Ryan Zimmerman is expecting his third child with his wife, who is due in June. That normally would be problematic with the Washington Nationals’ infielder embarked into a regular season around that time. However, this season is different, as Major League Baseball — as well as all other sporting events — has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
MLB has a plan to host the 2020 regular season in a centralized location in Arizona with May as a targeted timetable to begin, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The plan would have players, coaching staffs and essential personnel of all 30 teams sequestered in the Greater Phoenix Area. They’ll be limited to travel on to and from ballparks. Certainly, the games would be with no fans and may lead to the players being away from their families until the conclusion of season.
It’s a plan Zimmerman is no fan of, as he is not willing to go the entirety of the season without his family.
“If this ‘bubble’ in Arizona was going to happen starting in May, you’re trying to tell me I’m not going to be able to be with my wife and see my kid until October?” Zimmerman told to AP Sports Writer Howard Fendrich. “I’m going to go four or five months without seeing my kid when it’s born? I can tell you right now that’s not going to happen.”
Zimmerman also pointed out logistics of MLB’s reported proposed plan that could be an issue such as ball player’s pregame routines and he cleaning and availability of clubhouses between the teams.
“Do I have a locker? Or do I just show up with my uniform on, AAU travel ball style? And then I just go right out to the field with my bag to start the game? Then youāre going to have people getting hurt.”
Zimmerman does want to play baseball, and he understands how baseball could provide a refuge for fans to watch and escape from the gloom of the pandemic. Yet, the safety of the players as focus on the pandemic is more important than baseball itself.
Look, all of us want to play. Thatās what we do: We play baseball. You wouldnāt ask a single person and have him say, āI want the season to be canceledā or āI want to continue to not play.ā
But you have to be sensitive to people dying and people having family members in intensive care.
And you have to think: Is it really that important to figure out how to play baseball right now?
Zimmerman is set to enter his 16th season with the Nationals, who won their first World Series in franchise history last year. This season was supposed to be a season of celebration in Washington, unfortunately, baseball — and the world for that matter — has been put on hold, scrambling to adjust to the growing pandemic we all are facing.
