Breakthrough Cases

I was already on a baseball high having had my fun-filled Camden Yards adventure with Fan X. Then the baseball waters started to get a little bit choppy.

First, the Yankees shut out the Astros on Saturday night by a score of 1-0. Gerrit Cole pitched. He was dominant, throwing 129 pitches in a complete game. It was an epochal performance, punctuated by an Aaron Judge home run to complete the scoring. Judge made sure he reminded Houston, its fans and the baseball world that the Yankees did not take lightly to the Astros cheating when he tugged at his jersey while rounding third base, thus mimicking Jose Altuve’s gesture when he hit a walk off homer to down the Yankees in the 2018 ALCS. Altuve said it was to not expose a horrible tattoo; others thought it was to conceal the fact he was wearing a device to warn him about the type of incoming pitches. 

On Sunday, the Yankees finally hit the Astros pitching, leading 7-2 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, thanks to a late inning home run from the much-maligned Gary Sanchez. It seemed like the Yankees could actually sweep the injury-depleted Astros and vault themselves back into contention for the AL East  crown or the Wild Card.

Except that inning showed everything that is wrong with the team. Chad Green is a fine pitcher. He is not a closer. He also cannot be overworked. 

What choice did manager Aaron Boone really have, with alleged All-Star Aroldis Chapman possessing a recent E.R.A. over 34 in his recent outings and Zach Britton, a former closer with Baltimore, still on the IL? So he went with Green and the roof caved in. A six run outburst capped by a home run on a pitch below the strike zone by Altuve brought  the Yankees from almost certain victory to sudden defeat. This time, Altuve ripped off his jersey at home plate where he and his joyous teammates celebrated. And we saw the tattoo—it wasn’t so bad. 

I think Altuve is one of the greater players in baseball. Given his diminutive size, what he has accomplished at bat and in the field is remarkable. Without the cloud hanging over him and his fellow Astros players, coaches and then-GM, I believe Altuve would have been a lock for the Hall of Fame. That is going to play itself out in the future, no matter the body of work Altuve continues to display. 

Why awaken a team leader like Altuve like Judge did? He does not need extra motivation against the Yankees—both teams don’t like each other very much. Especially with your own team having glaring deficiencies in hitting and in the relief corps. 

That game may have sealed the Yankees fate. Sure, they play the Red Sox and Rays 11 times in the next couple of weeks. If they get hot, Chapman returns to form and the Red Sox and Rays start to fold in the July heat, then maybe a run is possible. Reinforcements might be coming from the IL and via trade.

Will it be enough to right the ship? Probably not. Why? Because on Thursday we learned that 6 Yankees had positive COVID-19 tests come back. Aaron Judge was one of them. Gio Urshela, the incumbent third baseman was another. Kyle Higashioka, Cole’s battery mate, is a third name which has been revealed. Plus three key relievers are out. 

Who knows how long and what the effects of this outbreak will be? New York is one of the teams with an 85% or greater vaccination rate. Boone stated that “most” of the affected had been vaccinated. I don’t quite know what that means, but it doesn’t remove the fact that they are unable to play and that each one might have greater health concerns for their lives, let alone their baseball careers.

When somebody who is vaccinated still gets the virus, the Center for Disease Control calls them “breakthrough cases.” We don’t know how or where the exposure occurred. It is a stark reminder to all athletes that the utmost care must be taken to ensure that they remain healthy and on the playing fields. 

With Judge apparently being one of the breakthrough cases, he has unwittingly made the entire Yankees team and the American League All-Star team subject to contact tracing at a minimum. Worse case scenario is that Judge infected a large swath of the best players in the American League, which could greatly impact how the season plays itself out and how the AL fares in the World Series. 

At a minimum, the Yankees are going to be subject to a few more doubleheaders if any more games in the Boston series and the upcoming two game home series with Philadelphia starting on Tuesday, are played. It is former manager Joe Girardi’s return to the Bronx and I wonder what kind of reception he will receive from Yankees fans. We still aren’t sure of the severity of the outbreak within the team and how many more players and other personnel might be affected, and for how long. 

I see that the virus is affecting the US Men’s Basketball Team. Washington Wizards start shooting guard Bradley Beal and another player are off the squad after testing positive. A team which is minus the great talents of the NBA, then losing Kevin Love to injury and awaits Kris Middleton and Devin Booker to be added to the squad once the NBA Finals ends, is showing how weak it is. And of course the team is very vulnerable to the disease. I don’t anticipate the U.S. winning gold this year unless a miracle happens in the form of new players like Booker and Middleton and the replacements forthcoming for those stricken with COVID-19 are able to enhance rather than merely fill out the roster. 

Which brings me to the subject of the Olympics. Japan is in the throes of a serious coronavirus health emergency. There will be no fans in attendance and the rules that are in effect for the athletes’ safety might make one wonder why they chose to go.  

Yet we al know that this is the grandest spectacle of sport. International competition to see who is, at that moment, the best in the world in their particular event. 

I could not help but think about the health of the athletes when I saw Simone Biles and the U.S. Women’s Gymnastic Team arrive in Tokyo this week. I think of track performer Sydney Mc Laughlin and her safety. Or Todd Frazier, a Rutgers and an ex-Yankees and Mets baseball player. I applaud them for their courage and sacrifice while hoping and praying that this exposition does not become a mass spreader event. 

Let’s be real about this. These Olympics, already once delayed, were going to happen this year, come hell or high water, or even a continuation of the plague enveloping the world. 

There is way too much money at stake here. The investment by NBC is supposed to help ratings with a more captive audience this Summer. 

But the ratings for the recent MLB All-Star Game were down. I am going to hazard a guess that the NBA Finals ratings will not meet those of recent years—Phoenix and Milwaukee are very good teams that deserve to be playing for the championship. There isn’t the star power that draws viewers when Lebron James or James Harden or Steph Curry are in action.

NBC will recoup what it can from this Olympics. Their investment won’t be as profitable as anticipated. It still is the participants who I worry most about instead of the bottom line that the beancounters and investors are watching.

We are still in the midst of this pandemic. Make no mistake about it. The infection rates are beginning to climb in all but one state. In some places, the hospitals are beginning to reopen COVID wards while other locales are straining with a mounting number of newly-infected younger adults. Los Angeles County, the largest county in the country, has reinstated a mask mandate for inside any venue. The goal of 70% vaccination of the population is a pipe dream. 

No one ever said this battle was over. Americans like to think of winning and we can defeat anything with our hard work. This is when we are united, working toward a common goal with maximum effort. 

Unfortunately, that is far from the case in the United States. There is a tremendous political/moral/ethical divide which is not going to dissipate any time soon. Fear on many fronts also is a determining factor why we aren’t more vaccinated as a nation.This will hold up any chance of keeping a grip on the coronavirus as it mutates into even more virulent forms like the Delta variant and its successors. 

We don’t even know or understand the extent of the vaccines presently in use and how well they afford protection. Pfizer has indicated that it is working on a booster shot to supplement their vaccine. That is worrisome enough and there will be a large segment of those already vaccinated who will shun a yearly booster for a variety of reasons, from ethnicity to bad experiences with the first rounds of inoculations. 

There is a need to maintain some semblance of normalcy. Our fragile economy requires a well-oiled, functional system. This includes the entertainment industry, where sports is a prominent fixture. 

However, so much is out of whack right now that we are dealing with mirages. Gas and food prices have soared. Try to get a device with a microchip—good luck. Used car and house sales are above asking price, and cash will win the day. 

No matter what calming words Dr. Anthony Fauci or Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the faces of science and medicine during this health crisis, have to offer, COVID-19 is still at the forefront of our lives. We may have to wear masks for an indeterminate period—for senior citizens like myself it may be for the remainder of our lives.  

Sports may continue to be impacted for years to come. Health and safety concerns will be continually modified, adapting to the forms that the virus creates. 

I felt almost euphoric being in a stadium last Saturday when Fan X and I were seated with 26,000 others at Camden Yards. I started to dream about going to another baseball game this season, in a quest to capture those five sites that would complete my MLB odyssey. My son and I were talking about finding a hockey game to attend in Canada if the border restrictions were relaxed, thereby renewing our father-son excursions. 

I have begun to question the safety at Jets games this fall. I immediately turned down a chance to go to training camp in Florham Park—there would be too much mingling and I have already been there, so it was not essential. So, too, have I begun to wonder if going to the RAC to watch Rutgers play men’s basketball may be in jeopardy. 

I wanted to extol the beauty of New York Mets 1B Pete Alonso’s performance in the Home Run Derby on Monday night. His brash, cocky attitude was backed up by the sheer awesomeness of his performance. I hope he is able to attempt a three-peat next year. I so enjoyed his happiness in smashing baseball into orbit. Kudos also to Trey Mancini of the Baltimore Orioles, who put on a wonderful show that was topped only by Alonso. 

I love the MLB All-Star Game. I always have. Watching Shohei Ohtani of the Angels both pitch and hit was remarkable. Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. from the Blue Jays is a beast and is near Triple Crown numbers. His 468 foot blast was monstrous. He deserved to be named M.V.P. of the game. Liam Hendriks, the Aussie reliever from the White Sox, who we saw shut the door on the Orioles on Saturday, was a pumped up closer for the AL on Tuesday night. 

Once more, the American League extended its recent domination over the National League in this contest. The Americans have won 8 straight and 19 of the last 23 games. Interestingly, the all-time series record is 46-43-2 in favor of the AL. The NL has the longest consecutive win streak at 11. Now the Guerreros have joined the Bonds and Griffey father-son combinations as All-Star home run hitters. Guerrero, Jr. is the second-youngest to hit a home in the Mid-Summer Classic. Add in the two home runs hit by opposing catchers, only done once before, along with some great defense and timely hitting and pitching, and it added up to an enjoyable prelude to the beginning of the second half of the season. Until Thursday late afternoon. 

The NBA Finals have been very enjoyable. It has been a home court series thus far, with Game 5 set for Saturday night in Phoenix. While Kris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo have starred for the Bucks and Devin Booker has shown why he is a budding superstar in carrying Phoenix, this series is still going to be decided by which team plays better defense in what is now a best 2 out of 3 series. 

Thus I end this rant with this thought—I hope that the term Breakthrough cases will not be used more frequently than it is thus far. For if it does, I don’t know what the future will look like for us, and for athletics.