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As long as he wasn’t dipping in front of children, I’m all good.

Seeing the discussion around California, Michigan, and now NJ and New York debating wheter to include indoor dining/bars as part of reopening has me dreading the next week. It also is what annoys me about the trying to blame state and local actors equally with fed. That perspective will put blame on governors/locals for reopening if it leads to a surge. It's pretty clear there are specific industries are in the age of covid a specific threat to public health and its the entertainment industry. They make up so much of the real estate and makeup of every town and city in america, and should n't just be told they can't operate and forced to fail, but compensating them with the mechanisms that local and state governments have at their disposal is extremely difficult. You want them to take out loans to support a bunch of individual owners in an industry that is notoriously difficult to keep afloat anyway? If federal lawmakers stepped up and created a bailout for that industry that allowed them to stay closed and would be reimbursed and employees paid at some level there would be nowhere near the local and state pressures to reopen them. Notice how much easier it is for states and locals to keep schools closed - the funding is by and large set, so they are only discussing public health impacts, and despite much less of a public health issue as entertainment it is still up in the air whether they will reopen in many places. Not so with restaurants. Illinois/Chicago should let outdoor dining continue, but this is so stupid to allow indoor dining/bars open from a public health standpoint.

Who is everyone? Are you actually suggesting a complete shut-down of all manufacturing and retail operations in the US? What you want is not even remotely realistic and no CEO is going to remain in his role if he acts in complete disregard to financial performance. No doubt the health & safety of US workers is important, but so is a functioning economy. There is a balance to this and you seem way too extreme on labor relation issues to appreciate that. Also, the manufacturing plant for my business is union based (one of the strongest in the country) and they have worked throughout this pandemic outside of a three week shutdown. Yes, some people have temporarily elected out over COVID-19 concerns, but the vast majority are working because they want to get paid and feel the safety protocols in place are good enough. The union did not just scream “unsafe working conditions” and refuse to work like you are suggesting. They are willing to accept some level of risk because they realize there is no perfect solution here.

Why listen to Fauci? He is a scientist. He is full of shit. Listen to Trump and Pence. They always tell it like it is.

I've got some theories about masks that Im not going to share because guess what ... I'm learning to behave on here. I now know what's going to cause a major earthquake on here and won't go there. Let's hope the 4th is safe and fun despite COVID. This 2020 really truly sucks so far.

It’d be awesome if the Sox took another look at Puig for a shortened /crapshoot of a 60 game season, at this point it can’t hurt right?

This type of commentary makes me want to stab my eyes out. I said this three months ago on this very forum, but the move the country should have made three months ago was to shut down the entire country for 6 weeks. Take care of whoever absolutely had to work - support the workers and companies with a massive stimulus that actually works for small business and all employed people - by getting them access to all the testing and equipment possible. The rest of the nation is closed; the virus would have dissipated and could have been traced/reduced. When you reopened, the economy would have taken a bit to recover, but the recovery would have happened much sooner. I'm not sure what people are watching, but the virus is getting awful again and places are shutting down again, it's just a matter of time before that is everywhere. The confidence in a V shaped recovery is gone. Some states - so worried about a FUNCTIONING economy - reopened way too early and way to lax and now the economy in those states is going to be crushed for another month or two. In 30 days the extended unemployment benefits run out, and 40 million are still out of work and it's going to get even worse as states are forced to shut down a second time but this time there is no unemployment enhancements, there is no PPP. No more mortgage or rent forgiveness. There is no one helping those people anymore, but the virus isn't going away. Of the 40 million that lost their jobs, about 25 million lost their insurance with it. I'm sad and fearful for all those people, and the answer many who aren't at risk have is - those are the breaks, "you gotta take risks in life." Frankly CWS, I'm sick and tired of the poor people in this nation biting the bullet and sacrificing their ass without any help or assistance from people like us - I've been tired of it for a long damn time, and this pandemic just made it that much worse. No person, out of desperation and fear of homelessness, should have to provide me with a damn thing just so I can go on about my life in a convenient and blinded way.

I love how easy it is for many to tell people to go into work and take risks; no businesses bottom line is worth the life of someone else. Period. End of Story. Why is the virus is killing far more minorities and lower income people? Because they have shit work and safety conditions in meat processing plants and other factories. It's despicable. Why do they HAVE to go to work while so many American's are furloughed or working from home? Because their jobs are deemed essential by you, and the government and etc. ESSENTIAL WORKERS who frequently don't have health care, don't make much more than minimum wage, and certainly don't have paid time off. These people have to work because if they don't work, they won't have a house over their head or food on the table for their kids. I was lucky enough to work from home for quite a while, and then we just closed until who knows when because Chicago isn't really open and there's really not business even if some exists. It sucks being out of work - never been in my life - but it sure as hell beats being poor and forced to go take risks you shouldn't have to. I know the virus isn't very dangerous the many, but the poor people that are being forced to work? Well they tend to live together as a family unit in one house - with more at risk people around them. They don't have the choice, and you acting like some strong union proves that the system is fine is laughable to me. No one should have to sacrifice their life or risk the life of their relatives (you only live once in case you didn't notice) so that you can feel more comfortable in your bed at night or at the grocery store. And you better believe if you think their jobs are so damn important that they should put themselves at higher risk than the average American, than they should be compensated accordingly. It's really sad to me that people feel like they have to go to work right now because if they don't, they'll lose their job, or house or life. The system stopped working long about but it was never on display more than when people started citing the importance of the economy as the death toll climbed.

The union didn’t go on strike for three weeks, our company decided to shut-down plant operations to evaluate the situation and implement stronger safety measures. Believe it or not, but safety is a key part of most company’s strategic priorities.

After camping this weekend I would report that no match will light kindling and so we are probably safe.

Excellent post!

I am glad I am working lol.. God please no more unions

Which is another way of saying this has a really high chance of being a flukey season, so a team has to be ready from day one. Think of it this way, a 60 game season when compared to the 162 game season means each game this year is worth 2.7 in a normal season. A bad week is more like a bad month than a bad week. A bad month is the end of a season.

Well first of all I'd really like to watch an expanded playoffs because I enjoy the playoffs. Second, we know darn well that good teams go into slumps and this year they'd have only 1 chance to do so before having to come right out of it. Third, this year some teams are going to lose substantial number of players to quarantines and that could easily be the difference between 33-27 and 27-33.

Clearly 2019 first 60 games and 2020 first 60 games should be evaluated the same. honestly why does your above factoid even matter to you? We are to feel bad or something because last years world champion took 162 games to get to the playoffs and they won't be afforded the same chance this year? Everyone knows the stakes this year. You come out flat, you don't play in the post season. Sorry

Cool thanks b**** about it somewhere else

I hate Bernstein's reporting. "Uh yeah we just heard from someone that Yasmani Grandal took steroids 8 years ago and was suspended for it. Let's bring this into light right before the season starts." If he was suspended for it, people already know about it. The only point in making this news is to stir up drama. GTFO Dan.

Let's say a 27-33 team gets in. The 5th place wild card would probably have 33 wins. Not that big of deal to me. I think the more important thing is giving fans hope and keeping them engaged. Also, if more teams have a legit shot to make the playoffs, we are gonna get much better baseball this season.

Sometime this week with a hopefully expanded playoffs.

The Sox would be better off carrying a guy like James Beard who can wreck havoc on the bases if nothing else than having a bum like Detwiler on the team.

Yes as you know I was against it for a full season for various reasons. But now in such a short season pure talent is pretty much all that matters.

I’m on vacation at a water park in Pigeon Forge, TN. My family is only using the outdoor swim areas and has masks on when entering / exiting the hotel. No one outside of the workers are wearing masks (not sure I’d call it “wearing” for half the employees) and we’re the ones getting the dirty looks. Rural America either doesn’t believe this disease is legit or simply doesn’t give a fuck about anyone but themselves. I think those of you living in Chicago don’t realize how fucking bad it is in other parts of the county. Yes the numbers are bad in Texas & Florida, but I’m shocked they aren’t substantially worse. The idea of social distancing simply doesn’t exist in the south and I don’t think anything is going to change that.

I'll be disappointed if Ross Detwiler makes another pitch for the Sox.

So with all that here's a rundown. You being 47 does not make the risk appreciably different from 27 or from 57 based on what's out there. 1. If this country were being responsible, this trip would not be allowed from a public health point of view. There are too many states in real deep trouble right now - probably 25 should be back on stay at home orders and 10 are approaching hospital capacity crises today, but because our political system is irresponsible we can't do that. No state has cracked the code of "reopening while there are still cases out there" and tracing is failing because the systems are so poorly built and there's no national organization or help. States where you are traveling need to shut down until they Figure out what the Hell is going on. But, since they are open, you're allowed to. There are a couple legal matters you should consider in advance. First, what happens if a partial travel shutdown does occur while you are there? Second, the state of Illinois could impose a 14 day quarantine on travelers coming from those states, and that could appear while you are there so you might have no warning beforehand. If that were to happen, are you ok with it costing a full week of school? Frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't been put in place already. New York has done it, but they have to specifically worry about people traveling from Florida - maybe Illinois needs to identify some cases directly linked to travel before they do it, but it could absolutely happen. 2. The odds of someone in your family being exposed are high. You've listed the locations - hotels, restaurants even outdoors, planes, gas stations, hikes. Many will be short passes, but some won't, and even ones outdoors can have some risk, particularly restaurants since you have servers and other guests around. Whether that person receives a dose that is enough to get them sick depends on things mostly out of your control, including what safety precautions others take and basically luck (is the person near you on the plane sick, is the person in hotel line next to you sick). Whether the hotel in Vegas is the biggest risk probably depends on what the various outbreaks do over the next month, I'm not sure that's a far greater risk than any other hotel as long as you're not on the gambling floor. Flight risk is nonzero, depends on where people sit, but if you skip the flight and drive you have food stops and bathroom breaks that are all places where other people will be. So, you're likely to be exposed, and the chances of actually getting sick even if you do everything right are probably moderate, but difficult to estimate precisely, and unless Vegas explodes in cases in the next month, there's no spot you can skip that is going to dramatically lower the risk of exposure. 3. If someone in your family does get sick, with no pre-existing conditions, the chances of them dying are very low, probably 1 in 1000 or so give or take. So while you will likely survive, this probably does significantly raise the chances of someone dying on this trip compared to a trip in a normal year. 4. While the chances of dying are very low, the chances of someone getting very sick and perhaps suffering a permanent issue are noticeably higher. Still low, but definitely nonnegligible. The hospitalization rate has stayed pretty constant everywhere at 5-10% of the people getting it. Probably lower for your health group, but still several percent. The only thing that has reduced that rate is states lying about their data. That means someone could, reasonably, permanently lose their sense of smell or have permanent lung or kidney damage from this trip, and that is not an issue unlikely enough to be ignored. For example, we learned yesterday that Rudy Gobert of the Jazz still does not have his sense of smell back nearly 4 months after being infected, and he's an NBA athlete. I can't tell you what to do because my personal risk tolerance is different and my personal health situation colors that, but I think those are reasonable statements. Risk of exposure is high, you likely will cross paths with someone who has it. Risk of infection if you take care is lower, but still moderate. Unless specific spots become major outbreak centers, I don't think you can point at any location as of right now and say "This spot is an unusually high risk and we can improve our odds substantially by avoiding it". Risk of dying is very low, but higher than would be normal for this trip. Risk of serious complications is quite important to consider.

We forgot to flatten the curve and many leaders refuse to wear a mask. There were numerous mis-steps and we could have done better. Not our shining moment. Our country is too divided to meet this challenge.

It was handled poorly. Relative to whom? We don't even BEGIN to approach the top of the list in COVID deaths per million inhabitants. Which developed nation didn't see this virus spread? I'm not sure what could have been handled better. The shit came here and it spread. Like viruses do. We shutdown. The spread slowed. We reopened (had mass protests) and there has been a spike. Not to mention, since re-openings, the economy has begun a recovery. If it's safe for me to work. If it's safe for my girlfriend to work. If it's safe for my family and friends to work. It's more than safe enough for athletes in their 20's and early 30's to play baseball. With far better testing capabilities, medical attention, and restrictions than the rest of us will have.

I honestly think this is fun. We've all seen plenty of your typical baseball seasons. We will all see plenty more of them. It's something different this year. Try to enjoy it. It will go back to normal, don't worry.

Dude, try reading my post again and I'll give you a second chance to respond without being such a smart ass.

According to the CDC, there are 821,000 people in the US between age 18-44 with a positive test. 2,479 of them have died. That equals a 0.3% death rate, or 99.7% survival rate. The vast majority of these deaths are due to underlying health issues. So you're likely talking about a survival rate of over 99.9% for those aged between 18-44, without underlying health issues. 30 teams with 40 man rosters, is 1,200 players. Statistically speaking, if all 1,200 players became infected, 1 would die. Assuming none had an underlying health issue, as those players are exempt from playing. That's if the ENTIRE league were infected.

There’s absolutely no possible way that is true.

This is not accurate. There are many other factors you aren't considering such as underlying health issues. Not to mention, there aren't many 69 year old MLB players.