SPOILER ALERT
If you have not read Quiz #76. Before Now After just yet, you’re about to read the answer to the “What did NOT happen?” question from that quiz.
Here’s the answer:
What did NOT happen?
A. In Quiz #75. I’m Sorry, I noted that I blamed myself for baseball’s COVID troubles which surfaced on Sunday, July 26th when test results just before the Florida Marlins game with the Philadelphia Phillies revealed that four players on the Marlins had been infected (and sidelined) with the coronavirus. (The number is now up to xx members of the travelling squad of Marlins players and personnel, holed up at a Philadelphia hotel.) MLB still allowed the Marlins to play their game against the Phillies on Sunday. I took the blame for the problem because on Sunday, I got emotionally invested in baseball for the first time in 2020, ordering a cardboard cutout of myself to occupy one of the now-empty seats at Citizens Bank Park. When she read the quiz, my daughter Annie texted me, “It was almost my fault. I had considered getting you a cardboard cut out last week but decided against it.” I texted back, “Then it IS your fault!;
B. Annie and I talked after Quiz #75, I’m Sorry. She told me that she’d heard about the cardboard cutouts from a friend and thought of ordering one for me on Friday but decided against it because she thought I was already too low in my feelings about baseball in 2020;
C. The Phillies remain at the center of what will happen for MLB going forward. If test results this week (and maybe beyond this week) show that the Phillies players contracted the virus because they played on the field with the infected Marlins over the weekend, it’s hard to see how MLB goes on. If the virus can be spread by playing in a game, will players even agree to keep playing those games? To check on the test results for the Phillies, this week, I set up a Twitter list of Phillies baseball reporters;
D. Looking for something good to read, I ordered “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennet on Annie’s recommendation;
E. In discussing his brief self-quarantine in his basement apartment, Will told Sara and me that he would be better prepared if he had to do it again. Among the key things to have, he said, was lemonade mix. I told him that I couldn't agree more. Drinking lots of water--which doctors have advised me to do in the Now--is just plain boring.
I already follow reporters who cover the Phillies on Twitter so do not need a special list. And yet, I learned this afternoon’s news about the coach and clubhouse worker testing positive from a message sent to me by a co-worker. The news travels fast.
As for book recommendations, if you have one, please feel free to let me know in the comments.
Courage.
Want more?
Here’s the next quiz in the series: Quiz #77. “Some Pig.”
Here’s the previous quiz in the series: Quiz #75. I’m Sorry.
Here’s the first quiz in the series: Quiz #1. Stella and Social Distancing, March 13, 2020
Here is an archive of all the quizzes.
The quiz is explained here: Steve’s Stay-at-Home Coronavirus Quiz.
Want to let me know how I’m doing with this quiz?
Please let me know about any typos or misspellings.
Comments, corrections and confessions welcome.
Thank you and good night.
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