Baseball has major issues
Just after the first week of Major League Baseball games, the future of the season is already under significant doubt for two teams. That would be the Miami Marlins and, unfortunately, the Philadelphia Phillies! The Marlins had a significant outbreak of the virus in their roster with 17 players/coaches confirmed to have tested positive. Since they were playing the Phillies in this first series of the season, this news is pretty devastating to the hopes that either team will be able to continue their abbreviated season. Both teams are not allowed to play another game for at least a week.
I hope both teams will actually get to play starting next week. Because they don't report how sick the positive players are, it's hard to know what the outcome will be. This recent development has given the other teams a strong advantage over both the Phillies and the Marlins. As of now, the Phillies have only had one coach and a clubhouse attendant test positive, so their chances are significantly better than the Marlins for returning to the field.
For the first week of games, the Atlanta Braves have been the most impressive team by far in the Eastern division. They are going to be tough to beat if the season goes on as planned.
In golf, this weekend’s tournament is in Memphis, Tenn., at the TPC Southwind golf course. I hope they can complete all 72 holes by Sunday night because the weather is supposed to be terrible thanks to Tropical Storm Isaias that's moving up the eastern seaboard. They are expected to have a possible 2 to 6 inches of rainfall on the course, which could become a major problem. I say this because having delays that would cause this tournament to go into next week may affect the PGA Championship that's to be held at the Harding Park golf course in San Francisco next weekend. I know, boo hoo that they will have less practice time before the tournament, but it deserves mention.
I think Justin Thomas or Jon Rahm can win this week at Southwind since they both seem to have adjusted very well to having no fans. If they can keep up their level of play, it will be some impressive golf to watch, especially since there will be no Phillies games.
The NBA and NHL are about to start their seasons. Both sports are playing in a bubble format that should help to control outbreaks of this virus. There's a lot of games to be played over the next few months, and hopefully we will get to see some champions crowned by the end of October. Go Flyers and Sixers.
Stay cool and well and have a good weekend.
