MLB plan: No showers, no spitting
and social distancing
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[May 19, 2020]
Major League Baseball will
perform thousands of tests for the coronavirus each week and require
social distancing among players and staff, according to its road map
of how the league can return to play, The Athletic reported on
Saturday.
Major League Baseball gave the 67-page document to the Major League
Baseball Players Association on Friday night for their review, input
and ultimately, approval. MLB is striving to begin a shortened 2020
season by early July.
Per The Athletic, the document spells out a comprehensive plan that
includes MLB requiring regular testing for all players, managers,
coaches and umpires, plus those team staff members in close contact
with essential personnel.
Player behavior must change, according to the document. Players no
longer can touch each other with fist bumps, hugs or high fives, nor
can they spit or chew tobacco or sunflower seeds. Players would be
asked to stop showering after games at the stadium, to sanitize
their hands each half-inning, and to drink out of their own personal
water or sports drink bottles.
Non-playing team personnel would need to wear face coverings in the
dugout. Players not in the lineup would need to sit in auxiliary
seating at a social distance and not in the dugout. And speaking of
the lineup, managers no longer will exchange lineup cards in their
typical pregame ritual.
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The empty field and stands at Nationals Park, home of Major League
Baseball’s (MLB)
Washington Nationals, are seen after it was reported MLB owners
approved a plan that could start the coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
outbreak-delayed season around the Fourth of July in ballparks
without fans, in Washington, U.S., May 13, 2020. REUTERS/Jonathan
Ernst/File Photo
Players would go through multiple temperature screenings each day,
and the most essential team personnel would be tested for the
coronavirus more than once each week, as would their family members.
Anyone testing positive would immediately be quarantined.
--Field Level Media
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