New York Yankees skipper Aaron Boone provides his thoughts on the schedule changes amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The outbreak of the harmful coronavirus has caused the sports world to come to a halt, with Major League Baseball serving as one of the victims. The league has officially decided to cancel spring training and delay Opening Day by at least two weeks. The start of the regular season was supposed to occur on Thursday, March 26.
It’s an interesting time to be a sports fan, and many in and around professional and collegiate-level athletics have come together to provide their thoughts. One of the latest is New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, who spoke after what could’ve been his team’s final game for a significant period of time.
“I’m not overly emotional about [the schedule changes],” Boone said after the Bombers’ 6-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday, per Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media. “This is obviously a unique situation. It’s bigger than baseball, so you just kind of want to be part of doing your best on behalf of the world. You don’t want to contribute to this becoming a real poor situation, so we’ll be cooperative and try to play our part the best way we can.”
The Yankees were slated to take on the Orioles in Baltimore on Opening Day. At the moment, it’s very unclear when exactly the 2020 regular season will commence. Two weeks after the original Opening Day date is April 9. Nonetheless, ESPN’s Jeff Passan said the season isn’t likely to begin until May, at the earliest.
Joined @GetUpESPN this morning to talk about how the distinct expectation among those in baseball — owners, players, executives, nearly everyone — is that the earliest we’re likely to see games again is May. pic.twitter.com/S4bUktlFt5
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 13, 2020
Regardless of when the baseball season starts, it’s a tragic time in our lives. Simply speaking, a sad and unfortunate period, and this may only be the beginning.