President Donald Trump is skeptical of the reported MLB proposal that would have the 2020 season start without fans in attendance and potentially in one, two, or three "hubs" across the country instead of home ballparks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"I saw baseball is doing something very unusual, I don't know if I agree with it," Trump said Wednesday. "I'd like to see the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium."
"I see they have some ideas for baseball which are very different," Trump said about the scenarios that would not include immediately starting in each team's home ballpark. "I guess I'm a traditionalist. ... I think they'd be able to play in Yankee Stadium with obviously smaller crowds and then the crowds would start to build as things get to be a little bit better. I think you're going to see some big things happen. And again, this is going away," he said about the coronavirus.
SNY's Andy Martino reported Tuesday that there were as many as 15 plans currently under discussion by MLB, with a decision on how to proceed potentially coming in the next few weeks.
The Arizona plan, in which all teams would play in the Phoenix area, received early approval from government health officials. It remains an option for baseball to start in Arizona and remains agile enough to fan out to other cities if that is deemed safe.
Other reported plans include one where things would begin with teams based in Arizona and Florida, another where they would be based in Florida, Arizona, and Texas, and one where three realigned divisions would play geographically, with the plan being for teams to play in their home ballparks (though potentially not right away) without fans in attendance.
As conversations have continued regarding the potential of MLB beginning its season amid the coronavirus pandemic, two prominent names -- Dr. Anthony Fauci and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo -- have come out in support of playing without fans.
Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who is currently part of a group advising Trump amid the pandemic, said during an interview earlier this month that he believes sports can return in 2020 without fans.
"There's a way of doing that" Fauci told Peter Hamby on Good Luck America. "Nobody comes to the stadium. Put them in big hotels wherever you want to play. Keep them very well surveilled ... have them tested like every week and make sure they don't wind up infecting each other or their family and just let them play the season out."
Speaking Wednesday, Trump repeatedly touched on the idea of fans being in attendance for baseball games in 2020.
"When I look at a baseball game, I want to see people right next to each other. I don't want to see four seats in between every person."
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