Don't let COVIDiots take this Twins team from us

I know it's a small sample size. But this is a baseball season of nothing but small sample sizes. 

This Twins team can be special. Like World Series champion special, provided the Yankee hex doesn't get us yet again.

They are among the league leaders in runs scored, despite the fact that at best only about half the lineup has produced to expectations (Cruz, Arraez, Polanco, Rosario). Sano, Garver and Donaldson have all really struggled so far. But they will hit their stride again. The league is full of marquee hitters off to slow starts after having very little time to prepare for live pitching. 

But this team feels especially exciting due to its pitching. This is a deep pitching staff, almost undeniably the deepest they have had since at least 1991.

Just shy of 2 full trips through the rotation and everybody looks great...except for the presumed ace Berrios (and even he looked solid last time out). Kenta Maeda looks like he could be one of the best trade acquisitions in team history. Rich Hill and Homer Bailey each looked terrific in their first starts. And Randy Dobnak, not even one of the initial 5 guys, has picked up right where he left off in the regular season last year. He's a legit major league rotation arm. It's not just a cool story. 

And this rotation looks this strong already without a single pitch yet thrown by arguably the team's best starter last year Jake Odorizzi. 

When was the last time a Twins rotation could go a full 1-5? Even the 87 and 91 teams couldn't do that. Even the best of the Gardy teams couldn't do that. 

And to top it off the bullpen has also looked outstanding. The only flubs have been from guys way down the pecking order. But the group of Rogers, May, Romo, Clippard, Duffey and Stashak has been nearly flawless. 

Unless Shane Bieber is on the mound, the Twins are markedly better than Cleveland. The White Sox have already been battered by the Bomba Squad. The Twins are heading for the playoffs, and probably a division title, and probably a 1 or 2 seed in the playoffs.

This should be a very exciting time as a Twins fan. 

And yet there are dark storm clouds looming at every turn. This season feels like it could be wiped from existence at practically any moment.

This whole week has been one story after another of positive COVID tests popping up around MLB. Seems like every morning there is more breaking news about this. 

Half the Marlins team has COVID. Cardinals players have it. Phillies players were thought to have it. The White Sox manager had a cough one day and that caused a postponed game. Other teams caught up in this had to have schedules remade on the fly. The Marlins haven't played in a week. MLB had to quickly devise a plan for 7 inning doubleheader games just to feasibly make up so many lost games already.

I remain very annoyed that MLB apparently came in with no plan of what to do if some players tested positive, which over a 3 month stretch of time was inevitable. I'm in a rage that the stuff that HAS happened so far appears to be entirely due to players ignoring the safety protocols. Protocols? Try common fucking sense. Just don't do stupid shit. Is it that fucking hard to just not do dumb shit during a god damn pandemic? 

I guess MLB is just reflecting America, a country that has spent the last 6 months proving itself to be the dumbest, most selfish country on earth. If we had just done the basic common sense stuff from the beginning, not only would many thousands of dead people not be dead, but we would be having baseball games in front of at least SOME fans. We would not have needed to scramble to have a 60 game baseball season.

And we wouldn't be sitting here barely a week into the season wondering if those of us even talking about the playoffs are trapped in a delusional state.

Don't let a handful of stupid, selfish assholes ruin things for everyone.