Baseball 'Opens Up'....The Pandemic

7/28/2020

On Monday morning, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was telling one of those money channels that the U.S. had to “open up” for business.

Sen. Scott knows a lot about business, having run a “health-care” company that paid $1.7-billion in penalties, while he personally escaped jail as the leader of the devious pack.

But there he was, a senator, urging American businesses to get back to work. At the very same time, Major League Baseball – as part of its patriotic duty to get back to business – was postponing two games scheduled for Monday because many members of the Miami Marlins, in the state Scott theoretically represents, had tested positive for Covid-19.

Getting back to business has its drawbacks, whether for endangered children and endangered teachers in schools being pressured to open, or ball players in their own little playpens.

Donald Trump, allegedly once the greatest baseball prospect in American prep-school history, has insisted the game be resumed as part of the economic re-opening. Then again, he felt the same thing about political rallies and nominating conventions. Poor schlub, he invited himself to throw out a first pitch in Yankee Stadium and then got disinvited. (Ever hear an empty stadium boo?)

Baseball is supposed to contribute to normalcy while a pandemic is going on, particularly in the presumably-red Sunbelt states being led into danger by clodhoppers like Abbott of Texas, Kemp of Georgia and DeSantis of Florida. (Where do they get these people?)

As of this typing, baseball was still planning to hold most games in its improvised season of 60 games. But ballplayers were starting to follow the new protocols, donning masks on the field, refraining from some bro hugs, and some were voicing their fears.

This puts these masked men ahead of many millions of Americans currently milling around unmasked at bars and beaches and back-yard parties, ignoring the warnings of scientists. It’s part of their constitutional rights, as Americans, to be independent knuckleheads.

This raises questions for me, hunkering in our cool cave at home, watching just about every pitch of the Mets'first four games.

How can I watch the runs, hits, errors, facial expressions and strategies in empty stadiums, while millions of people around the world are endangered by this pandemic?

We stay home as much as possible, we read, we watch filmed plays from London, we listen to the political yammerers on the tube, my wife makes great meals. And for the moment, I watch the Mets.

Every winter I wait for the season, and finally it is here, in its imperiled fashion, and I am watching Jeff McNeil’s fire and Jacob deGrom’s near-perfection and Pete Alonso’s power and Seth Lugo’s monk-like calm.

Am I doing something wrong? Am I encouraging baseball…and other businesses….to “open up?”

I took a random sample Monday night.

One fan, nameless, was at home in front of the tube, watching the Mets from Fenway Park, which was sadly not quivering with energy and history.

The game was not 15 minutes old when the Mets committed a blunder on the field. My phone pinged with a message from the aforementioned fan: “Not a very disciplined ball club.” So we pinged back and forth while the Mets held on for a 7-4 victory. For one more evening, we watched baseball, knowing it could be the last for a long time.

My sample was balanced by other pings from a good friend of mine, a former minor-league prospect who knows the game so well and shares my appreciation for the late-bloomer Jeff McNeil.

Except that my ball-player pal was not watching. He thinks baseball should not be open, should not be exposing players and those who serve them. He pinged:

“George, I refuse to watch this stupid circus! MLB has lost the little credibility they once had! The owners do not care about baseball’s image! They care only about taking in anti-trust-protected profits!”

So there you have it. One for. One against.

For the moment, I am watching the Mets.
What else I got to do?

Dom Smith homers in Fenway. Will any of these exploits count if MLB has to cancel this season?

Michael

7/28/2020 11:03:22 am

Hi George - Even without sports to watch I feel so fortunate as so many in this country and world suffer thru the pandemic and the heat. I really enjoyed the full conclusion of the English and Spanish soccer seasons - even without the crowds (though of course it was sad to see empty venues). Similarly, i'm looking forward to Champions League in August. I'm less interested in basseball, basketball & hockey mostly because of the truncated schedules (I still don't think 1981 was a legit season for MLB). Once again, i feel so fortunate to have this conversation with my job and paycheck and air conditioned living space. I pray for a change of leadership in November! Stay well - Michael

George Vecsey

7/28/2020 03:26:16 pm

Michael: thank you for your note. Some of us are luckier than others --health, proper warnings, and the means to go about our business safer than many others. I second your gratefulness.
From the recent weeks of soccer from Europe, I found that sport works better in any empty stadium because the ball is more or less in play for long stretches, and you can focus on the plays, most of them busted up, to be sure. That burst by Pennsylvania Boy, coming on as a sub, was brilliant.
Baseball has so many pauses that crowd noise, crowd shots, add to the ambiance.
I think we are heading for a very long pause, any hour now.
But there's always the Champions League on a continent with leaders and followers who knew how to flatten the curve.
Be well,
GV, 3:25 PM Tuesday,

Tom Schwarz

7/28/2020 11:03:57 am

I wish you would not disparage clodhoppers by associating "Abbott of Texas, Kemp of Georgia and DeSantis of Florida" with them... Where DO they get these guys? Have we Americans no shame?
I'm watching some baseball and even MLS. I have emerged from home a bit but I still have a half a tank of gas from March...I used to fill it 2-3 times a week...it feels strange to drive around now. I forgot where my trunk release was! Man I'm glad you are still writing.

George Vecsey

7/28/2020 03:32:48 pm

Tom, watching this smug attorney general justifying military authoritarianism today, I realize, no, not much shame in 1/3 of the population
I know what you're saying about gas consumption. Filled my tank in mid-February, not again til early July.
Maybe I was too hard on clodhoppers. They got to live, too. How about I call those governors "smug toadies," doing the bidding of a dangerous man?
Be cool.

Marty Appel

7/28/2020 12:10:23 pm

When Donald struck out during his prep school career, do we know if he accepted the call and returned to the dugout? Asking for a friend.

George

7/28/2020 06:04:23 pm

Marty: he never struck out
He told me so. GV

Peter Kennedy link

7/29/2020 10:29:52 am

George, as I recall, you've been bearish on the prospects for even an abbreviated baseball season right from the start. I hope you're wrong, but I fear you're not. As for the Mets, I'm watching them too. The hitting will be fine. The pitching may be OK. The D is very worrisome, but that could be a function of this fractured, on again, of again, season. The OFers looked lost in Fenway. They could should have had Mookie give them a crash tutorial in Green Monstah physics. Best, Peter

George

7/31/2020 07:55:37 am

Peter: a few days later, Mets are looking bad. The radio guys Thursday night said McNeil, having a bad defensive start, is really better at second base (where he played a bit at the end of the game.) Diaz is a disaster -- already in a category with the occasional player who just falls apart in NYNY. No hope for him. I think MLB is already deep in a hole for a complete 60-game "season." TBC.

Alan Rubin link

7/29/2020 01:24:35 pm

Right on George – Where do they get these people who wear their insensitivity and callousness as a badge of honor?

Attorney General Barr was appropriately named, he should be “dis-Barred”.

In an adult education course this morning titled Election 2020, the instructor was discussing immigration policy. He is a former diplomat who served in the Middle East, South America, Canada and parts of Europe.

It was interesting to see how Biden’s plans, if he is elected, contrasted with Trump’s. Biden showed an understanding of the issues and a willingness to put the country ahead of Party.

I tend to trust people who is aware of their limitations and not those who say—“trust me”.

George Vecsey

7/31/2020 08:01:40 am

Alan, watching Barack Obama delivering the eulogy for John Lewis, I had tears in my eyes -- for Lewis, for us. One thing I think I know, or sense, about Joe Biden is that, at this stage of his career, he has implicit trust in the Obamas, and in dozens and dozens of good people out there in government, that he will not be alone. GV

Dr. Michael Vassallo link

7/30/2020 08:22:41 pm

George, as a health professional on the front lines, I'm predicting the season to deteriorate as we get into late August. I don't believe the precautions built into the protocols will be enough. I hope I'm wrong. By the way, was your dad a sports writer also? I've been doing some research and found a George Vecsey byline in the New York Daily News in 1944. It can't be you!

George Vecsey

7/31/2020 08:13:53 am

Dear Dr. Vassallo: Thanks for the note. Somebody in MLB notes in the NYT today (Friday) that testing this "season" has yielded a 0.1 percent positive, but tell that to the Marlins...and the Phillies. This poor country has mangled the response so badly that people don't know much.
You found my dad's byline in the Daily News. He and my mom met when he was sports editor of the Long Island Press and she was the society editor. They made a stand for the Newspaper Guild -- why they are my heroes -- and neither worked there again. He was doing different jobs during WWII, including copy desk at the Daily News. I don't think he had many bylines. Later he worked for the Associated Press and moonlighted at the Daily News which is how he got me a summer job there and later my middle brother Pete made his start there. I probably should have chosen a different byline when I started writing for Newsday late 50s, but middle initials always seemed stuffy, and technically I am not a junior, so I went for first and last name only. Thanks for noticing. GV

Dr. Michael Vassallo

7/31/2020 08:43:09 am

At first I thought to myself, "Hey! There's George Vecsey!", then I realized it wasn't possible, you'd have been a little kid. Your dad was right there on the pages with Hy Turkin, Joe Trimble, Jack Smith, and the great Leo O'Mealia. I was surprised to also see Dick Young this far back. One of the topics was Mel Ott's approaching 500th home run, which would put him in 4th place all-time! This was August 30, 1944.

George

7/31/2020 10:00:21 am

hi: did you find it in microfilm or
Library clips or digital? I’d love to see a copy.
Hy Turkin was my dad’s friend. Lent us a cottage on Long Island 1954 or so. Leo O’Mealia was a sweet old man the summers of 56-57 when I was a copy boy. I remember my dad telling me the News was going to move Dick Young from Giants to Dodgers end of war. He had great admiration for Young for the war he covered our Dodgers — and Young was great with me, never big-timed me in the office. Introduced me to managers, etc, when I broke in with Newsday. Decades later, we disagreed on major issues but were always civil to each other. I cannot believe the News is not in that classic building 42 and 2nd. And barely exists. Thanks GV

Dr. Michael Vassallo

7/31/2020 05:39:24 pm

George, I have a large historical collection of original newspapers, primarily the New York Daily News (but not exclusively) that I've been slowly scanning (highlights) in high definition. So the paper with your dad I came across just recently, and scanned the sports pages for posterity. So I have them as hi-rez digital files. I would gladly send them to you if I knew where to send them, meaning an e-mail address.

Alan Rubin link

8/1/2020 12:03:57 pm

Dr. Vassallo,

What a fantastic project. It will be very time consuming, but well worth it.

I'm doing a similar project with my old photos which were taken as slides prior to the digital age. I scan each slide with a dedicated Nikon scanner, which can be used for either slides or print negatives.

Unfortunately, I purchased it one year before it came out with a USB connection. I need to use an old laptop that has a compatible port and an adapter..

I could have the slides copied commercially, but I would not be able to do my own cropping or editing. Also, it makes me more selective.

Hove fun.

Dr. Michael Vassallo

8/1/2020 06:24:03 pm

Alan,

I've been doing the same thing also on my family's extensive slide collection from the 1960's and 1970's. I have a Kodak model with a USB connection. I then crop and clean up each one using Photoshop. It's time consuming and I alternate that with conversion of old Beta and VHS home video (over 200 VHS alone) from the 1980's and 1990's, converting the tapes to MP4 files. There just isn't enough time and the fast changes in technology causing media to become "out of date" is maddening! And yes, like yourself, I want to do it myself, not let a service do it for me.

George Vecsey

8/1/2020 12:15:21 pm

Dr. Vassallo: That would be nice. I could share it with siblings and next generation that remembers "Pop-Pop." My email is:
vecsey@nytimes.com
Alan Rubin is a mechanical wiz -- ran early electronic store on Broadway, NYC. I am digitizing some family stuff, but not with expertise., Thanks, GV

Dr. Michael Vassallo

8/1/2020 06:25:29 pm

George,

Files sent. Let me know if any problems receiving them.

Comments are closed.

QUOTES

Measuring Covid Deaths, by David Leonhardt. July 17, 2023. NYT online.
The United States has reached a milestone in the long struggle against Covid: The total number of Americans dying each day — from any cause — is no longer historically abnormal….

After three horrific years, in which Covid has killed more than one million Americans and transformed parts of daily life, the virus has turned into an ordinary illness.

The progress stems mostly from three factors:
First, about three-quarters of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine shot.
Second, more than three-quarters of Americans have been infected with Covid, providing natural immunity from future symptoms. (About 97 percent of adults fall into at least one of those first two categories.)
Third, post-infection treatments like Paxlovid, which can reduce the severity of symptoms, became widely available last year.
“Nearly every death is preventable,” Dr. Ashish Jha, who was until recently President Biden’s top Covid adviser, told me. “We are at a point where almost everybody who’s up to date on their vaccines and gets treated if they have Covid, they rarely end up in the hospital, they almost never die.”

That is also true for most high-risk people, Jha pointed out, including older adults — like his parents, who are in their 80s — and people whose immune systems are compromised. “Even for most — not all but most —immuno-compromised people, vaccines are actually still quite effective at preventing against serious illness,” he said. “There has been a lot of bad information out there that somehow if you’re immuno-compromised that vaccines don’t work.”

That excess deaths have fallen close to zero helps make this point: If Covid were still a dire threat to large numbers of people, that would show up in the data.

One point of confusion, I think, has been the way that many Americans — including we in the media — have talked about the immuno-compromised. They are a more diverse group than casual discussion often imagines.

Most immuno-compromised people are at little additional risk from Covid — even people with serious conditions, such as multiple sclerosis or a history of many cancers. A much smaller group, such as people who have received kidney transplants or are undergoing active chemotherapy, face higher risks.

Covid’s toll, to be clear, has not fallen to zero. The C.D.C.’s main Covid webpage estimates that about 80 people per day have been dying from the virus in recent weeks, which is equal to about 1 percent of overall daily deaths.

The official number is probably an exaggeration because it includes some people who had virus when they died even though it was not the underlying cause of death. Other C.D.C. data suggests that almost one-third of official recent Covid deaths have fallen into this category. A study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases came to similar conclusions.

Dr. Shira Doron, the chief infection control officer at Tufts Medicine in Massachusetts, told me that “age is clearly the most substantial risk factor.” Covid’s victims are both older and disproportionately unvaccinated. Given the politics of vaccination, the recent victims are also disproportionately
Republican and white.

Each of these deaths is a tragedy. The deaths that were preventable — because somebody had not received available vaccines and treatments — seem particularly tragic. (Here’s a Times guide to help you think about when to get your next booster shot.)
***

From the great Maureen Dowd:

As I write this, I’m in a deserted newsroom in The Times’s D.C. office. After working at home for two years during Covid, I was elated to get back, so I could wander around and pick up the latest scoop.
But in the last year, there has been only a smattering of people whenever I’m here, with row upon row of empty desks. Sometimes a larger group gets lured in for a meeting with a platter of bagels."

--- Dowd writes about the lost world of journalists clustered in newsrooms at all hours, smoking, drinking, gossipping, making phone calls, typing, editing.
***
"Putting out the paper," we called it.
Much more than nostalgia.
---https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/29/opinion/journalism-newsroom.html

Baseball 'Opens Up'....The Pandemic

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