There is professional baseball happening right now, as the highest league in the Dominican Republic is now underway, featuring top professionals there, as well as players coming from MLB and its farm systems. Given that there was a shortened big league season and no minor league season, it is all the more important for some of these guys to get in game action.
Unfortunately, the league is now dealing with a substantial COVID-19 outbreak, which is shutting down teams and games as we speak. Moreover, the league is also dealing with a scary situation involving the stud closer for the Eastern Stars, who has been arrested after allegedly threatening police with a shotgun:
El cerrador de las Estrellas Orientales amenazó con escopeta en mano a miembros de la policía, según informó la Policía Nacional
⠀#LIDOMxESPN pic.twitter.com/6JuxS10xHi— ESPN.com.do🇩🇴 (@ESPN_DO) November 23, 2020
APRESAN LANZADOR WIRFIN OBISPO POR VIOLAR TOQUE DE QUEDA.
La Policía Nacional informó este lunes sobre el apresamiento de Wirfin Obispo, lanzador del equipo de béisbol de las Estrellas Orientales junto a tres personas más por amenazar con escopeta en manos a miembros policiales pic.twitter.com/GQsZVftZZa— Grandes en los Deportes (@GrandesELD) November 23, 2020
Wirfin Obispo, 36, is a former Cincinnati Reds prospect who saw time in the Brewers, Pirates, and Braves organizations, has been an absolutely dominant reliever in the Dominican Republic and Mexico for years. Local reports suggest he and a group were out past curfew (implemented because of the pandemic), and when confronted by police, there was a physical escalation. Eventually, police shot out one of the group’s front tires(!?), and that’s when the shotgun came into play. Scary stuff, and thankfully it seems it didn’t lead to any shooting between the actual humans.
I won’t speculate on anything else that happened, but it’s awful to hear about such a scary situation involving a star baseball player in relation to pandemic restrictions at a time when there is a significant outbreak happening in that very league.