Major League Baseball appears to have successfully handled the coronavirus pandemic thus far. Just 0.7% of MLB employees tested positive for antibodies to COVID-19. Results were based on about 5,600 completed records from employees of 26 clubs. Samples were obtained on April 14 and 15.
The start of the baseball season has been delayed because of the virus outbreak. There's no timetable for when the season might begin. Sixty people tested positive in the raw data, and adjustments were made for false positives and false negatives. One of the study's leaders says the survey had a 0.5% false positive rate and demonstrates MLB employees have been less affected than their surrounding communities have been.
In other developments related to the coronavirus pandemic:
The president of the University of Virginia says he hopes college football can be played this fall, but he doesn't expect it to seem like "normal football seasons." James Ryan told CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday that athletic director Carla Williams and football coach Bronco Mendenhall are committed to a safe return to play. But Ryan says nothing will proceed until medical officials say it's safe to resume workouts. Ryan says school officials are taking things day by day. He says students need to be back on campus before football can begin.
The British government says tennis courts and golf courses in England can reopen starting Wednesday, but people can only play with members of their own household. Gyms and swimming pools remain closed, although swimming in the sea or lakes will be allowed. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave no indication when professional sports can resume competition. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can set their own stance on tennis courts and golf courses, and they have already indicated a more stringent version of the lockdown will be maintained.
The Spanish soccer league isn't changing its plan to resume competing after five players from clubs in the first and second divisions tested positive for COVID-19. The league confirmed the positive tests on Sunday but said it was not going to alter the practice protocol that got underway last week. Players from most clubs began individual training sessions on Friday after nearly two months of confinement because of the coronavirus pandemic.
A player for English Premier League team Brighton has tested positive for the coronavirus as clubs prepare for talks on how to resume competition during the pandemic. The southern England club told The Associated Press there is no need for other members of the squad or coaches to self-isolate since players have only worked in isolation when at the training base. The Premier League has government support for "Project Restart" and will try to secure agreement among the 20 clubs on the plans during a conference call with them on Monday.
America's Cup teams are returning to the water in varying degrees nearly two months after the coronavirus pandemic forced the shutdown of what would have been an impressive global road show for sailing. Defending champion Emirates Team New Zealand has returned to training on Auckland's Waitemata Harbor with its half-size test boat after a mandatory lockdown was lifted. By Monday or Tuesday, the New York Yacht Club's yacht Defiant will be headed from Pensacola, Florida, to Auckland on a 500-foot ship.
Chinese Basketball Association president and former Houston Rockets star Yao Ming says his league has three options for resuming a season that has been on hold since Feb. 1 over the pandemic. Yao says the league might play out the full schedule, play a shortened season with some games dropped, or end the regular season and go straight to the playoffs based on teams' current rankings. Yao told state broadcaster CCTV that he hopes as much as the season can be played as possible, but that public health and fairness are the key considerations.
The president of the French Tennis Federation says holding the French Open without fans later this year is an option. The clay-court tournament at Roland Garros was initially slated to be held May 24-June 7 but has been rescheduled for Sept. 20-Oct. 4. Bernard Giudicelli tells a French newspaper (Le Journal du Dimanche) that organizing it without fans would allow a part of the economy to keep turning.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
College basketball victory leader Gene Bess of Three Rivers College has retired and has been replaced by his son, Brian. The 85-year-old Bess fought health problems the last few seasons and said he didn't have the energy level to do what he needs to do to excel as a coach. Bess was 1,300-416 in 50 seasons at Three Rivers - 143 more victories than NCAA Division I leader Mike Krzyzewski of Duke. Bess led the junior college team to national titles in 1979 and 1992.
NHL
The Anaheim Ducks have signed defenseman Brendan Guhle to a two-year, $1.6 million contract extension. Guhle has four goals and eight points in 30 games this season for the Ducks this season. He was acquired by Anaheim from the Sabres in February 2019. The Ducks also signed forward Sam Carrick to a one-year extension worth $700,000.
SOCCER
U.S. national soccer team star Alex Morgan has become a mom just in time for Mother's Day. Morgan announced Saturday on social media that she gave birth to daughter Charlie Elena Carrasco at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Morgan was on the U.S. team that won the World Cup last summer in France. She hopes to return to the team following her maternity leave in time for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
BOBSLED
Former U.S. Olympic bobsledder Pavle Jovanovic has died. He was 43. USA Bobsled/Skeleton said Jovanovic took his own life on May 3. A native of Toms River, New Jersey, Jovanovic started bobsled in 1997 and was a push athlete with driver Todd Hays. He won a bronze medal at the 2004 world championships and finished seventh in both the two- and four-man events at the 2006 Winter Olympics. He also pushed for the late Steven Holcomb. Olympic gold medalist Steve Mesler called Jovanovic his “personal legend" in a social media post, “the athlete that set the standard for focus, dedication, meticulousness, and drive.”
MARY PRATT
Mary Pratt, who played for the Rockford Peaches and Kenosha Comets in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, has died. She was 101. Her nephew, Walter Pratt, told The Patriot Ledger she passed away peacefully at a nursing home. Pratt pitched in the women’s league from 1943-47. The league was profiled in the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own.”
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