Coronavirus update: Cities ban public events, A’s game at Oracle Park cancelled, NBA season postponed

Overview of Breaking News

1. The Giants have cancelled the March 24th game against the A’s at Oracle Park.

2. Oakland City Administrator Sabrina Landreth has ordered all large events with more than 1,000 people between March 12-21 be postponed or canceled. Similar bans have been put out in place in San Francisco and in Washington State.

3. The A’s and MLB are considering “alternative plans” for other games in March. The A’s first regular season games are a homestead against the Twins (3/26-3/29) and Astros (3/30-4/1).

4. Today’s Spring Training game versus the Angels was cancelled due to weather.

5. The NBA just announced that it is postponing the rest of it’s season after a Utah Jazz player, reportedly Rudy Gobert, tested positive for COVID-19.

6. The San Jose Sharks will play the rest of their home games at SAP Center this month in an empty arena.

Additional notes on each of these headlines included below...

1) A’s-Giants Bay Bridge Exhibition Series

So far, only the Oracle Park game on March 24th has been cancelled. Officials have not yet commented on the O.Co game schedule for March 23rd. Notably, today’s Oakland event restriction ban is only in effect through the 21st.

Notes from Bob Melvin...

Matt Kawahara was able to check in with Bob Melvin, and asked the A’s skipper about the possibility of games with no crowds. “It’s something that everybody would have to deal with,” Melvin said. “This is a bigger issue than sports. We’ll do whatever we’re asked to do, understanding that this is a pretty significant time in the world.

“You have to get on the other side of it somehow. And if that’s the way you do it, then we would be all for it. I think everybody realizes there’s more at stake than just sporting life right now.”

2) City Restrictions on Public Gatherings

Seattle / Washington State

Today Gov. Jay Inslee announced a ban in King, Snohomish and Pierce counties on gatherings larger than 250 people through at least the end of March.

San Francisco

The Health Officer of San Francisco is issuing an order prohibiting all large group events of 1,000 or more persons, effective immediately.

Oakland

Oakland City Administrator Sabrina Landreth issued an order, effective immediately, that large events scheduled between March 12 and March 21 shall be postponed or canceled.

Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County was the first government entity to announce mass crowd bans, doing so on Monday. They gave a timeline of three weeks for the bans.

3) A’s and MLB Team Schedule Updates

The A’s issued a statement (see below). There has been talk of keeping MLB players and teams in Arizona as plans develop.

Oakland A’s official statement...

Statement from the Mariners in response to Gov. Inslee’s announcement...

4) The A’s-Angels Game on Wednesday Was Cancelled Due to Weather

Not much to say about this one, just wanted to let people know that this cancellation was not related to the coronavirus. MLB is still continuing to play spring games in Arizona and Florida. Here the MLB.com announcement about today’s cancellation.

5) NBA Season Suspended

Official statement released from the NBA Communications...

6. San Jose Sharks Will Play in Empty Arena

“Admission to games will be limited to home and visiting club personnel, approved credentialed media and broadcast partners, essential club and arena staff, and NHL officials,” the team said in a statement.

The Sharks have scheduled home games on March 19th, 21st, and 29th. The Barracuda, San Jose’s AHL affiliate, also will play games closed to the general public on March 17th and 22nd.

Additional Coverage:

Kleinschmidt: Coronavirus: A’s, MLB working on ‘alternative plans’ after Oakland event ban

Kawahara and Shea: A’s first homestand in doubt, Giants exhibitions upended due to coronavirus ($)

Reichard: MLB Faces Uncertainty as Coronavirus Crisis Continues

Radio Coverage from Damon, Ratto & Kolsky (Susan Slusser retweet)