Dr. Anthony Fauci

New York Yankees: Dr. Anthony Fauci says 2019 is on the horizon

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The New York Yankees front office and fans alike are from mildly to wildly happy that on Opening Day today, 10,840 fans will be allowed into Yankee Stadium to view the first game of the 2021 baseball season. The front office is mildly happy as it will allow them to make some revenue, but at only approximately 20% of capacity, they won’t make money; they just won’t lose as much—Yankee Stadium on average fills to 41,827 (2019), which is about 80% of capacity.

But there may be good news on the horizon. This morning on the CBS morning news Dr. Anthony Fauci said at some point during the 2021 baseball season, we will return to 2019. “you heard it here on CBS.”

Dr. Anthony Stephen Fauci is a physician-scientist and immunologist who serves as the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He was a coronavirus advisor to President Trump, and under the new administration, he is the chief medical advisor to President Joseph Biden. Although the 80-year-old immunologist-scientist has served American public health in various capacities for more than 50 years and has been an advisor to every U.S. president since Ronald Reagan.*

Most of his public health work has been behind the scenes, and most Americans never heard of him. But with the worst virus to hit the United States in the last hundred years, he became the font of the most reliable information, keeping Americans informed nearly daily on their television sets. The coronavirus has made him a medical rock star. When Dr. Fauci speaks, people listen.

Last season as the virus ravaged the country, baseball fans lost out by not attending their local ballparks around the country. Only during the last few games of the postseason were a few fans allowed in stadiums. Now, if Dr. Fauci is to be believed, when this postseason rolls around, stadiums like Yankee Stadium may see near-capacity crowds enjoying the New York Yankees on their way to a 28th World Championship. That statement is from me, not Dr. Fauci. Dr. Fauci is a lifelong New York Yankee fan.

Last season he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Yankees Opening Day at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The embarrassing pitch went more toward the first baseline than the National’s catcher. In a digital interview with the YES Network’s Jack Curry, the Brooklyn native Fauci explained his love of the Yankees:

“We had a whole culture,” he explained, looking back half a century ago in his mind. “It was Duke Snyder versus Mickey Mantle. Yogi Berra versus Roy Campanella. Pee-Wee Reese versus Phil Rizzuto. We used to follow their batting averages that I could tell you on any given day in elementary school exactly what the point up or down in Yogi Berra’s average was, or Mickey Mantle or anybody.”

* Alba, Davey; Frenkel, Sheera (March 28, 2020)

Good News and Bad News for the New York Rangers and Their Fans

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New York Rangers

Some recent news stories came out that could have an impact on the New York Rangers on whether or not they will continue playing in 2020 and whether or not they will play in front of fans. Within the last few days, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, gave interviews that shed some light on what could possibly lay ahead for teams like the New York Rangers.

NHL commissioner gives some promising news for the New York Rangers

Bettman appeared on the Fox Business show “Mornings with Maria” and told Maria Bartiromo and said the league is capable of playing into the summer months but is focused on putting healthy safety first. Almost as important, Bettman stated that the league has taken into account the players’ competitiveness in regards to how the season is going to be restructured when play begins again. Several teams in the Eastern and Western Conferences, including the New York Rangers, were in the hunt for a wild-card playoff spot. This speaks to the suggestion that if the NHL would jump right into the playoffs, that the number of teams could be increased to 20 or even 24 teams to accommodate those who would be denied a shot at a playoff if the regular season could not be finished. This was a sentiment expressed by many including the Ranger’s Artemi Panarin who was quoted in a New York Post article as saying that “if we play, it would be unfair if the Rangers don’t have the chance to be in the playoffs. If [the NHL] goes straight to the playoffs, the Rangers deserve to be there.”

Dr. Fauci feels that pro sports could resume this summer, but without fans

Dr. Fauci appeared on the Snapchat show “Good Luck America” and told the hosts that it was possible to see sports return in the summer months. Fauci then explained how he would like to see it happen. ”Nobody comes to the stadiums. Put the athletes in big hotels, wherever you want to play. Keep them very well-surveilled, but have them tested like every week and make sure they don’t wind up infecting each other or their families and just let them play the season out.” This would also lend credence to the rumored plan that the NHL was considering neutral sites, such as North Dakota to finish the season. When asked how he thinks Americans would react to not being able to go to games, Fauci replied: “I think you’ll probably get enough buy-in from people who are dying to see a (baseball) game.”