When the Sports World Ground to a Halt

Here's what I posted after being at the Yankees and Nationals game on March 12th, 2020.

Not long after Thursday's Yankees/Nationals game began in West Palm Beach, word spread that it would be the last live baseball we'd see for a while. Efforts to contain the coronavirus outbreak had forced all the major sports to suspend games, in order to avoid large gatherings in concentrated places such as ballparks and arenas.

The game thus played out under eerie, almost unreal circumstances. Reaching the bottom of the 9th, the Yankees held the lead. Now, with two outs, Washington's Wilmer Difo faced Yankee pitching prospect Albert Abreu. Ball meets bat. Difo lifts a fly ball, pulled in by Thomas Milone.

What is Milone thinking as he grips the ball in his glove? Or Difo as the game ends? Both symbolically joined to hit a huge pause button halting the 2020 baseball season before it ever began.

Health and safety considerations outweigh the value of three hours of in-person, or even televised entertainment.

During this global pandemic, we're all entering uncharted territory. And for the moment, we're making the journey without baseball.

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