November 6th, 2020 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka There is no denying that 2020 has been one of, if not the worst years in our planet’s history. And while hope springs eternal and all that, it’s looking like 2021 is lining up to be 2020 version 2.0.
A bit negative and pessimistic, you say? Absolutely; and every reason not to read on. But the brutally painful facts cannot be ignored.
Per the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, COVID-19 cases are going up, not down; as are COVID-19 related deaths:
- Countywide COVID-19 cases reported in the past 24 hours: 2,065
Total COVID-19 cases in L.A. County: 315,564 - New deaths related to COVID-19 reported in the past 24 hours: 25
Total COVID-19 deaths in L.A. County: 7,140 - Hospitalizations countywide: 825; 29% of whom are in the ICU.
Hospitalizations at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital as of Nov. 4: 13, with 315 discharged since the onset of the pandemic.
(Source: The Signal)
This most certainly is not what anyone wants to hear, but the facts are the facts, and the facts are telling us that we are not winning the battle against the deadliest pandemic planet Earth has seen since the bubonic plague.
So what does all of this doom and gloom have to do with baseball and the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers?
Everything.
In the simplest of terms, what we saw during the 2020 season is what we can pretty much expect to see in 2021 … and quite possibly beyond.
Although this is definitely not what anyone wants to hear, barring a sudden and miraculous discovery of a COVID-19 vaccine that be administered to every living person on the planet, the deadly virus won’t be going away any time soon.
To their credit, Major League Baseball did an outstanding job in minimizing the effects of COVID-19 among their respective players and staffs with their so-called “bubble.” But until that aforementioned vaccine becomes a reality, it is difficult to see any other option moving forward. That being said, if MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and the MLB Players Association get the ball rolling right now (no pun intended), there is every reason to believe that the 2021 season could – and probably will – have considerably more than a 60-game regular-season, although 162 may be a big ask.
But regardless of what MLB and the MLBPA agree upon, it is absolutely positively better than no baseball at all.
…so we’ve got that going for us.
Play Ball! … I hope.
* * * * * *
Posted in 
I completely agree with the sentiment of this piece Ron. A quote I’ve heard recently is, ” professional sports are a reward for a functioning society.” And concerning public health, we are not functioning very well as cases explode and hospitals are brought to brink; especially in rural areas like my state of Montana. However, a couple thoughts on Covid19 being the worst plaque since the black death: 1) Spanish flu killed an estimated 50,000,000 around 1919/1919. 2) HIV/AIDS, over a few decades has killed tens of millions. 3) smallpox and other diseases might have killed 100,000,000 in the western hemisphere once indigenous peoples were exposed after contact with Europeans.
Spanish flu: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-pandemic-h1n1.html
AID/HIV: https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/fact-sheet
Smallpox: Guns, Germs, and Steel. by Jared Diamond.
The most disturbing thing about Covid19 to me is that we should be sufficiently sophisticated enough to snuff it out with 1) science, 2) public health initiatives, a lot of 3) common sense and 4) compassion. For whatever the reasons may be, were are tragically short on all four of these fronts.
For what it’s worth Ron, I appreciate you being willing to address this subject on your blog. It’s pertinent to Major League Baseball and the world at large. I’d LOVE to see a Dodger’s game in person next summer. But there’s no way in hell I will unless a working vaccine has been distributed en masse.