Yankees: Opening Day vs Nationals in DC Cleared by City Health Officials

After some concern the July 23 Opening Day would have to be moved, the Yankees  got some good news.

It seems that dealing with potential lingering issues is going to just be the norm in 2020, so let’s get used to it now before it starts to further erode our support of sports.

The New York Yankees are set to kick off the 2020 MLB season with an Opening Day matchup against the defending World Series champion Washington Nationals, but some buzz on Thursday suggested the game could be moved to another site due to coronavirus regulations in the nation’s capital.

However, that’s no more. The game has been cleared to be played in DC despite the city’s initial unwillingness to bend on health protocols.

How this was an issue to begin with is beyond us. This Opening Day matchup was reported nearly a month ago and now the city decided to try and move it due to health protocols, which have been in place since the pandemic started?

Imagine moving a marquee pitcher’s duel between Gerritt Cole and Max Scherzer to a place like Fredericksburg, Virginia, or, even better, back to Florida where cases of coronavirus are surging by the second! Yes, that’s what was being considered, believe it or not. On top of that, they had no deadline to make a decision. Seems like this was well thought out.

While this may no longer be a problem for Opening Day, it’s possible both the Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers continue to grapple with municipal quarantine rules, so don’t expect this issue to go away anytime soon for those squads.

In case you were unaware, the Nats have been one of the teams required to abide by government protocol — not MLB’s protocol — as the league’s set of standards takes a back seat to what cities and states are mandating.

Luckily for the Yankees, New York is back on track and arguably in the best shape in terms of cities/states hit by the virus back in March. Hopefully the Bombers won’t have to endure a situation like this throughout the season.