With the outbreak of the COVID-19 “coronavirus” that is in the news everywhere right now, it has moved into Major League Baseball. The Seattle Mariners have moved all of their home games for the month of March to either neutral sites or to their Spring Training complex. The Governor of Washington released a statement requiring that all large gatherings be canceled with the issues surrounding COVID-19.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee is expected to soon announce he is restricting gatherings of more than 250 people in King County where the #Mariners play. They have 16 home games before the end of April where they may have to relocate to Ariz. spring training site or neutral site.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) March 11, 2020
The Mariners have sixteen games in the month of the season that were scheduled to take place at T-Mobile Park. They open up the season against the Texas Rangers and then the Minnesota Twins at home which will now be moved to either neutral sites or their Spring Training home in Arizona. Following this, in April they have home series’s scheduled with the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Angels, and Houston Astros that will now need new homes.
On top of the Mariners, moving games around due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants will not be playing an exhibition game at Oracle Park due to the restrictions being placed by the government. Since the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that COVID-19 is a true global pandemic, Major League Baseball has been on high alert, with more and more teams shifting games around.
Major League Baseball has had quite the offseason with all of the issues surrounding the sign-stealing ordeal with the Houston Astros. However, the COVID-19 developments resulting in teams having to relocate games has become the new issue across the league as the season draws closer.
