The Twins are set to open the 2020 regular season March 26 against the Oakland Athletics, but those plans are suddenly up in the air as the spread of the novel coronavirus has forced Oakland city officials’ hands in limiting large gatherings.
Oakland City Administrator Sabrina Landreth ordered Wednesday that all large events with more than 1,000 people between March 12-21 be postponed or canceled. At Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, the home of the Athletics, all games through the end of March may not happen.
“The Oakland A’s are working with Major League Baseball on alternative plans for our games that will be impacted at Oakland Coliseum,” a statement from the team says. “We will provide more information about our plans for the games, including our ticket policy for the impacted games, as soon as possible.”
In our support of public health, and ensuring the safety of our community, we have released the following statement. pic.twitter.com/yC6ydsFxTL
— Athletics (@Athletics) March 12, 2020
A Twitter user asked: “Does that mean no fans for opening day?”
The team responded: “March 26 is an impacted game and more information will be coming soon.”
That appears to be the only answer the team is giving to fans wondering if Opening Day against the Twins will happen. KRON out of the Bay Area is reporting that all games through the end of March in Oakland have been canceled, but the team has not said as much publicly.
A similar situation has unfolded in Seattle, where the Mariners are reportedly searching for alternative options to play in March after Gov. Jay Inslee placed a ban on all gatherings of more than 250 people.
Meanwhile, in the NBA, it’s expected that all remaining regular-season games will be played without fans. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to make an announcement Thursday.
New story filed to ESPN:
The NBA’s Board of Governors shared a consensus on Wednesday to continue the season playing games without fans in arenas amid the coronavirus crisis, and Commissioner Adam Silver is expected to move in that direction with a decision on Thursday.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 11, 2020
The Timberwolves play their next five games on the road before nine of their final 13 games are at home in Minneapolis.
