Commentary: So, Um, What the Hell Happened Last Night?
The 2020 MLB season is finally over. With Willy Adames’ strikeout last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers finally completed their eight-year quest for a ring and won the World Series. It was supposed to be a moment of triumph - both for the team and for MLB. After all, the 2020 season looked doomed after the first two weeks, and a few months ago it looked like it might not even happen at all. But after facing initial adversity in the form of COVID-19, MLB found a way to make it through the season without any more major outbreaks. And now, both they and the Dodgers were ready to bask in the glory of their accomplishment.
However, the celebration wouldn’t last for long.
Near the end of Game 6, Dodgers 3B Justin Turner was pulled from the game without warning, leaving many people to speculate what had happened to him. At the time, many just assumed he was injured in some way, and was being looked at in the clubhouse. It’s the kind of thing that happens all the time in professional sports, so nothing was really thought of it at the time. Besides, both the fans and the players had a pretty big game to focus on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the confetti started flying that we started to learn what was actually going on.
While some reports had already started coming out on Twitter at the time, most people found out about it through the Fox broadcast. It was thrown in, almost as an afterthought, as they sent it back to the field for the trophy presentation.
Man, what a game! Blake Snell was electric, Kevin Cash made one of the worst calls in World Series history, and Mookie led the Dodgers to their first title in 32 years! Oh, and Justin Turner tested positive for COVID. Now, here’s the Commissioner’s Trophy!
The celebration was tainted before it even truly began. According to the reports that have come out regarding the incident, Turner’s latest test came back as “inconclusive” around the second inning of Game 6. Upon learning this, MLB ordered the test he took that morning to be expedited, and that test was what came back positive. This was what led to his removal from the game, and his subsequent isolation. But at that point, the damage may have already been done. The Dodgers were out on the field in various stages of mask-wearing. They were running around, hugging each other, and celebrating with their wives and small children - all while seemingly unaware of what was going on in their locker room.
But even up to that point, while it obviously was a bad look to have someone test positive at THAT moment, things had been done by the book. We definitely should be asking why the results weren’t available sooner and what the testing schedule was like leading up to this, but there wasn’t a ton to criticize without further information. They got the inconclusive test, ran the new test as soon as possible, and got him away from the other players right after receiving the positive result. It seemed like they did what they were supposed to do, it was just an incredibly unfortunate situation. But what happened after the news broke was what sent this situation from unfortunate to downright ridiculous.
First, there was Rob Manfred. While many were rightfully confused and concerned about his slow and slurred speech throughout the trophy and award presentations, there was something else that bothered me that didn’t get as much attention: he wasn’t wearing a mask. Now, perhaps I just wasn’t looking closely enough and he only took it off for his TV appearances, but it appeared that he was going maskless - even as the reporters, players, and executives around him (for the most part) kept theirs on or visible during their interviews.
At this point, he had to have known what was going on, right? And even if Turner hadn’t tested positive, he should’ve known how bad of a look it would be (for him and the game) if he didn’t have his mask visible on camera. I mean, considering how much criticism he has received for his handling of 2020 and the dumpster fire that was the first two weeks of the season, you would think he would at least be aware of the optics here. Apparently not. But before Twitter even got it’s chance to go in on him, something else happened that took the attention away from everything that was happening at that time.
Inexplicably, Justin Turner returned to the field.
They told him what the situation was. They told him he had to isolate himself and quarantine. They told him not to participate in the celebration and festivities. But yet, he just said “nah” and ran out on the field. And they just let him. Granted, no one wants to get in the way of an active COVID carrier, but the fact that no one was able to keep him away is a huge failing of Major League Baseball.
Look, I get it. It sucks to wait your entire career for this moment and not be on the field to celebrate. It must have been eating him alive. But with that being said, his decision to break protocol and go back to the field with his team, their families, and all of the crew members was one of stupidest and most selfish decisions I have ever seen. And what made it ten times worse was that while he did bring a mask, he ended up taking it off on multiple occasions - including the official team photo:
If I’m being honest, this is such a fitting picture. It really does put an exclamation point on one of the most ridiculous seasons in MLB history. In a year filled with labor disputes and gimmicky rule changes that was almost derailed by a trip to the casino, it only makes sense that the final day of the MLB season would also be overshadowed by stupidity - from Kevin Cash taking out Blake Snell, to the commissioner not wearing a mask, to Justin Turner putting everyone’s health at risk. It couldn’t have just ended on a happy note.
And it’s especially sad because there was so much to be happy about last night. One of the greatest pitchers of our generation finally got his long-awaited title. The second-best player in the game left his mark all over the field and led his team to glory. And Dodgers fans everywhere finally got to celebrate after 32 years of heartbreak. But because of the actions of one man, all we can do is focus on is the potential consequences of that action.
Such is life in the year of our lord 2020.