Only 13 new positive cases of COVID-19 were detected by MLB in its initial round of COVID-19 testing ahead of full-squad spring training, the league announced on Friday.
The new cases represent 0.3 per cent of the 4,336 intake tests as players and staff reported to team facilities in preparation for spring training games.
Nine of the 13 positive tests were produced by players, while four came from staff members. The 13 positives were spread among 11 teams.
MLB also announced that once players have cleared intake testing they will continue to be tested regularly, and 2,298 additional monitoring tests have been processed without any new positives.
Pitchers and catchers for all teams had already reported to team facilities in Arizona or Florida. Most clubs plan to start full-squad workouts on Monday, with the first spring training games scheduled for Sunday, February 28.
The 2021 MLB regular season will begin April 1 under a number of coronavirus safety and testing guidelines.
Bailey, Nicholson back in Reggae Boyz squad for Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against USA; Isaac Hayden gets maiden call-up
Attackers Leon Bailey and Shamar Nicholson are back in the Reggae Boyz squad for their Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against defending champions the USA on November 14 and 18.
The Reggae Boyz will first host the Americans at the National Stadium in Kingston on the 14th before travelling to St. Louis for the return leg at Energizer Park four days later.
Bailey is returning after missing the last two Reggae Boyz squads through injury while Nicholson is back after asking to be left out of the last squad to work on his match sharpness with club Spartak Moscow.
“We’ve had several conversations and really formed a good bond between us,” Reggae Boyz head coach Steve McClaren said about Bailey.
“He was so unlucky to miss the first two camps through injuries but now he’s had two or three weeks after missing the last camp where he’s got his fitness back. He’s playing 90 minutes regularly now. He’s absolutely delighted and can’t wait to come over and be part of the squad,” he added.
McClaren also offered words on Nicholson’s return.
“We kept in touch wit Shamar since the last camp and we fully understood that he wanted to stay at his club and regain his fitness. He hired a personal trainer that’s been working hard with him, He’s been getting more minutes within his club and scoring goals,” he said.
“Speaking to him this week, he’s focused and fitter. He feels ready to contribute to our team so we’re delighted to have him,” he added.
Joining Bailey and Nicholson among the forwards in the squad are Michail Antonio, Kaheim Dixon, Romario Williams, Renaldo Cephas and Demarai Gray.
Queen’s Park Rangers holding midfielder Isaac Hayden is part of the squad for the first time since committing his international future to the Reggae Boyz.
“The JFF has been chasing him for quite some time. I’ve had about two or three calls with him since I took the job. He’s desperate to play and he’s at that stage in his career where he needs to kick on and this is one of the ways that he can,” McClaren said.
The former Arsenal and Newcastle United midfielder is expected to provide some stability in the middle of the park, something that the Reggae Boyz have been lacking for some time.
"He will be a welcome addition to our squad in terms of a genuine No.6 who's played at the highest level in that position," McClaren said.
Joining him in the midfield in the are Joel Latibeaudiere, Karoy Anderson, Kasey Palmer and Tyreek Magee.
Regulars Damion Lowe and Ethan Pinnock lead a defensive unit including Richard King, Tayvon Gray, Dexter Lembikisa, Mason Holgate, Di’shon Bernard, Amari’i Bell and Greg Leigh.
Captain Andre Blake, Jahmali Waite and Shaquan Davis are the goalkeepers.
Players missing out on this trip include attacker Norman Campbell and midfielder Bobby Reid whose wife is expecting a child during the international break.
“We want everyone involved”- Chung hoping for massive support for Reggae Boyz in Nations League Quarterfinal against USA
General Secretary of the Jamaica Football Federation, Dennis Chung, is hoping that Jamaicans come out in their numbers to support the Reggae Boyz during both legs of their CONCACAF Nations League Quarter-final at the National Stadium in Kingston on Thursday, November 14 and Energizer Park in St. Louis, Missouri on Monday, November 18.
The Reggae Boyz will be looking for revenge over their American counterparts after suffering defeat to them at the semi-final stage of last season’s Nations League 1-3 in extra time. The USA went on to win the whole thing with a 2-0 victory over Mexico in the final while the Reggae Boyz beat Panama 1-0 to claim third place.
If the Boyz are to get over the hump this time around, Chung understands that a massive part of it will be the energy they receive from the thousands of Jamaican fans in attendance.
“We are at the quarterfinal stage. We want to ensure that we are there in our numbers supporting the Boyz because we have to make it past the mighty USA which, after we finish with them, they won’t be so mighty,” Chung said in press conference on Monday.
As such, three support groups for Jamaican football-Reggae Boyz Supporters Club, Reggae Football Fans Club and Reggae Boyz Community, are all making it possible for fans from all over the diaspora to have an opportunity to cheer on the Reggae Boyz live and in person.
“We want to welcome this partnership because this is a way for us now to reach our fanbase. We want to ensure that everyone is involved. At the last two games we had over 17,000 people in attendance and that, for us, is very important. It’s not just about playing football. It’s about getting everybody involved,” Chung said on Monday.
Errol Walters and Louis Grant, members of the Reggae Football Fans Club, were also on hand on Monday and gave an overview of this initiative.
“It’s an honor and a pleasure to be serving our country in this way. What we’re trying to do is create an opportunity for fans in the diaspora that we use our collective bargaining power to negotiate to go to the games,” Walters said.
“There are times when I’m in London and want to go to a game and I have no one to travel with so it was always my dream to create a database to say listen, who’s going to the game from where,” Walters added.
Grant explained that this idea came about because of the desire of members of the diaspora to be a driving force behind the support of the team on their journey to the World Cup in 2026.
“This was birthed out a desire to be the proverbial 12th man for our football teams and more so for the second iteration of the historic trip to the World Cup. We, as members of the diaspora here in the United States, think it’s only right that we play our part in drumming up support as far as leveraging air travel, accommodation, and support,”
“For example, we’ve been in touch with US Soccer with regards to the game in St. Louis. We’ve gotten a section that we can have all or most of our supporters concentrated to create that ‘Office’ vibe,”
“In my experience, we’ve gone to games in my area and you’d see our supporters and our flag sparsely across the various stadiums and we are of the opinion that if we were more concentrated in one section, it bodes well or it is a better look and feel for our team,” he added.
Dodgers erase 5-run deficit, beat Yankees to win World Series
The Los Angeles Dodgers won their second World Series championship in five seasons, overcoming a five-run deficit with the help of three Yankees defensive miscues and rallying on sacrifice flies from Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts in the eighth inning to beat New York 7-6 in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Alex Verdugo’s RBI single chased Jack Flaherty in the second and Giancarlo Stanton’s third-inning homer against Ryan Brasier built a 5-0 Yankees lead.
But errors by Judge in center and Anthony Volpe at shortstop, combined with pitcher Gerrit Cole failing to cover first on Betts' grounder, helped Los Angeles score five unearned runs in the fifth.
After Stanton’s sixth-inning sacrifice fly put the Yankees back ahead 6-5, the Dodgers loaded the bases against loser Tommy Kahnle in the eighth before the sacrifice flies off Luke Weaver.
Winner Blake Treinen escaped a two-on, one-out jam in the bottom half by retiring Stanton on a flyout and striking out Anthony Rizzo.
Walker Buehler, making his first relief appearance since his rookie season in 2018, pitched a perfect ninth for the save.
Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ record-setting $700 million signing and baseball’s first 50-homer, 50-steal player, went 2 for 19 with no RBIs and had one single after separating his shoulder during a stolen base attempt in Game 2.
Freddie Freeman hit a two-run single to tie the Series record of 12 RBIs, set by Bobby Richardson over seven games in 1960. With the Dodgers one out from losing Friday’s opener, Freeman hit a game-ending grand slam reminiscent of Kirk Gibson’s homer off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley in 1988’s Game 1 that sparked Los Angeles to the title.
The Dodgers earned their eighth championship and seventh since leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles - their first in a non-shortened season since 1988. They won a neutral-site World Series against Tampa Bay in 2020 after a 60-game regular season and couldn’t have a parade because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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