On Friday, professional baseball players were told by the MLB and MLBPA that amid the coronavirus outbreak, they could stay at their team’s spring training facility, go to their offseason homes, or go to their team’s home city.
Cincinnati Reds pitcher and Hart High School alumnus Trevor Bauer helped develop a fourth option.
“You think we could get some of the guys together at a random field in PHX and have a pickup baseball game, sandlot style?” fellow Reds pitcher David Carpenter asked Bauer in a tweet.
“I’m 100000000000000% in,” Bauer replied.
On Saturday night at Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac, Cleveland Indians pitchers and former teammates of Bauer’s, were in attendance in addition to the San Diego Padre’s Tommy Pham and Cleveland’s Derek Dietrich all gathered in Scottsdale at Miracle League of Arizona.
Players were mic’d up for a very casual whiffle ball game that was streamed on Momentum, Bauer’s website and is also available to watch on YouTube.
Bauer used the opportunity to draw attention to a good cause as well. He created a GoFundMe called “Cincinnati Reds Game Day Staff Coronavirus Relief” to raise money for Great American Ball Park staff that is out of work due to the MLB’s temporary shutdown. On Tuesday afternoon, Bauer had raised nearly $25,000 of his $1 million goal.
The MLB’s opening day is scheduled for March 26, pending any changes to the season.
