Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images
Usually by this point in the offseason we have a specific date to look forward to, of when pitchers and catchers will report to spring training. For the Dodgers, and nearly every major league team at the moment, we don’t have that date. Schedules, it seems, are no longer written in pen, but rather etched in sand.
There is even more confusion as to when spring training might start given Monday’s news of the Cactus League, formally asking Major League Baseball to delay the start of spring training because of high COVID-19 infection rates in Arizona in a letter sent on Friday.
UpdatedMon, Jan 25, 2021 at 12:05 pm MT
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Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Madison Bumgarner took the mound in a spring training game against the Cincinnati Reds in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Feb. 27, 2020. (Matt Yokr/Associated Press)
PHOENIX City and baseball officials want to delay the start of spring training in Arizona, which continues to lead the U.S. in average coronavirus cases and deaths per capita.
Arizona Cactus League Association Executive Director Bridget Binsbacher called on Major League Baseball to make the change because of the coronavirus situation unfolding in Maricopa County, she said in a letter dated Friday and obtained by 12 News. In view of the current state of the pandemic in Maricopa County, with one of the nation s highest infection rates, we believe it is wise to delay the start of spring training to allow for the COVID-19 situation to improve here, she said.
Cactus League, Arizona cities request spring training delay
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Inside of Scottsdale Stadium San Francisco Giants fans Jessica Lockwood and her son Charly 7, of Menlo Park, play catch after it was announced that Spring Training games have been suspended Thursday, March 12, 2020, Scottsdale, Arizona.Darryl Webb 2020
Given the unpredictable nature of the coronavirus, and with transmission rates skyrocketing in Arizona, a delay to spring training appeared ever greater Monday.
Cactus League officials sought a delay in a letter to Major League Baseball released Monday, saying, “In view of the current state of the pandemic in Maricopa County with one of the nation’s highest infection rates we believe it is wise to delay . to allow for the COVID-19 situation here.”