Not exactly a banner day for MLB’s efforts to play through a pandemic. The Cardinals may have additional positives and have had another series axed. The Indians had to send a player home because he decided to go out with friends against protocols.
And now the A’s and Astros got into a full-on brawl:
— Jessica Kleinschmidt (@KleinschmidtJD) August 9, 2020
Laureano charges the Astros dugout and the brawl breaks out pic.twitter.com/CQ2K8kFnlb
— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) August 9, 2020
On-field transmission should be exceedingly unlikely when you consider the limited exposures, the natural distancing, and the outdoor nature of baseball. Unless you do crap like that. I know that teams and players are hot about the Astros, and I know that there is going to be friction like this. But a brawl? All those guys clumped together, huffing and puffing on each other like that? It’s the coronavirus’s dream.
Apparently that was Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron and A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano chirping, and both are going to be punished heavily for this. Cintron, as a coach, is probably gonna get hammered, and justifiably so.
Hopefully it’s only a matter of meting out that punishment and not worrying about a positive test showing up for one of these teams and then worrying that there was subsequent spread – remember, there’s a lag between the time tests are taken and the time results are received. You want to talk about MLB’s nightmare scenario? It’s one of these guys coming back with a positive tomorrow from a test they took this morning.
UPDATE: I’m not gonna *entirely* excuse Laureano here, but if this is true, his reaction is pretty understandable, and also that coach should be suspended for the season:
Bob Melvin on the brawl: "Ramón doesn't go there unless something completely offensive came out of the dugout. And I think the league knows who that is. And that person should be suspended. So hopefully that's the case."
— Shayna Rubin (@ShaynaRubin) August 9, 2020
We’ll know more soon, but a person I respect has been told that the A’s Ramón Laureano charged toward Alex Cintron because Cintron mentioned Laureano’s mother in a bad way.
In Latino culture, those are fighting words. #Astros #Athletics— Jose de Jesus Ortiz (@OrtizKicks) August 9, 2020