MLB slams Dodgers star for returning to field after positive test

Major League Baseball slammed Dodgers star Justin Turner for celebrating with his teammates after the team’s World Series win late Tuesday despite testing positive for COVID-19.

The league office said the third baseman “emphatically refused to comply” with MLB security while putting “everyone he came into contact with at risk.”

Turner was taken off the field before the eighth inning of Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Rays in Arlington, Texas, after his test was returned positive during the deciding game of the World Series and his team just six outs from ending a 32-year championship drought.

But after the Dodgers later recorded the final out in the team’s 3-1 victory, Turner celebrated with teammates on the field, at times without a mask.

“Following the Dodgers’ victory, it is clear that Turner chose to disregard the agreed-upon joint protocols and the instructions he was given regarding the safety and protection of others,” MLB said in a Wednesday statement.

“While a desire to celebrate is understandable, Turner’s decision to leave isolation and enter the field was wrong and put everyone he came in contact with at risk. When MLB security raised the matter of being on the field with Turner, he emphatically refused to comply,” it adds.

Turner shared Tuesday night on Twitter that he felt “great” and had “no symptoms at all” from the novel coronavirus.

“Thanks to everyone reaching out! I feel great, no symptoms at all. Just experienced every emotion you can possibly imagine. Can’t believe I couldn’t be out there to celebrate with my guys! So proud of this team & unbelievably happy for the City of LA,” he wrote.

Dodgers star outfielder Mookie Betts said that despite the positive test, Turner deserved to be part of the festivities.

“He’s part of the team,” Betts told ESPN. “Forget all that, he’s part of the team. We’re not excluding him from anything.”

Turner sat next to manager Dave Roberts — a cancer survivor — without a mask.

Dave Roberts was diagnosed with a form of cancer in 2010. Turner, and the team, know he has COVID at this moment. No one wearing a mask. Because honestly, the machismo and “he’s part of the team” overrode all of the commonsense. Black eye for baseball, part 382929 pic.twitter.com/ikWztgCqPD

— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) October 28, 2020