The thing about COVID-19 is that you have to look out for other people when making choices that seem personal, but really aren’t. Maybe you’re fine going to the corner bar to drink a couple of Narragansetts and shoot the shit, but then you come home and infect your grandmother, who is not a young and healthy and able-bodied human being.

In that case, you become the selfish asshole, and that’s more or less what happened with the Miami Marlins, who showed a lackadaisical and cavalier attitude with COVID-19, which brought the Phillies season to a grinding halt.

Said Andrew McCutchen about that, in a podcast appearance with Jayson Stark:

“I was upset at everything that’s transpired through that — whoever decided to step out or not necessarily follow the health and safety protocol,” he said. “That upset me. What made me angry was that we, as the Phillies — we were the ones that ended up having to pay for that. … We followed all of the health and safety protocols. We knew that was important. We understood that’s what we needed to do to be able to play this game. And we did everything right. And we paid for it.

“And so for me, that was upsetting. I’m sitting here at home, watching 28 to 27 to 26 other teams play, and we’re sitting at home — all (testing) negative by the way. And we have to watch this happen while we did nothing wrong. So for me, that was very upsetting. It was very upsetting that we did everything right, and we were still the ones paying for it.”

100%.

That’s the crux of the problem right there, and what makes COVID so annoying. You yourself can exhibit great personal responsibility, follow all of the rules, and look out for the health and well-being of people around you. Then some jabronies decide they’re not going to take this thing seriously, and because of that, you now find yourself sitting on the couch, unable to play baseball while getting a swab shoved up your nose daily in the CBP parking lot.

The issue now is agreeing on appropriate punishment for the Marlins. Should they have to forfeit the season? Dissolve the franchise entirely? Couple of 95 mph fastballs high and tight? They must be disciplined for their cavalier attitudes and selfish behavior.

(full podcast at this link)