Ronn Torossian, CEO, 5WPR 

After several days of continual reports and an ever-increasing number of players reported exposed or positive for COVID-19, Miami Marlins officials sat down with members of the media. These decision makers included Baseball Operations President Mike Hill, Manager Don Mattingly, and CEO Derek Jeter. 

During the virtual news conference, these officials acknowledged that 21 members of the team’s traveling party, including 18 players, were sick. Jeter made it clear that the players who had tested positive were “doing okay” physically, some showing no symptoms, others only showing mild cold symptoms. 

Responding to the findings of a Major League Baseball investigation, Jeter said it is “impossible” to know when and where the infection entered the clubhouse or how the players became ill. Media put together a timeline showing that the Marlins played two exhibition games in Atlanta, then opened their season in Philadelphia. Sometime, during that trip, the first members of the travelling party probably contracted the disease. Jeter put it bluntly: 

“Guys were around each other, they got relaxed, and they let their guard down… They were getting together in groups, they weren’t wearing masks as much as they should have… They weren’t social distancing… The entire (group) got a little too comfortable.” 

To that, though, the CEO and perennial baseball all star added a strict caveat, contradicting rumors that players had been out gallivanting all over Atlanta. “Our guys were not running around town… We did have a couple leave the hotel to get coffee or clothes. One guy left to have dinner at a teammate’s house. There was no hanging out at bars, no clubs, no running around Atlanta…” 

Mattingly showed obvious frustration at the rumors of “recklessness,” telling the media it was frustrating trying to push back at all the rumors, because they couldn’t respond to every assumption and rumor being passed around. So, one purpose of the press conference was clearly to magnify and amplify this message, in an effort to squash the rumors. 

The team made the decision to suspend the Marlins’ season temporarily, as members of the team’s traveling party were left stranded in Pennsylvania. Later, these team members were allowed to return to Miami, where they remain quarantined as of this writing. 

Jeter assured reporters and frustrated fans that he is “optimistic” that players will more closely follow the MLB virus protocols for the remainder of the season: “We’ve been given an opportunity to hit the reset button… I hope people look at what happened to us and use that as a warning to see how quickly this is able to spread if you’re not following the protocols…” 

In the meantime, the Marlins are in the process of calling up several players from the minor leagues to help them fill out their roster until the quarantined players can return.

About the Author: Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, a leading NY PR agency.