Major League Baseball is changing its spring training schedule for its Florida-based teams to combat risks of coronavirus. The league announced Friday games against college teams, who don’t have the same testing protocols, are eliminated. Split-squad games were also dropped as teams will only play clubs in their regional groups to reduce travel. Pitchers and catchers are set to report next week in both Arizona and Florida, with the exhibition games starting later this month.
Baseball’s Hall of Fame is canceling its traditional outdoor induction ceremony for the second year in a row due to the coronavirus pandemic. The public health crisis forced it to be called off last summer for the first time since 1960. The plan is to hold an indoor, televised event on July 25th for former Yankees’ great Derek Jeter and others who made the Hall of Fame last year but were never inducted. No new inductees were chosen for this year’s class.