Hometown Broadcasting Sports Wednesday 7/1/20
1 July 2020 Sports
MILWAUKEE (WLUK) — The Milwaukee Brewers have released their 45-man summer camp roster as they prepare to start the 2020 season. The roster, which was released Monday, includes a full list of players, instructors and coaches.
All players and club staff are expected to report to camp July 1, with full baseball activities and first workouts beginning July 3. Participants will go through medical testing and screening before entering club facilities. Brewers players and coaches will report to Miller Park in Milwaukee.
Once the season begins, a taxi squad will be established for players who don’t make the opening day roster. The Brewers’ squad will train at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton. Opening day for the 2020 season is scheduled for July 23 or 24.
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The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers announced Tuesday there won’t be a 2020 season. According to team officials, the entire Minor League Baseball season has been canceled due to the pandemic. Pat O’Conner, the President and CEO of Minor League Baseball, issued the following statement regarding the cancellation of the 2020 season:
“There are unprecedented times for our country and our organization as this is the first time in our history that we’ve had a summer without Minor League Baseball played. While this is a sad day for many, this announcement removes the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 season and allows our teams to begin planning for an exciting 2021 season of affordable family entertainment.”
Anyone with tickets for 2020 games can CLICK HERE for information regarding ticket policies for canceled games. In addition, all season ticket holders and group leaders will be reached out to individually regarding 2020 tickets. The team says any planned giveaways and promotions scheduled for the 2020 season will be moved to the 2021 season.
Although this will be the first season without professional baseball in the Fox Cities since 1957, team officials say Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium has been selected as the Alternate Training Site of the Milwaukee Brewers.
According to the team, members of the Brewers’ “Taxi Squad” will practice at the home of the Timber Rattlers during the Major League season in case they’re needed by the Brewers during the shortened MLB regular season. At this time, the Timber Rattlers say they’re working with MLB officials to see if fans will be allowed to watch the practices.
An announcement on that decision will be made at a later date when more information is available to the team. In addition, the team says the Snake Pit Team Store, as well as the Fox Club at the stadium will remain open.
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With coronavirus cases on the rise in the United States and some teams recently closing their facilities due to positive cases, NBA commissioner Adam Silver remains “pretty confident” about the NBA’s plan to safely resume play but admits that a spread in the NBA community could bring the league to a halt again.
During an appearance on TIME 100 Talks, Silver was asked if there is any chance the NBA doesn’t go to Orlando, Florida, as planned due to the surge in coronavirus cases or if it is full steam ahead to resume play at the end of July.
“Never full steam ahead no matter what,” Silver responded to TIME. “One thing we are learning about this virus is much [is] unpredictable, and we and our players together with their union look at the data on a daily basis. If there were something to change that was outside of the scope of what we are playing for, certainly we would revisit our plans.
“We are testing daily. We haven’t put a precise number on it, but if we were to see a large number of cases and see spread in our community, that would of course be a cause to stop as well.”
When asked what constitutes a significant spread that would shut down the NBA for a second time this season due to the coronavirus, Silver said he isn’t sure and that the league will continue to work with a panel of scientists, doctors and experts.
“We are going to see as we go,” Silver said. “Certainly if cases are isolated, that’s one thing. A lot of the determination will be our understanding of how our community became infected. That will be part of our judgment in terms of whether we should continue. But certainly if we had a lot of cases, we are going to stop. You cannot run from this virus.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Denver Nuggets closed their team’s practice facility starting on Saturday after two members of the team’s 35-member traveling party to Orlando tested positive for the coronavirus. Denver’s franchise star, Nikola Jokic, also previously tested positive for the coronavirus in Serbia, where he was asymptomatic. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone also revealed to CBS Denver 4 earlier in the month that he had the coronavirus back in March, during the league’s hiatus.
The Brooklyn Nets reopened their practice facility on Tuesday after being closed for several days, sources told Wojnarowski. Brooklyn’s DeAndre Jordan and Spencer Dinwiddie recently tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Miami Marlins part owner Derek Jeter is sharing his perspective on the troubling restart negotiations between Major League Baseball and the players union. To anyone who hung on every spiteful offer dressed up as a good faith proposal to bring baseball back in 2020, his conclusion will come as no surprise.
In Jeter’s opinion, there is no trust between the owners and players. And those public airing of grievances that eliminated any hope for an honest negotiation amid the coronavirus shutdown? Jeter termed those as “disappointing” and “embarrassing” developments for baseball.
“It was disappointing, it was embarrassing at times; the back and forth,” Jeter said of the failed negotiations that ultimately led to commissioner Rob Manfred implementing a 60-game schedule. “There is no trust (between the owners and players) is the best way to put it.”
If anyone can make that statement with confidence, it’s Jeter. He’s been on both sides of the table over the course of his near three-decade career in professional baseball. Of course, it’s been nearly as long since we’ve witnessed a battle this intense between the owners and players. The strike of 1994, which came one season before Jeter’s MLB debut, is the last time MLB was shutdown during the season.
If not for the power wielded by Manfred, it’s possible baseball would not have returned at all in 2020. That’s how far apart the sides were as they fought over prorated salaries and the number of games they were willing to play.
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The Denver Nuggets closed the team’s practice facility starting Saturday after a round of positive tests for the coronavirus, sources told ESPN.
The Nuggets had two members of the team’s 35-person Orlando traveling party — which encompasses players, coaches and staff — initially test positive before the weekend shutdown, sources said. There has been at least one more positive test since Saturday, sources said. Denver All-NBA center Nikola Jokic tested positive for the coronavirus in Serbia, where he was asymptomatic, sources told ESPN.
The Nuggets will reopen their facility based on the results of ongoing testing. Players are allowed to undergo controlled, socially distanced workouts with coaches in the facility until the team leaves for Orlando on July 7.
The Nuggets (43-22) are the third seed in the Western Conference behind the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers. NBA teams, including the Nuggets, returned to team facilities June 23 to begin testing protocols in advance of traveling to Orlando between July 7 and 9 to begin formal training camps. Nuggets coach Michael Malone recently disclosed that he tested positive for the coronavirus during the league’s hiatus.
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Ron Rivera has a message for those ready to doubt that Cam Newton can rebound with the New England Patriots: Don’t bet against him. Rivera, who coached the Carolina Panthers for nine seasons with Newton as his starting quarterback, was asked Monday on 670 The Score in Chicago about whether he thought Newton has recovered from the injuries that have marred his past two seasons. Rivera said he had watched the workout videos that Newton posted on social media.
“He’s headed in the right direction,” Rivera said on the McNeil & Parkins Show. “I mean, he’s probably about as healthy as it gets from what I’ve seen on video. I think he’s ready to bust out.
“I would never bet against the young man, that’s for sure.”
Newton, who holds most of Carolina’s career passing records, missed 14 games last season with a Lisfranc injury and the final two games of the 2018 season with a shoulder injury that also required surgery.
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