New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) extended an invitation to Major League Baseball for its teams to play out the rest of their shortened season in New York, with the governor adding continuing professional baseball would “be good for the nation’s soul.”
The invitation comes after the final game of a two-game series between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies was postponed Tuesday as the teams and league awaited the results of COVID-19 tests of Phillies personnel. The Phillies played a weekend series against the Miami Marlins, a team with an outbreak of the coronavirus that includes 14 players and two coaches testing positive.
“New York state could host any Major League Baseball games that any teams want to play and they could play those games in our stadiums,” Cuomo said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “New York state has one of the lowest infection rates in the United States.”
“New York state has a full Department of Health protocol system in place. We have a testing system in place. I offer to Major League Baseball, if you’re having problems playing in other states, come play here,” he continued.
Cuomo added that a successful baseball season would be “good for the economy, I think it would be good for the psyche, I think it would be good for the nation’s soul.”
White House coronavirus task force member Anthony Fauci told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday that MLB’s season may be in jeopardy but doesn’t believe it should be halted.
“This could put it in danger,” Fauci said. “I don’t believe they need to stop, but we just need to follow this and see what happens with other teams on a day-to-day basis.”
The Yankees and Phillies were scheduled to play a home-and-home series this week, with the teams playing in Philadelphia on Monday and Tuesday before going north to New York for games on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Yankees returned to New York on Tuesday.
The NBA and NHL will return later this week, with professional basketball being played in the “bubble” of a major sports complex at Walt Disney World and hockey at two host cities in Edmonton and Toronto.