St. Louis Cardinals COVID-19 outbreak stems from a trip to the casino

As suggested by former MLB player Jerry Hairston, Jr., the Cardinals COVID-19 outbreak all stems from a trip to a casino

The St. Louis Cardinals are just the latest MLB team to suffer at the hands of a coronavirus outbreak, which forced their weekend games against the Milwaukee Brewers to be cancelled and puts their upcoming series vs the Detroit Tigers in jeopardy. The Cards have at least seven known members of the organization who have tested positive, and its widely expected that there are more on the way.

MLB had enacted strict protocol dissuading players and staff from engaging in any extracurricular activities outside of the essentials. However, the Cardinals now become the second team to disregard that recommendation.

Rob Manfred and MLB are enacting stricter rules to ensure such outbreaks don’t continue

Major League Baseball has had far more trouble than their competitors in the NBA and NHL thus far in keeping players healthy, though that’s not entirely surprising since MLB is not played in a properly-managed bubble. By forcing teams to travel across the country, baseball has allowed this semblance of normalcy to cloud their judgement. Every public appearance is a threat, even with a mask on. There’s no way to ensure the safety of hundreds of people if they’re allowed to freely move about.

The Cardinals now join the Miami Marlins in a discouraged club of teams that have broken the rules, and had it come back to bite them. The Marlins reportedly attended a club in Atlanta, leading to what can only be described as a severe outbreak, with at least 19 members of the organization testing positive for COVID-19 as a result. The Cardinals’ consequences, while serious, will hopefully not reach that level.

The success of the 2020 MLB season depends on player cooperation, and thus far they’ve been lacking.