I've been checking guidelines on when state officials think it is safe to play baseball and other sports and under what conditions.
According to the state, moderate risk sports, which includes baseball, can start Monday, July 6 in those areas of the state that are designated "Phase III." The Capital Region is in that phase.
Our league's board has already posted some requirements, which seem in line with the state's. The board may want to give the info below a double-check and modify anything it thinks best.
Below are the restrictions that the state mandates. Boiled down, the idea is for players to keep their distances and keep themselves and their equipment clean.
The requirements for playing baseball are boldfaced below. They also apply to other moderate-level recreational activities such as softball, tennis doubles, racket games, water polo, soccer, flag football, swimming relays and crew with 2 or more rowers in shell.
Social distancing: a minimum of six feet between people. (Raises questions: Should we grant a six-foot-and-no-more lead for base runners from the bases, and then ban pickoffs and stealing the next base? Rule also suggests that lineups of post-game hand-slaps might be abandoned in favor of another custom, which we might devise? Maybe two teams standing 20 feet apart and tipping caps to one another? Or applauding one another?) Wearing masks when near others. (Suggests that catchers, batters and base runners should wear masks. Infielders too. For outfielders that would seem optional, though it might be wise given that outfielders can collide with one another or with infielders.) No sharing of equipment. (So double-check before you leave home that you've brought your bats, gloves, helmets, hats, sunglasses, phones, water, food & sunscreen and MASKS. In a wood-bat league it might be wise for each player to bring two bats.) Personal baseball equipment should be hung or stored at least six feet from other equipment; it should be cleaned as often as possible (the virus exists everywhere, including the dirt, so wiping down bats, gloves and, as much as possible, balls would make sense.) No more than two spectators per player, and they must follow social distancing/mask requirements; Leagues must post each of these requirements for the public to see. (Hanging several large printouts would seem to suffice.)
The state doesn't say the league needs to provide hand- or equipment-cleaning materials such as large bottles of sanitizer with paper towels nor does it require the league to provide masks. It makes obvious sense to bring our own. Pitchers, catchers and umpires might then use wipes to clean baseballs at sensible intervals.
If you've found that I've omitted anything, or, from your readings, misstated it, please correct me.
-Mike
-- Edited by mikehart on Sunday 28th of June 2020 01:44:08 AM
I think youve covered everything in need of covering.
However, we just played a scrimmage game on a privately run field and while we were required to wear masks into the stadium, once in the dugout, we were no longer required to wear them. And, we were allowed to wear them on the field if we wanted to, but were likewise not required on the field.
Personal experience: it was 93*F at game time and very humid. It was a struggle to breathe properly without masks on. I would reject a requirement to wear a mask while playing. The requirement to wear a mask is going to create a whole new set of problems.
Rob, you make a good point about wearing masks in the the heat and humidity. Not easy.
And Ralph, I like your whimsy. A post-game dance? Why not?
I imagine to be on the safe side, the league may need to mandate wearing masks sometimes. When and how often might be worked out in balanced, sensible ways between the league and the players.
I saw a video of how far the virus molecules can fly as someone expels them through coughs or from exercise. Twelve feet wasn't uncommon. The video also said the molecules can be active for up to 15 minutes in the open air. So, someone coughs out an invisible cloud of molecules, it lands on say, a bat or a catcher's mask, and trouble can brew. I don't know that we can be completely safe, but we really have to aim toward it.
I saw two TV pictures of a 22-year-old woman's lungs who'd died from Covid-19. On the left side of a split screen was an image of her lungs taken several years earlier. They actually looked beautiful, pinkish-white, healthy, and on the right side were what looked like two charcoal-black stumps. That little, invisible virus can do a lot of damage.
I have an especial eye out: in 2010 a little bugger, a bacteria called MRSA, entered my system, not sure how, though my suspicion lies with a mat or treadmill at the Y that I touched during exercise (but it could have been a door handle or shopping cart), and within a week, I had two spine surgeries and a hip surgery (the only way to treat MRSA now is to cut it out). One doctor told me that when the operating team opened me up they thought I had about "three hours left." This makes me a deep admirer of talent, whether we're talking Randy Craft at short or James Lawrence, MD at the Bone & Joint Center.
My MRSA experience and the current quarantine, along with the previous infections like SARS and Ebola, make me think we're entering what I'm not the first to call the Age of the Virus. We'll likely have to change all kinds of customs. Two years from now we may all still be wearing masks.
So, Ralph, I think we should listen to you. You've been to Covid and, thank heavens, back. You, and perhaps a few witty others in the league, can start thinking up new post-game customs. We can experiment. After my MRSA experience, I thought the Japanese had it right: no shaking hands ever when people meet. Instead, put your hands together, and bow to one another.
The Japanese also take off their shoes when they enter houses. Good idea, too.
So, a dosey-do? Sure. I'm up for that. Maybe get John Reel to teach us an Irish jig. Lots of post-game things to do.
Writing here isn't the same as facing Ralph's hummer or watching Rob fire a liner from home to second, but it's better than total quarantine.
I have been playing in the DCMSBL the last 2 weekends with my Mustang teammates. The rules down there are as follows
Social Distancing in the dugout as much as possible( this doesn't apply to most teams here because a lot of us don't use the dugouts anyway)
Masks are NOT required but some guys do wear them
Each team uses their own baseballs while in the field
No after game hand shakes ( just a tip of the cap)
Umpire calls pitches from behind the mound
Second umpire is 6 feet behind the catcher for calls at home and for follow balls down the lines ( this one is stupid IMO and many others. He pretty much does nothing the whole game which is a waste of money) Should be at first base
