Regardless of your personal and individual opinion on the matter, and make no mistake about it, it is very much a personal and individual thing, when news broke on Friday afternoon that beloved Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner would not be disciplined by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred for clearly violating the strict health and safety protocols when he returned to the field to celebrate the Dodgers 2020 World Series victory with his teammates not two hours after testing positive for COVID-19, it made you shake your head at the irony.

That news in and of itself is not the ironic part. But what is, and what makes you shake your head, is that not four hours after Manfred released his ‘no-discipline’ statement, it was widely reported on social media that five members of the Dodgers organization had tested positive for the potentially deadly virus.

Here is MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s statement, verbatim and in its entirety, on the Turner investigation:

The basic facts are well known.  Justin Turner was removed from the game and directed to isolate after a positive test for COVID 19.  After the game concluded, Mr. Turner left isolation and joined the on-field celebration.  

As is often the case, our investigation revealed additional relevant information that, while not exonerating Mr. Turner from responsibility for his conduct, helps put into context why he chose to leave the isolation room and return to the field.  First, Mr. Turner’s teammates actively encouraged him to leave the isolation room and return to the field for a photograph.  Many teammates felt they had already been exposed to Mr. Turner and were prepared to tolerate the additional risk.  Second, Mr. Turner believes that he received permission from at least one Dodger’s employee to return to the field to participate in a photograph.  Although Mr. Turner’s belief may have been the product of a miscommunication, at least two Dodgers employees said nothing to Mr. Turner as he made his way to the field, which they admitted may have created the impression that his conduct was acceptable.  Third, during the somewhat chaotic situation on the field, Mr. Turner was incorrectly told by an unidentified person that other players had tested positive creating the impression in Mr. Turner’s mind that he was being singled out for isolation.  Finally, Major League Baseball could have handled the situation more effectively.   For example, in retrospect, a security person should have been assigned to monitor Mr. Turner when he was asked to isolate, and Mr. Turner should have been transported from the stadium to the hotel more promptly. 

Mr. Turner has publicly recognized that his conduct was wrong and has expressed remorse for that conduct.  I have spoken to him personally and I know that he is extraordinarily upset by the incident.  By all accounts, Justin is a leader in the clubhouse, a contributor to his community and a responsible person who was instrumental in the Dodgers diligently following the health protocols all season long.

Staging a baseball season during the COVID 19 pandemic is an incredibly difficult undertaking and it required significant sacrifices and an enormous amount of work by players, club staff and the Commissioner’s Office.  We all have made mistakes as we navigated these unprecedented challenges and have tried to learn from those mistakes so they are not repeated.  With this in mind, I am closing this matter by applauding Justin for accepting responsibility, apologizing and making a commitment to set a positive example going forward.  

Finally, I thank the millions of baseball fans for supporting the game in difficult times.  As a way of giving back, MLB, through its clubs, will make its COVID 19 testing laboratory available this off season to perform testing in under-served areas in the communities we call home.  We look forward to returning stronger in 2021.

Here is Justin Turner’s statement, verbatim, in its entirety:

In winning the World Series last Tuesday, my teammates and I delivered a championship to the city of Los Angeles after a long 32-year wait. We realized the dream of every kid who is a fan of our great game. However, it did not go the way I had dreamed or any of us would have hoped. As my teammates and I were on the verge of clinching the title, I was blindsided with the news that I had tested positive for COVID-19. I was promptly taken out of the game and my wife Kourtney was notified and immediately removed from the wives/family section at the stadium. We watched the final two innings of the game together in a doctor’s office in the back of the clubhouse.

Watching the conclusion of the game we experienced every emotion you could imagine – we were thrilled for my teammates, the Dodgers organization and all of its fans, and the city of Los Angeles, but also sad and confused with so many questions about what we were just told. It was a surreal moment. We sat and watched the celebration, the trophy presentation, and Seags win the much-deserved MVP trophy on a TV in the doctor’s office. I tweeted to assure everyone I was okay and to tell my teammates how proud of them I was that night.

I will not make excuses for my conduct, but I will describe my state of mind.  Winning the World Series was my lifelong dream and the culmination of everything I worked for in my career.  After waiting in the isolation room while my teammates celebrated on the field, I asked whether I was permitted to return to the field with my wife in order to take a photograph.  I assumed by that point that few people were left on the field.  I was under the impression that team officials did not object to my returning to the field for a picture with my wife.  However, what was intended to be a photo capturing the two of us turned into several greetings and photos where I briefly and unwisely removed my mask. In hindsight, I should have waited until the field was clear of others to take that photo with my wife. I sincerely apologize to everyone on the field for failing to appreciate the risks of returning to the field. I have spoken with almost every teammate, coach, and staff member, and my intentions were never to make anyone uncomfortable or put anyone at further risk. 

Kourt and I hold ourselves to the absolute highest standards. We worked diligently to comply with all of MLB’s protocols throughout the season. We were heavily involved in the planning of player/family safety to ensure the possibility of a postseason and World Series. We helped local businesses stay afloat by ordering meals to help the Dream Center of LA feed almost 1 million Angelenos during COVID lockdown.  Through my foundation, I will continue to support organizations in the Los Angeles area that assist our community in the battle against the virus.

The support and love that I have received from every one of them has truly left its mark on Kourt and me, and I could not be more proud to be a part of this team.

As you would expect, and keeping in line with their ridiculous (and unprofessional) bias shown during the historic World Series, several national media-types went off half-cocked (Google it, kids) at the initial news with a childish, finger-pointing ‘I told you so’ slant, clearly without reading the full details, as reported by Yahoo Sports’ Jack Baer.

In his article and even included in the title, Baer reported that none of those testing positive were within the quarantine ‘Bubble’ that Turner and all of his teammates and coaches were in throughout the 60-game regular season and the entire postseason, which several of those biased, half-cocked national media-types neglected to mention (go figure).

Although this entire matter now appears to (finally) be behind us, it’s probably safe to say that we haven’t heard the last of it from several of those ridiculous (and unprofessional) biased half-cocked national media-types who clearly get tremendous pleasure out of slamming the Dodgers at every given opportunity … because it’s just what they do.

Play Ball!

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