KNBR
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The Coronavirus has been nearby, a patient in the next-door HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center testing positive for COVID-19. Yet, Tuesday may have been the first day the scare hit Giants camp.
Media and any team personnel deemed non-essential are now barred from the clubhouse, part of a group decision from MLB, NBA, MLS and the NHL. Players are being asked to sign balls and cards and various material for fans in advance and then then the items will be passed out, rather than exchanging pens and possibly germs. Brandon Crawford noted he used a “brand-new” sharpie, so careful the Giants are being.
Crawford also said family members are being asked to stay away from the Giants facilities.
“We’re not supposed to be bringing anyone else into the clubhouse, it’s just supposed to be players,” Crawford said from outside a side field at Scottsdale Stadium, several players brought out to media. The guidelines say media and players are supposed to stand 6-8 feet apart, yet the Giants are not bringing out rulers.
As the virus spreads and concerns heighten — Italy is essentially shut down, where the number of death from the disease reportedly jumped from 366 to 463 on Monday — the precautions have begun.
“Wash your hands. Try to avoid being around big groups,” Evan Longoria said, asked about the players’ instructions, as hand sanitizers have popped up around the locker room. “My wife is all worried now because they’re going to make five trips on airplanes the first month of the season with kids.”
He’s passing it forward, too, “Making sure that my kids aren’t picking their nose and eating their boogers.”
It was a passing joke in a serious time. The season begins — or is scheduled to begin — March 26 in Los Angeles. The Sharks are figuring out how to proceed after Santa Clara County implemented a three-week ban on gatherings of 1,000 or more people.
The possibility that games will begin without people in Oracle Park seats should not be written off.
“I’ve played in some nearly empty ballparks,” Longoria, the former Tampa Bay Ray, said with a smile, before clarifying he meant in the minor leagues, too. “We do get a lot of energy from the fans. … A lot of emotion comes from the amount of people that are in the ballpark.”
Longoria said he hopes it doesn’t get to that point, and both he and Crawford thought the fears may be a bit much. They were preparing to host the Cubs in front of an Arizona crowd that would approach 10,000.
“It’d be kind of weird, quiet,” Crawford said about playing without fans watching.