Some good news out of the sports world from both Japan and South Korea over the past couple of days. The pictures above are from an intrasquad between the Hanwha Eagles in South Korea on Tuesday. Because South Korea was proactive with their early extensive testing and social distancing, players were able to step on a baseball field, wearing masks for safety of course, but they were able to get back to competing.
In Japan former A’s pitcher Zach Neal will be taking the mound for a professional game at the Sapporo Dome in Japan on Friday. The Seibu Lions will be taking on the Nippo Ham Fighters in an exhibition game with no fans in attendance. Japanese professional baseball was slated to start this Friday, but is now expected to start in just a few weeks. Their currently aiming to start on April 14th, with April 24th being worse case scenario.
When Neal found out they were pushing games back in Japan he thought it was just an overaction, but the Japanese were being proactive about taking safety measures. Because of this Neal was able to throw three innings two days ago in an actual spring training game. Another former A’s pitcher, Dan Straily, who signed with the Lotte Giants in South Korea, thinks baseball can resume soon their as well. After postponing the season opener, originally slated for March 28th, they’re optimistic that the season can start sometime in April. Straily believes they are about five weeks ahead of where we are at in the U.S. now. Neal and Straily stayed with their teams throughout the coronavirus outbreak and continued to practice. Meanwhile MLB has sent many players home from their workout facilities per CDC recommendation. Japan has a relatively low number of reported cases, with a total of 889 as of Wednesday afternoon, the World Health Organization reports. South Korea was initially hit hard by the spread of the virus, mainly centred around one city, but officials believe they have passed the peak of the outbreak.
The virus hit Japan in the middle of spring training for them, but Neal states that even though they continued to play, the Pacific League started taking precautions. They were taking players temperatures every day, stressing for players not to go out in big groups, ensuring players stay in their hotel, and continuously disinfecting everywhere the players went. What may have seemed as a mini quarantine at the time, surely helped baseball to continue to be played there. Straily was in Australia with his team for exhibition games when the virus hit South Korea. The team didn’t return back until a little more than a week later, but Straily said life is getting back to normal there. Busan, the second largest city in South Korea is bustling, as people continue to be cautious and trust the systems put in place for their safety.
As we continue to follow CDC recommendations and socially distance ourselves to slow down the spread of the virus, any sport in the U.S. continues be postponed or suspended. It really makes you wonder if we could have been more proactive in reducing the spread of the virus earlier. Countries like Japan and South Korea have shown us that life can start to return to normal sooner rather than later. We have to continue to do everything we can to slow down the spread of the virus in order for us to get over that peak. For now, baseball in Japan and South Korea will continue to be played.
The Washed Up Athlete 