THE MARLINS COVID OUTBREAK SYMBOLIC OF JUST HOW SERIOUS THIS VIRUS IS

I'm tired of hearing that COVID-19 is like the flu or not as bad. I'm tired of hearing that people will walk into a store that makes a mask mandatory for entry, and the person, as selfish as they can be says "Well, I have rights" or "I have a medical condition". No you don't... you're just being a dick. 

Look, I don't like any of this, trust me, but I have seen too many people in my own community die, and some as young as 30 years old.  It's literally about to be August.  It's no better than it was in April. We need to get it together as a country and work together, not against each other.  The folks that are making this political, need to check themselves at the door. Do it for your neighbor. Do it for my parents. Just do it, it's the right thing to do. Follow the rules, just so we can get this over with.

This latest Marlins outbreak is pretty serious. But Miami is as a whole. Yahoo Sports Tim Brown writes:

"This is the world into which Major League Baseball rolled its operation. If you signed up for baseball in the summer of 2020, for an escape from reality, you signed up for a baseball team — fathers, husbands, sons, brothers and friends — holed up in hotel rooms, 1,200 miles from home, while people wearing masks, gloves and grim expressions knocked on their doors.

The Miami Marlins were tested for the coronavirus again Monday morning in Philadelphia, a day after they were tested (again), because suddenly too many of those tests were coming back positive, in waves, and already one flight home had been canceled and another was at least postponed, and the outbreak that could shut down a season had found them first.

A baseball game between the Marlins and Baltimore Orioles in Miami on Monday night was postponed. A game Monday night between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, where the Marlins had just spent three days on the field, in the dugout and in the clubhouse while at least a dozen players and personnel were carrying the virus, also was postponed.

This is bad, really bad, and so wholly predictable."

But what is the end game? What happens next? 

Well, nothing if we don't follow some rules.  Now I know, baseball is not full contact and it's much easier to play a game like baseball rather than football or basketball because of the contact. But what if there's a walk off?  Are we gonna expect a team so passionate about winning from not piling on each other? It's gonna happen.

Then I start to think... do we really need to bring baseball back? I mean we were all stir crazy and the reality is it turned into what WE wanted and not what the players wanted. And so, I ask you... did we jump the gun?  I don't think so personally. 

I mean, MLB did everything they could do with empty stadiums and masks and testing.  But here's the thing... it's not what they're doing that makes this dangerous... it's what the players and personnel are doing outside that realm.  Are they hanging with friends, not practicing social distancing and ALSO making it about me, me, me?  And for games players have to travel for, they're exposed. As Mattingly says “You feel safe at the ballpark; I feel safe with my surroundings going home... It’s a lot scarier on the road.”

The problem with this virus is everyone thinks they won't get sick. But they will.  

Who would have thought that wearing a mask on their face could help?  It's proven that it will. But not everyone is doing it.  And hey look... I'm not doctor, but I trust doctors. If I didn't I'd be dead a long time ago trying to diagnose stomach pain for tumors and stuff like that. My point is doctors are there to help us... not hurt us.  There is no hidden agenda. None. They are there to help save lives.  My advice? Listen. Listen... even if it's just a little, but do your part to make this better. 

Miami is a petri dish right now. I blame careless people, be it Floridians or folks from other states that think they can go on their vacation and visit there. But you're all ridiculous regardless. 

I know it's summer. I know we all want to have fun, but I gotta tell you something... sometimes you need to sacrifice, especially if it means protecting your young family or hoping to be part of the solution.

And stop making the mask political. It's not. It's a symbol of life right now. It's about being smart, not selfish. It's not about you. It's about us.  But somewhere along the lines we decided the "Me" culture was more important.  So important that Miami's about to explode and that's bad.

In the end, we need to make smarter choices. And Rob Manfred? He must be shitting his pants. He's already messed up the punishment for the Houston Astros... and now this COVID-19 season is quickly turning into a disaster. His legacy is a disaster as well. 

NJ.com writes:

“Everybody could opt out today,” Mattingly said. “I think it’s fair to say that guys are concerned about things, and they want their feelings to be heard. We’re talking about health, traveling back to their homes and their families and their kids.”

And if players start dropping out, will the MLB have enough to play? And if they don't, do we finally force Rob Manfred to resign? 

I'm the first guy to say that I wanted baseball back.  But this is not what we wanted. We don't want sick players capable of getting their families sick now.  We don't want teams postponing games and MLB personnel wondering if they're infected because they were in the dugout at some point.  We don't want more sick people.

And so I ask... without being political... without being nasty... is is smart to have an MLB Season in 2020?