DETROIT – Major League Baseball has suspended spring training games and will delay the start of the regular season by at least two weeks, league officials announced.
Spring training games will be canceled starting at 4 p.m. Thursday, and MLB officials will evaluate the situation to determine when Opening Day will be rescheduled.
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Statement from Major League Baseball: pic.twitter.com/0bWS5VTRPu
— MLB (@MLB) March 12, 2020
Baseball is the latest sport affected by the coronavirus pandemic. College basketball tournaments across the country have been canceled and the NBA season is currently suspended.
The Detroit Tigers are scheduled to play the Atlanta Braves on Thursday at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida. It’s unclear if spring training will resume. Opening Day was originally scheduled for March 26.
Opening Day in Detroit was supposed to take place March 30 against the Kansas City Royals.
Other sports affected
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The Big Ten Conference allowed fans to attend first-round tournament games Wednesday before announcing the rest of the event would be played in an empty Banker’s Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. But minutes before the first Thursday game between Michigan and Rutgers, Big Ten officials canceled the event altogether.
The NBA suspended its season Wednesday night after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for cornavirus. It was announced Thursday that teammate Donovan Mitchell also tested positive and that teammates thought Gobert had been “careless” in the locker room, according to ESPN.
President Donald Trump announced a travel ban that includes 26 countries in Europe. The ban begins at 11:59 a.m. Friday and will continue for 30 days, the president said.
Colleges across the country canceled in-person classes due to the spread of the virus, citing a hope to create “social distancing.” Many are electing to proceed with online-only classes this month and beyond.