OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The NFL insisted Wednesday that it did not cut any corners with contact tracing after learning that Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant had tested positive for coronavirus a half hour before kickoff against the Dallas Cowboys.

Allen’s former managers strongly disagree. Allen’s “teammates always liked him. You could go forever and not meet a more charming fellow,” said Mauch. Chuck Tanner, who managed Allen on the White Sox, said in a 1995 interview with SABR, “Dick was the leader of our team, the captain, the manager on the field. He took care of the young kids, took them under his wing. And he played every game as if it was his last day on earth.”Colorado Rockies Face Masks

Well, in Orlando a couple of years ago, I found myself in line to get food behind Bill James. I'm not unlike many baseball writers and wanna-be analysts -- James has had and continues to have a profound impact on the way I think about the game. We also happen to have both been raised in the rural Midwest. I was introduced to him once years ago at a SABR event in Kansas City, but it was awkward and fleeting, so I knew he didn't recognize me. I followed him through the food line, which had to take at least 10 minutes. I encountered him again waiting for the elevator, then rode up the elevator with him for a few floors, just the two of us. I may have nodded at him at some point, but no words were exchanged.Cleveland Indians Face Masks

Fanatics is making masks instead of MLB jerseys to fight Coronavirus

With the Major League Baseball season suspended due to Covid-19, resources that would normally be reserved for making jerseys will instead go toward masks and gowns for healthcare workers.

Fanatics, the company that manufactures MLB jerseys for Nike, has temporarily converted its 360,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Easton, Pennsylvania, to create up to 1 million masks and gowns, per MLB.

According to Fanatics executive director Michael Rubin, the company has halted production of jerseys entirely, instead re-focusing a staff of 100 social-distanced employees on making masks and gowns from jersey materials. They will be donated to hospitals and emergency management personnel in Pennsylvania with plans to expand to the New York City region, which has become the epicenter of the outbreak.

MLB jerseys are made with polyester, which could retain germs for a longer period of time compared to cotton. But the jersey-made equipment could still help prevent the spread of Covid-19 by way of coughing, spitting or sneezing. Some form of prevention is better than none as healthcare workers are already struggling with a lack of resources amid the outbreak and are being told to reuse masks.

When the Phillies returned home from a road trip a few days later, white fans took their anger out on Allen. “Every time a ball was hit to Allen, fair or foul, every time he came to bat, the crowd booed. It was not just a few hundred people, but many thousands,” sportswriter Arnold Hano wrote at the time. Though Allen wasn’t the only Black player on the team, his stature as an outspoken star made him a target for hostile white fans. The booing became so commonplace that a September article in the Philadelphia Inquirer expressed astonishment that Allen hadn’t been booed.Texas Rangers Face Masks