MLB Responds to COVID-19 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Buffalo, NY

The year before the pandemic, the Blue Jays had played their games at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. However, the Canadian government denied a request from the Toronto Blue Jays to use the Rogers Centre for their home games in 2020. The government was concerned about cross-border travel of players who could, potentially, bring the virus into the country.

Instead of the Rogers Centre, the Blue Jays played their home games in 2020 at Sahlen Field in Buffalo NY. The field was home to their Triple A affiliate, the Buffalo Bisons, at that time.

The Bisons moved to an alternative field to make room for the Blue Jays that year. This was the first year since 1968, when the Montreal Expos were founded, that here were no MLB games played in Canada.

Answer: Coronavirus outbreak

In September 2021, the Boston Red Sox found themselves debilitated by a COVID-19 outbreak. At the beginning of the September, more than ten players and coaches were removed from active duty when they tested positive for COVID-19, or had close contact with someone who had the disease.

This even happened during ballgames. For example, Xander Bogaerts was removed from a game vs the Rays in Tampa. He had hit an RBI single in the first inning, but was abruptly pulled from the game a short time later when a positive COVID-19 test was found.

Answer: 31,184

The Florida Marlins played their home games at LoanDepot park in 2022. The stadium has a capacity limit of 36,742, but it didn't quite reach that number for the Marlins home opener. The Marlins won this first game of the season 4-3 over the Philadelphia Phillies. There were no COVID-19 restrictions on capacity in Florida in 2022.

Answer: True

In the early 2020s, Baltimore Orioles played their home games at Camden Yard in Baltimore. In June, 2021, they paid $1.6 million in rent to the Maryland Stadium Authority. This is far lower than the average of $6.8 million in rent that had been paid up until 2021.

The team pays 7% of ticket sales, 25% of net stadium advertising revenues, 50% of net parking revenues, 9% of concessions sales, and 10% of suite and club-level revenues as rent each year. The COVID-19 pandemic and a relatively unsuccessful team kept the fans away from the stadium in 2020 and 2021, thus lowering their revenues, which, in turn, lowered their rent payment in 2021.

Answer: 60

In 2020, Major League Baseball pushed back the start of the season as COVID-19 protocols were developed. Spring training typically begins in February every year but, in 2020, it was pushed back to the first week of July. Regular-season games started on July 23 or 24.

In a typical year, teams play 162 games. However, in 2020, MLB was forced to decrease this number due to the late start for spring training. The Cardinals (and all MLB teams) played a regular season of only 60 games in 2020.

Answer: Guardians

The Major League Baseball (MLB) team that played in Cleveland in 2022 were in the American League Central division. The Cleveland team was one of the original MLB teams that were formed in 1901. At that time, they were known as the Cleveland Bluebirds. In 1903, the team was re-named the Cleveland Napoleons. In 1914, the owner of the team requested that sportswriters choose a new name for the team. They chose the Cleveland Indians, a team name that stayed with them until a concern was voiced about their racist branding and mascot name. At that point, the team was re-named the Cleveland Guardians to start the 2022 season.

The Guardians did experience a COVID-19 hiccup when they changed their team name. In 2021, there were many supply chain issues that resulted from the pandemic. This caused a few delays in getting their re-branded merchandise ready for sale. However, as the supply started, all was well with the new brand to start their first official season in 2022.

Answer: Yes

The Arizona Diamondbacks, or D-backs as they are also known, played their home games at Chase Field in 2022. The administration at the field put a number of health and safety regulations into effect at the field for their fans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in that year.

These included reminding fans to make use of hand sanitizing stations at the stadium, and to avoid attending the games if they were feeling ill. They made it very clear on their website that fans were expected to stay away from the stadium if they had had COVID-19 or been exposed to anyone with the coronavirus within the previous two weeks.

They also stated on their website that they reserved the right to screen for COVID-19 and to deny entry to anyone who tested positive.

Answer: They experienced the first game cancellation in 2022 due to COVID-19 on the other team

The Chicago White Sox were scheduled to play a series against the Cleveland Guardians on May 9-11, 2022. They managed to play the first two games of the series. However, a COVID-19 outbreak was declared on the Cleveland team before the game on the 11th. This caused the first COVID-19-related cancellation of a regular-season game in 2022.

Answer: 0

All MLB teams, including the Padres, did not allow fans to enter their stadiums in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the Padres placed about 200 life-sized photographs of fans in the seats. They also piped in crowd noises to stadiums.

When a hit was made by a player, the players would hear the crowd cheer even though there were no physical bodies in the stadium seats. In 2021, the Padres increased the capacity at Petco Park, their home field. However, they did require proof of vaccination at that time. By 2022, the proof of COVID-19 vaccination was no longer required in San Diego and the crowd was at full capacity.

Answer: 100.4

Like most MLB teams, the Colorado Rockies had a "know before you go" page on their website in 2022. In that year, most of the information on that page was about the ticketing system and what fans were allowed to bring to the ballpark. However, there was one line that told fans that if they had a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher, or if they had any symptoms of COVID-19, that they should stay home.