The Major League Baseball campaign, postponed and shortened by the pandemic, finally got underway on Thursday. Without spectators, with a Dominican player marginalized by a COVID-19 infection and with acts that made reference to racial injustice as well as to the global health crisis itself.
“It is difficult to describe this. It’s like 2020 staged in a flash, ”Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle said. “A very emotional day.”
As for baseball, it fell short of nine innings. The New York Yankees beat Washington 4-1 in a game that ended in the sixth inning after a long interruption by torrential rain.
What started as a cloudy afternoon with a temperature close to 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) turned into a stormy night, with lightning and gusts of wind, forcing the match to stop in the top of the sixth inning.
After a wait of one hour and 58 minutes – 15 minutes longer than the game had lasted until then – the Yankees’ victory was declared, supported by the performances of Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, as well as the meteorological conditions.
“There was a lot of fun. No one could have envisioned the kind of year we were going to have but, with those parameters, this exceeded my expectations, “said Cole. “They just hit me with a big hit.”
Before the duel, the Nationals and the Yankees knelt at the same time, before facing each other.
The pre-game ceremony included references to the “Black Lives Matter” movement, the coronavirus pandemic – Dr. Anthony Fauci made the first pitch – and the World Series title won by the Nationals in 2019.
Players from both clubs wore jerseys that read “Black Lives Matter” during batting practice. The initials of that movement (BLM), which coincide with those of the Major Leagues but inverted (MLB), were stenciled on the back of the mound.
In an allusion to protests against racism in the United States, players and other members of the two teams held up a long black cloth while standing guard over the two foul lines.
After placing the cloth on the ground, everyone dropped to one knee. Then they got up to listen to a recording of the national anthem.
The Yankees decided Wednesday that they wanted to kneel for 60 seconds before the anthem. New York leaders asked those in Washington if that time could be added to the script for the pre-match ceremony.
And the Nationals responded that they wanted to join the Yankees.
“We have had conversations as an organization and as a team. We have had conversations between small groups and between two people, ”said manager Aaron Boone hours before the meeting. “And in a way we decided that … well, as a team, we were going to manifest something on the ground.”
The event followed a series of videos shown on the giant screen behind the gardens: About Racial Equity, with images by Aaron Judge of New York and Howie Kendrick of Washington, on the coronation of the Nationals and in reference to the pandemic. .
With no spectators present to appreciate the celebrations, flags commemorating the franchise’s first title were raised, beyond right field and above the screen.
“2019 World Champions,” read a red mat placed in the batting box during the pre-match ceremony.
Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert, was invited by the Nationals to make the first pitch. Wearing a mask, the renowned doctor made a very wide shot from the plate.
The ball got away from Washington reliever Sean Doolittle, who served as catcher.
In contrast, Cole (1-0) looked like the star starter the Yankees had hoped for when they signed him as a free agent for nine years and $ 324 million – the biggest deal ever for a pitcher.
Cole allowed only one hit in his five innings of work: a solo home run by Adam Eaton in the first inning.
The ball landed on one of the advertising tarps, which now spread across much of the unused seats at Nationals Park.
This was the beginning of a campaign shortened from 162 to 60 games, and no spectators — at least at the beginning.
Max Scherzer (0-1) had struck out 11 opponents and was still in the game for the Nationals when the action stopped. He allowed a two-run, 459-foot home run to Stanton in the first inning and an RBI double to Judge in the third.
Stanton added another run in the fifth act, with an RBI single off Scherzer.
The Nationals did not have the Dominican star Juan Soto, who tested positive for coronavirus.
For the Yankees, Venezuelan Gleyber Torres 2-0. The Dominican Gary Sánchez 3-0. Colombian Gio Urshela 2-1 with a run scored.
For the Nationals, the Dominicans Starlin Castro 2-0, Victor Robles 2-0. The Venezuelan Asdrúbal Cabrera 1-0. AP (HN)
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