Royals’ Merrifield: ‘It feels like I’ve been home forever’ during coronavirus delay
Two weeks ago, Major League Baseball’s commissioner Rob Manfred put the brakes on the 2020 baseball season as a result of rising concerns about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
And just like that, all the excitement and pageantry usually associated with opening day, basically a national sports holiday, evaporated — at least temporarily.
The Kansas City Royals should have begun their season against the Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field Thursday afternoon, likely with two-time reigning MLB hits leader Whit Merrifield stepping into the batter’s box for the first at-bat of the new season.
Instead, baseball remains in a holding pattern. The first regular-season game of John Sherman’s ownership and Mike Matheny’s era as manager must wait. Spring training camps have been suspended and many players have gone to their separate corners of the globe while they await word that it’s OK to resume playing baseball.
“It’s kind of a pretty big letdown when you think about, ‘Aww man we could be playing today,’” Merrifield told The Star by phone Thursday. “So, that sucks, but at the same time it’s hard for me to believe it’s only March 26. It feels like the middle of May. It just feels like I’ve been at home forever.”
Merrifield returned to his home in North Carolina the weekend MLB suspended spring training. He and his wife are having a house built, and Merrifield returned home to help oversee that process.
He initially planned to be there for four or five days, reassess the situation and potentially return to Arizona or go to Kansas City.
As the pandemic tightened its grip on everyday life, he decided to remain in North Carolina. His region of North Carolina is currently under a shelter-in-place order.
“Honestly, it’s just another day,” Merrifield said of the would-have-been opening day. “I’d love to be out there playing right now, but that’s not the situation that we have. I did check the weather in Chicago though. It’s like 43 and rainy, so I guess that’s one positive you could look at.”
Last season, Merrifield became the first right-handed hitter to lead the majors in hits in back-to-back seasons since Kirby Puckett in 1988-89. He played all 162 games and earned his first All-Star selection.
This season, he and his teammates hoped to begin a turnaround after two straight seasons of at least 100 losses.
Now, uncertainty rules the day. It’s not clear how soon the season will resume or how long the season will be when it does restart. The one thing that seems widely accepted is that the players will need a period of re-acclimation, a second spring training of sorts, before regular-season games can begin.
Despite the uncertainty, Merrifield remained hopeful that positive developments aren’t too far away.
“We’re all optimistic,” Merrifield said. “I heard where (Dallas Mavericks owner) Mark Cuban came out the other day and said he plans on the NBA being back mid May, which I feel like is really the first glimmer of good news that I’ve heard. So it’s nice to hear something like that.
“Hearing President Trump talking about possibly reopening the country on Easter is another piece of good news that maybe we are kind of plateauing I guess on this thing.
“I don’t know. I’m not an expert on the topic, so I don’t know what the risk is going to be for us to go play, possibly, in empty stadiums. I’m optimistic about it. I would really love to get out and play. I think everybody would love for us to get out and play.”
In the meantime, Merrifield tries the best he can to remain in shape and stay ready. MLB has already acknowledged the season couldn’t start before mid-May at the absolute earliest.
“I think at the end of the day it’s really not our decision,” Merrifield said. “I think it’s up to the CDC and the government to tell us, ‘All right, you’re OK to go about your business.’ But I think sports are important. I think they’re really important for people, not only right now but in everyday life. Sports do a lot of good things for people. I’m really hoping that not only baseball, but basketball, golf, soccer, I hope it all comes back shortly.”
Manfred said in a television interview Wednesday night on ESPN’s SportsCenter that nothing is off the table in terms of potential adjustments to the MLB schedule in order to maximize the number of games that can be played this year.
“The one thing I know for sure is baseball will be back,” Manfred said. “Whenever it’s safe to play, we’ll be back. Our fans will be back. Our players will be back. And we will be part of the recovery, the healing in this country, from this particular pandemic.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 5:25 PM.
