LA World Series Win Tainted by Poor Covid Behavior

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AP Photo/Eric Gay

Maskless Justin Turner (with red hair), front and center in the LA celebration.

On Tuesday, the Las Angeles Dodgers won the World Series, ending Major League Baseball’s bizarre COVID-19 abridged season. The Dodgers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in six games; the bracket working up to that is here. Los Angeles has had a recurring presence in the last few postseasons, but this year they finally managed to win it all for the first time since 1988. The Dodgers’ Corey Seager was awarded World Series MVP. ESPN lays out some of Seager’s postseason stats: in the National League Championship Series he hit .310 and had five home runs and 11 RBIs, and in the World series he hit 400 and had two home runs, five RBIs and six walks.

A major story that has somewhat distracted from the excitement of the Dodger’s victory was the controversial but undeniably irresponsible act shown by their third baseman Justin Turner. In the middle of game 6, Justin Turner was pulled from the game after learning he had tested positive for coronavirus. After the Dodgers won, Turner, refusing to adhere to the instruction from security, joined them in celebration. At times Turner wore a mask, but most notably, while taking team pictures, surrounded by the whole team, he wore no mask. MLB’s statement was posted on Twitter by Ken Rosenthal. Many have voiced opinions that Turner couldn’t be prevented from celebrating with his team, and had every right, especially after his long career as a Dodger finally paid off. However, many also believe that even if celebrating did not violate the COVID protocols in place, Turner still should have kept social distance and wore the mask at all times, or just stayed in isolation like he was supposed to. Turner is likely to receive discipline from MLB based on a health and safety protocol agreement between MLB and the players’ association.