brian Cashman said "most" of the six players have been vaccinated.

The Yankees also had a Covid outbreak in May, when eight members of the organization, including third base coach Phil Nevin, tested positive.

Last night's game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Tuesday, August 17. The games will begin at 1 PM and 7 PM (both ET).


The Orioles-Rays game next Tuesday will be (it is assumed) the first major league game to be broadcast by an all-women crew. It will be the "MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube", which is . . . something.

Melanie Newman (the Orioles' radio play-by-play announcer) will call the action with analyst Sarah Langs. Alanna Rizzo will be the on-field reporter and Heidi Watney and Lauren Gardner will take care of the pre- and postgame shows.

The New York Times reports that two NHL games last year had all-female broadcast and production crews ("[W]omen announcers, producers, directors and camera operators. Even the technicians inside the production trucks were women."). Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer began broadcasting NFL games for Amazon Prime Video in 2018 and this past March, a five-woman crew broadcast an NBA game.

Rizzo: "It shows that the world is . . . more accepting of different voices and different looks and perspectives of the game." (Yes. Only 101 years after getting the right to vote*. Yay!)

(*: Black women in several southern US states, while technically having the right to vote in 1920, were effectively denied that right until 1965.)

One of the most infamous ballpark promotions of all time occurred on June 4, 1974: "Ten Cent Beer Night" in Cleveland. Twelve-ounce cups of beer were priced at one thin dime (marked down from 65 cents!). As almost anyone could have predicted, many fans got wildly drunk, there was a riot, and Texas won the game by forfeit.

That misguided adventure seemed to encapsulate the shrugged-shoulder explanation of "Well, the '70s were a different time", but events last Thursday night at Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, New Jersey, showed that some people never learn. (I suppose it was deja vu all over again.)

The New Jersey Jackals (Frontier League (independent)) decided to have $1 Beer Night and . . . lo and behold . . . things got messy. Fans apparently threw beer at some players (or into one of the dugouts) and the players failed to see the humor in the gesture.

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