PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Major League Baseball reportedly sent its teams a 67-page draft of safety guidelines on Friday in the event that the season begins. Details surfaced over the weekend.
The guidelines cover who can enter a ballpark, what type of distancing must be applied, how to conduct oneself on the field, and what isn't allowed off the field, according to the Associated Press.
The document is subject to negotiation with the players' union. Teams were asked to provide their input by Friday.
There will be an abundance of testing for teams and staff, which MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred explained last week on CNN.
"We have developed extensive protocols," Manfred said. "A key to those is frequent testing. All of our players would be tested multiple times a week — PCR testing to determine whether or not they have the virus. That testing would be supplemented less frequently by antibody testing as well."
The guidelines provide detailed protocols if someone shows symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19. Players and essential staff would have their temperature taken several times a day.
Manfred said last week that experts told MLB that a person who comes in contact with someone who tests positive would not need to quarantine for 14 days.
"The positive individual would be removed from the rest of the group," he said. "There will be a quarantine arrangement in each facility and in each city. And then we'll do contact tracing for the individuals that we believe there was contact with, and we will do point-of care-testing for those individuals to minimize the likelihood there's been a spread."
It would take two negative tests over a 24-hour period for someone to be cleared again for access.
"Nothing is risk-free in this undertaking," Manfred said. "We're trying to mitigate that risk with the repeated point of care testing to make sure that people that have had contact have not been exposed."
Family members of players, umpires and the households of anyone covered under the plan will be offered access to testing and PPE. The individuals are encouraged to avoid crowds when away from ballpark.
Teams will be allowed to have 50 players each under the plan, with the number active for each game still be negotiated.
Taking showers at the ballpark would be discouraged. Players and uniformed-staff might be asked to show up with their jerseys already on. Players must wear masks while in restricted areas "except while on the field or engaging in other strenuous activities" and lockers must have at least 6 feet between them.
Gone is the traditional exchange of lineup cards. There would be no bat boys or girls.
Even the Phillie Phantic will be missing, banned from the field along with all other team mascots.
Other guidelines include some players sitting in the stands for distancing; disposing of a baseball after several people have touched it; no socializing with the opponent; no public transportation, restaurants or fitness centers on the road; no high-fives or fist bumps
Spitting is prohibited along with water jugs and the use of saunas, steam rooms, pools and cryotherapy chambers. Hitting in indoor cages is discouraged, batting gloves encouraged.
Batting practice pitchers are to wear masks, dugout telephones disinfected after each use. Players may not touch their face to give signs, and they're not allowed to lick their fingers. Teams are encouraged to hold meetings outdoors, players spread apart.
Seats in the empty stands near the dugout should be used to maintain distance, according to diagrams in the manual, and the next day's starting pitcher can't sit in the dugout. Everyone must keep their distance during "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "God Bless America,"
Fielders are "encouraged to retreat several steps away from the baserunner" between pitches. First and third base coaches are not to approach baserunners or umpires, and players should not socialize with opponents.
Managers and coaches must wear masks while in the dugouts. The entire traveling party — including players — must wear personal protective equipment while on buses and flights. Restaurants are off limits on the road, including the ones in hotels, as are hotel fitness centers.
Scoreboard video is prohibited but music allowed. While there won't be fans, at least not at the start, it will provide a familiar background audio for the telecasts critical to MLB's bottom line.
A ball will be thrown away after it is touched by multiple players, and throwing the ball around the infield will be discouraged. Personnel who rub baseballs with mud for the umpires must use gloves.
Only medical personnel are allowed near injured players.
"We emphasize that this is a first draft, and will undergo several rounds of changes as we collect comments and suggestions from the clubs, the players' association, players, and government officials," deputy commissioner Dan Halem wrote in an email to owners, team presidents and CEOs, and general managers that accompanied the protocols.
"The document is designed to set minimum standards and identify best practices, but we have attempted to provide clubs with enough flexibility to achieve the desired health and safety objectives in a manner that is tailored to their particular circumstances, including ballpark configuration, location, and the nature of any local governmental regulations or restrictions," Halem wrote.
Teams were asked to respond with their suggested input by May 22. The protocols were written by MLB senior vice presidents Patrick Houlihan, Bryan Seeley and Chris Young, and vice president Jon Coyles.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
