The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has drastically changed everyday life, with many states currently under a stay-at-home order in effort to slow the spread and flatten the curve.
As a result, the sports world has essentially been shut down for the foreseeable future. The NBA made the difficult decision last month to suspend its regular season, and soon followed the NHL, MLS and Major League Baseball.
For MLB, that led to all remaining Spring Training games being cancelled and an indefinite delay to the start of the 2020 campaign. Opening Day, originally scheduled for March 26, was pushed back by a minimum of eight weeks — meaning play can not resume until mid-May at the earliest.
Justin Turner is hopeful sports leagues will get back into the swing of things soon and that their return can heal the nation, via SportsNet LA:
“It’s been difficult. It’s obviously a lot of unknown, just asking questions and trying to get answers. A lot of those questions there are no answers for right now. Obviously, this whole thing is a lot bigger than baseball. It’s affecting everyone in the world. Right now, obviously baseball is on the back burner. We’re trying to get things figured out, be ready and stay in shape so that whenever we can get back on the field we’ll be ready to do that.
“Hopefully it’s sooner rather than later. I know sports is something that a lot of people might say it’s not that big of a deal because it’s just sports. But it’s also something that I think a lot of people rally around. Especially the game of baseball. It’ll be good for everyone the day we can get back on the field, the NBA can get back on the court, and all the sports can get back out there and do their thing and give people a chance to rally around some positivity and support their team.”
As Turner notes, sports are powerful in that they have the ability to unite people and bring happiness to them during trying times. Retired Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully echoed a similar sentiment and believes the start of the 2020 MLB season will lift the United States from the coronavirus pandemic.
Turner additionally expressed a longing for the tedious aspects that came with the sport, explaining he now has a greater appreciation for them.
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