Great American Ball Park stands vacant on what was scheduled to be the Cincinnati Reds 2020 Opening Day. Cincinnati Enquirer
As the warm weather arrives and people dream of some normalcy with sports, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball will serve as a cautionary tale.
Japan’s top pro baseball league planned to begin its season on April 24. Teams returned to play exhibition games without any fans. It appeared the country was containing the spread of the novel coronavirus to minimal numbers.
Then three players from the same team, the Hanshin Tigers, tested positive for COVID-19. The team suspended practices for nearly a week, disinfected its stadium and instructed all players and staff to self-quarantine, but the damage was already done.