The Dodgers’ World Series title has been overshadowed by two things. One is Kevin Cash’s decision to pull Blake Snell even while the Rays ace seemed to have Los Angeles on its knees. The other is the appearance of Justin Turner on the field to celebrate with his teammates after the Dodgers clinched the title.
BSM’s Jay Mariotti was disgusted by the lack of urgency shown by Major League Baseball after it learned that the Dodgers third baseman had tested positive for COVID-19 and even more upset by him returning to the field to celebrate rather than going into quarantine.
“Usually, the end of a baseball season smells like champagne,” Mariotti wrote. “This one smells like a skunk.”
“They really put the contagious guy right in the middle of the team photo, too, next to the trophy,” Jesse Spector wrote for Deadspin. “That’s cool, it probably works easiest that way to map out the contact tracing from patient zero.”
“The folks in Los Angeles may be euphoric having the Dodgers bring a World Series championship to town, but pardon their enthusiasm being dampened with the fear of a coronavirus outbreak coming with them,” Bob Knightengale wrote in an article for USA Today that said Turner’s presence on the field for the celebration “marred” the night.
That was the tone of most reactions to Turner returning to the field after the results of his COVID test were revealed.
Albert Burneko of Defector Media took a slight turn in his criticism. He wrote that every message Major League Baseball sent in this strange season, every decision it made indicated that it never had a firm grasp on how seriously to take the coronavirus.
Pat McAfee took an opposite stance from most. On his SiriusXM Radio show, the former NFL punter was surprised anyone expected Turner to follow what he was told in the first place after being allowed to play eight innings before the results of his test came back.
“If any Dodgers die, I know who I’m blaming – that red-haired son of a bitch!’ said McAfee.
McAfee’s argument was that Turner had already been around his teammates all day. They had already high-fives multiple times and thrown a baseball around all night. What difference does coming out to celebrate make at that point?