BRADENTON, Fla. -- Two outs. Bottom of the ninth. Tying run at the plate. Blue Jays reliever Kirby Snead delivers a fastball, and Phillip Evans struck out looking. The Pirates lose, prompting some boos and whistles from the crowd.
Then LECOM Park PA man, Mike Collins, made the announcement: "Fans, if we can have your attention please. As you may have heard, Major League Baseball has suspended the remaining of the spring training season."
Again, another round of boos, though this one more half-hearted than the first. The news had been circulating for a bit, and it was mostly expected coming into the day.
The league is following suit with the NBA, NHL, NCAA and MLS, who have all suspended their seasons over the past 24 hours due to the nationwide outbreak of COVID-19.
MLB said they will announce the effects on the schedule at an appropriate time and will remain flexible as events warrant. The hope is to resume normal operations as soon as possible.
However, the start of the regular season has been delayed by at least two weeks.
"The Pirates are in full agreement with and supportive of the Commissioner’s decision," Bob Nutting said in a released statement shortly after the league's decision was announced. "As this situation evolves, so too will our response. What will not change, however, is how much we care about our fans, players and employees and the wellbeing of our community."
Thursday's game between the Pirates and Blue Jays proceeded as scheduled, including having fans in attendance. The team practiced before the game like usual.
The World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic Wednesday.
"This has obviously become a serious deal," Derek Holland said before the game. "You don't want to [give] anybody the sickness, or anything like that. We're trying to stay clear of that. We've got to follow our rules. It sucks, because a guy like myself, I like to interact with the fans, have some fun, and we can't really do that."
There is no plan set in stone yet about what the Pirates will do during this suspension, though they could play inter-squad games.
"I think we'll probably have a clearer idea tonight, tomorrow morning of what we're going to do, organizationally, going forward," Derek Shelton said after the game.
The MLB regular season was scheduled to start Mar. 25.
"We've got the season looming off in the distance, that's kind of just a big question mark right now," Josh Bell said before the game. "We'll let the higher-ups make that decision. Until then, we're going to work our tails off to get better."
The risk, of course, is not just for the players and coaches, but fans, stadium workers and the general public.
"We're a small piece of it, so whatever we can do to preserve the safety and health for everybody," Chris Archer said before the game. "... The last thing we want to do is be a carrier and cause something fatal."
There was a reported case of coronavirus in Manatee County, Fla. earlier this month. Bradenton, the Pirates spring training home, is located in Manatee County. The team deep cleaned the facility and stadium at that time, citing an "abundance of caution."
