Trump Cancels Plans To Throw Out First Pitch For Yankees Citing ‘China Virus’

On Sunday afternoon, President Donald Trump tweeted that he no longer plans on throwing out the first pitch for the August 15 game between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox citing that he needs to focus on the “China Virus.”

Because of my strong focus on the China Virus, including scheduled meetings on Vaccines, our economy and much else, I won’t be able to be in New York to throw out the opening pitch for the @Yankees on August 15th. We will make it later in the season!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2020

Despite the blatant xenophobia, this may be a reflection of our country’s current state in terms of the rising number of COVID-19 and the MLB’s lack of organization with its restart – 10 more members of the Miami Marlins just tested positive and their home opener has been canceled. It is a bad sign that the person leading the charge of denying the seriousness of the pandemic has decided to back out of an event due to the seriousness of the virus or the fact that the MLB seems especially vulnerable to spreading the virus.

Trump also cited the lack of a crowd as another reason. “I think I’m doing that on Aug. 15 at Yankee Stadium,” he told reporters on Thursday. “And I say, ‘How’s the crowd going to be?’ And, you know, it’s like you don’t have a crowd.”

The avalanche of bad news seems to keep coming for Major League Baseball, and it is unclear whether or not they will be able to right the ship and get back on track before they may be forced to shut down again and forego the rest of the 2020 MLB season.