Phillies-Yankees Series Postponed As Some Phillies Await COVID-19 Test Results
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Phillies won't return to the field until at least Friday because of a coronavirus outbreak in the visitors' clubhouse. Major League Baseball is jumping through hoops to rearrange schedules.
The Phils won't play until Friday. They'll test players and staff every day.
Major League Baseball's teetering fight with COVID-19 has exposed how fast the virus can sweep through an organization — case and point: The Miami Marlins.
The team has about a dozen-and-a-half members testing positive.
Their close proximity to the Phillies during this weekend's opening series has only shown how rapidly even the most well-executed plans can crumble. And fans are agitated.
"It's terrible, it's awful. They gotta figure out a solution, get a cure for this COVID and we just gotta go back to normal," one fan said.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney acknowledged today he wasn't even aware the Phillies' game was postponed until he tried to turn on the game.
"Last night, I went to watch the Yankees game but didn't realize it had been postponed until I put on the game. So it's disappointing but in the scheme of things, with 150,000 dead Americans and the federal government in chaos and ruin, and issues going on all over the country with civil unrest, it's not the highest thing on my list," Kenney said.
Meanwhile, Phillies Manager Joe Girardi contended in an interview on SIRIUS XM the risk of contracting the virus isn't worth it for his players and staff.
"We had some players who probably had some trepidation on Sunday just because there's close contact, the closest are probably the catcher and the first baseman. Rhys [Hoskins] wears a mask, well that's great for Rhys but if the person who has it is not wearing a mask, Rhys' likelihood of getting it are still higher than if they both had masks," Girardi said.
Some fans say the MLB's approach to this is like they're trying to move a house of cards. They're fearful what happened in the Marlins' clubhouse will only repeat for other teams, creating a domino effect.
