Play Ball! Major League Baseball to Start Shortened Season
2020-07-23
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1Professional Baseball usually starts in April.
2But the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus has forced the cancellation of almost all sports - even the national pastime.
3This month, 30 Major League Baseball teams from 28 cities are planning to start a shortened 60-game season with no fans in attendance.
4Public health experts have voiced a number of opinions about whether Major League Baseball's plan can succeed.
5The first two games will take place between the Yankees and Nationals in Washington, D.C. and the Giants and Dodgers in Los Angeles on July 23.
6"Baseball games can work," said Dr. David Hamer, a professor of public health at the Boston University School of Public Health.
7"I think it's feasible."
8Dr. Amesh Adalja, who works for the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Maryland has concerns.
9"There are certain sports that are higher risk versus lower risk," he said.
10"Baseball," he added, "is sort of an intermediate risk.
11However, Dr. Zach Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, warns: "It could be a disaster."
12Some experts are hopeful for the baseball season because of the nature of the game.
13Baseball involves less contact and risk than basketball, American football or hockey.
14However, players and their families will have to carry out measures to avoid getting infected away from the playing field.
15The National Basketball Association is playing all of its games in one place, Orlando, Florida.
16The National Hockey League will only have games in two Canadian cities.
17But, baseball teams will travel around the country.
18Players will be tested every 48 hours.
19Masks, covering the mouth and nose, and social distancing, staying about two meters apart, will also be required - except on the field.
20There will be additional restrictions.
21Players will be banned from spitting, licking their fingers or eating sunflower seeds.
22Mascots will not be permitted to approach players.
23Baseball officials have made rules for air travel, bus travel, private cars and hotels.
24They have given guidelines calling for avoiding contact with people outside the baseball world.
25The players have prepared with two weeks of camps and the results appear hopeful.
26With its current testing program, Major League Baseball says only 0.4 percent of tests have shown infections since June 27.
27That is far below the national average of 9 percent.
28But there have also been problems.
29Delays slowed testing around the July 4 holiday weekend.
30And, so far, all but two of the 30 teams have had at least one person infected with the coronavirus.
31But the preventive measures and low infection rate have led many observers to be hopeful.
32"That's a good starting point," said Hamer of Boston Medical Center.
33He has advised other professional sports teams.
34Testing is very important to Major League Baseball's plan.
35The organization is carrying out about 10,000 tests weekly.
36The league is using private laboratories to process the tests to avoid placing too much pressure on public testing centers.
37Experts are not worried that traveling teams might endanger communities.
38The groups will be relatively small.
39They also will use private transportation.
40Observers note that if there are a lot of infections, it will likely be from players getting infected in the community from social contact.
41Delayed professional baseball seasons have already started in Taiwan and Japan.
42Owners of the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Houston Astros have said they hope to have limited-attendance games by the end of the season.
43But Binney of Emory University says that is the one way professional baseball could present a serious health risk - by permitting fans to attend the games.
44Binney said the idea was "completely unreasonable" until a vaccine is developed.
45Binney added that such a move would add risk to public health and only help, in his words, "owners and stadium authorities."
46But possibly the most troubling problem is not knowing what will happen.
47"I don't think you can completely quantify exactly what the risk will be," Adalja said.
48I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.
1Professional Baseball usually starts in April. But the public health emergency caused by the coronavirus has forced the cancellation of almost all sports - even the national pastime. 2This month, 30 Major League Baseball teams from 28 cities are planning to start a shortened 60-game season with no fans in attendance. 3Public health experts have voiced a number of opinions about whether Major League Baseball's plan can succeed. 4The first two games will take place between the Yankees and Nationals in Washington, D.C. and the Giants and Dodgers in Los Angeles on July 23. 5"Baseball games can work," said Dr. David Hamer, a professor of public health at the Boston University School of Public Health. "I think it's feasible." 6Dr. Amesh Adalja, who works for the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security in Baltimore, Maryland has concerns. "There are certain sports that are higher risk versus lower risk," he said. 7"Baseball," he added, "is sort of an intermediate risk. 8However, Dr. Zach Binney, an epidemiologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, warns: "It could be a disaster." 9Testing and other measures 10Some experts are hopeful for the baseball season because of the nature of the game. Baseball involves less contact and risk than basketball, American football or hockey. However, players and their families will have to carry out measures to avoid getting infected away from the playing field. 11The National Basketball Association is playing all of its games in one place, Orlando, Florida. The National Hockey League will only have games in two Canadian cities. But, baseball teams will travel around the country. 12Players will be tested every 48 hours. Masks, covering the mouth and nose, and social distancing, staying about two meters apart, will also be required - except on the field. 13There will be additional restrictions. Players will be banned from spitting, licking their fingers or eating sunflower seeds. Mascots will not be permitted to approach players. 14Baseball officials have made rules for air travel, bus travel, private cars and hotels. They have given guidelines calling for avoiding contact with people outside the baseball world. 15The players have prepared with two weeks of camps and the results appear hopeful. 16With its current testing program, Major League Baseball says only 0.4 percent of tests have shown infections since June 27. That is far below the national average of 9 percent. 17But there have also been problems. Delays slowed testing around the July 4 holiday weekend. And, so far, all but two of the 30 teams have had at least one person infected with the coronavirus. 18But the preventive measures and low infection rate have led many observers to be hopeful. "That's a good starting point," said Hamer of Boston Medical Center. He has advised other professional sports teams. 19Testing is very important to Major League Baseball's plan. The organization is carrying out about 10,000 tests weekly. The league is using private laboratories to process the tests to avoid placing too much pressure on public testing centers. 20Experts are not worried that traveling teams might endanger communities. The groups will be relatively small. They also will use private transportation. Observers note that if there are a lot of infections, it will likely be from players getting infected in the community from social contact. 21Delayed professional baseball seasons have already started in Taiwan and Japan. 22Crowds at games? 23Owners of the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Houston Astros have said they hope to have limited-attendance games by the end of the season. 24But Binney of Emory University says that is the one way professional baseball could present a serious health risk - by permitting fans to attend the games. Binney said the idea was "completely unreasonable" until a vaccine is developed. 25Binney added that such a move would add risk to public health and only help, in his words, "owners and stadium authorities." 26But possibly the most troubling problem is not knowing what will happen. 27"I don't think you can completely quantify exactly what the risk will be," Adalja said. 28I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 29Jake Seiner reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 30________________________________________________________________ 31Words in This Story 32pastime -n. an activity that you enjoy doing during your free time 33feasible -adj. possible to do 34certain -pronoun particular members of a group 35versus -prep. connecting two possible choices 36intermediate -adj. in the middle of two extremes, in between 37epidemiologist -n. a person who studies disease spread and control 38mascot -n. people, animals or objects used as symbols for a group or team and are thought to bring luck 39approach -v. to move or become near or nearer to something or someone 40camp -n. a place where athletes train before the beginning of a season 41stadium a very large usually roofless building that has a large open area surrounded by many rows of seats and that is used for sports events, concerts, etc. 42authorities -n. (pl.) people who have power to make decisions or enforce rules 43quantify -v. to find out something in a way that can explained often with numbers