(670 The Score) Imagine the Cubs in October, and then think about Jon Rahm.
On June 5, Rahm had just walked off the 18th hole at the Memorial after having built a nearly insurmountable lead of six strokes after three rounds, only to receive the news that he has tested positive for COVID-19, his tournament was over and someone else would win the $1.67-million prize. The good news, though, is that Rahm's stupidity and selfishness in not yet being vaccinated only negatively affected a small group of people invested in his individual success.
That's not the case in team sports.
And it's why Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer seems at his wits' end in trying to convince his frustratingly backward clubhouse to protect themselves from the pandemic with the tool available. Hoyer is all too aware that his team's surprising season can be undone on the cusp of the playoffs or sooner by an airborne virus out of anyone's control, and too many of his players either don't understand or don't care.
It's being a bad teammate in this case -- and for absolutely no good reason.
Add Jason Heyward's name to the immensely disappointing list of Cubs anti-vaxxers now, after he joined Anthony Rizzo as confirmed members of the willfully misinformed group preventing the team from reaching the critical 85% threshold. We have yet to hear a valid explanation from any of those on the record or rumored to be avoiding inoculation from the disease, only a pathetic word-salad of pseudoscience and whataboutism that somehow gets presented as a valid opposite side by reporters apparently just afraid of backlash from one of the most ignorant and dangerous segments of modern society. The follow-up questions aren't asked, so the specific disconnect with an understanding of modern medicine is still unknown.
There's no other side against vaccines' safety and efficacy. Hoyer knows it as the son, grandson and nephew of doctors and as a member of the board of directors of Lurie Children's Hospital Foundation, and that's why he has gone to great lengths to provide Cubs players the actual information, directly from the most knowledgeable physicians.
But to no avail, it appears, with meaningless canards like "personal decision" used as shields against the criticism that should be raining down from reasonable people and from any fans who actually understand the competitive disadvantage at which it places their team. Slamming your own head in a car door on purpose is also a "personal decision," but at least it doesn't endanger or inconvenience others.
The peril is coming too, with the more virulent Delta and Delta Plus variants already taking hold in the U.S. after burning a deadly swath through India and elsewhere. These COVID mutations are more easily spread, cause more rapid and severe onset and are much more likely to necessitate hospitalization. Officials warn that unvaccinated populations here are ripe for such outbreaks, particularly this fall.
As in, baseball playoff time.
It's a little less fun to root for some Cubs now, knowing that otherwise intelligent people are gullible or shortsighted enough to be duped by false stories about how vaccines are produced and how they actually work. Like with the White Sox's hiring of manager Tony La Russa, it adds avoidable and unnecessary cognitive dissonance to what should be a completely joyful experience to this point.
We can only hope that foolishness gives way to enlightenment and that more people realize that getting vaccinated isn't just about oneself. In fact, it's a safe and nice step one can take for the benefit of everyone.
It's too bad that an unhealthy amount of Cubs don't give a damn about protecting themselves, the teammates and co-workers they claim are so important them, all of the respective families involved or anyone else.
Dan Bernstein is the co-host of the Bernstein & Rahimi Show on middays from 9 a.m. until noon on 670 The Score. You can follow him on Twitter @Dan_Bernstein.