No Cubs COVID-19 Cases at the Moment, Baseball’s Ultimate Journeyman, and Other Cubs Bullets

March 19, 2020, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

The shutdown situation is just going to be hell on my weight, man. Yeah, yeah, lesser concerns and all that, but when you can’t go to your gym, when you’re able to do delivery and carryout, and when you have high anxiety that screams at you to “EAT YOUR FEELINGS, YOU DESERVE IT NOW MORE THAN EVER!” … oof. Months of this? A lesser concern than other health issues at the moment, but I’d like to keep up the other healthy stuff, too.

This is good news so far for the Cubs organization:

Cubs: As of Wednesday no players or employees in organization have tested positive for COVID-19. (This in wake of news of NYY minor-leaguers and AZ-based Reds employee testing positive).
— Gordon Wittenmyer (@GDubCub) March 18, 2020

Exposures in Arizona seem to have been lower during the period of time the Cubs were huddled up, so it’s possible they would have avoided infection by the time things really started getting shut down. Yes, for the *most* part young and healthy individuals are handling COVID-19 well enough, but we can’t say that is 100% the case, and, because it causes pneumonia, there can be a long-term impact on lung performance and capacity. So, then, within the context of wanting EVERYONE to stay healthy, yes, I also very much want all Cubs players to stay healthy through this pandemic.
Cardinals ownership has reached out to fans about the Coronavirus pandemic, which provides some additional thinking on scheduling:

“We are supportive of this decision as the health and safety of our fans, players, and staff is our highest priority. The situation is fluid. It evolves by the hour, and unfortunately we don’t have a date we can circle on the calendar for Opening Day yet.
What we do know is that MLB will continue to share updates regarding plans for the 2020 schedule in the days and weeks ahead, and we will share news as it becomes available, along with news specific to Busch Stadium and other events.
MLB has a variety of contingency plans, and we will remain flexible with the hope of resuming normal operations as soon as possible. When the season does begin, MLB will be committed to playing as many games as possible.”

Baseball’s consummate journeyman at a time where there’s nowhere to journey:

If you hate sitting at home, imagine how Edwin Jackson feels.
He's played for 14 MLB teams. Between the majors and minors, he's worn 19 different jerseys since 2015. He's 36 but has no interest in retiring.
He is baseball's ultimate nomad.https://t.co/QL8VDKjJcf
— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) March 17, 2020

What a fantastic read. Jackson, who already holds the record for most teams played for (14), has been especially itinerant the last five years: “The last five years of his career — ever since the Cubs released him with one year to go on the four-year, $52 million deal they signed him to in 2012 — the right-hander has been baseball’s ultimate nomad. Since August 2015, he has been employed by nine different major-league organizations. In that span, he’s worn 18 different jerseys between the majors and minors, including six over the course of last season alone. He’s signed eight minor-league deals and has been designated for assignment four times.”
Despite how things went on the field with Jackson, and despite what you might assume based on the fact that he’s been on so many teams, he was always a guy who had one of the best attitudes on the team. He faced the media, he was positive and thoughtful, and guys liked and supported him. It didn’t work out with the Cubs, but it’s been fun to follow his career. Could you have named all 14 of his teams without looking at that picture there? Among the 14, I totally do not remember him hitting up the Padres and Cardinals.

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80-grade name, too:

We got baseball at the BioProject! Orval Overall notched a 2.26 career ERA (121 ERA+) & helped the @cubs to 4 pennants & 2 WS titles in 5 yr-span (1906-10). Tossed 30 shutouts in 183 starts. His @sabr bio https://t.co/6NGcu0aZe7 pic.twitter.com/iHVDLY1Fht
— SABR BioProject (@SABRbioproject) March 19, 2020