Cuomo: Restart baseball in New York soon! Play Ball. And Stay Safe.

Cuomo: Restart baseball in New York soon! Play Ball. And Stay Safe.

Started
May 15, 2020
Petition to
Governor - New York Andrew M. Cuomo
Signatures: 8,135Next Goal: 10,000
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Why this petition matters

Started by NY Baseball Coalition

"Play Ball. Stay Safe."

The NY Baseball Coalition is a group of baseball programs, organizations and industry leaders formed to support youth athletes, coaches, umpires and baseball businesses.

We recognize the importance of baseball to our communities and how it can be a key building block not only to our physical health, but to our mental health as well. Being part of a team helps build character, leadership and community. This is something we need now more than ever.  In addition, baseball is an important source of income for many.

Our goal is to provide a safe way to reopen baseball. We want a dialogue with governing officials as to how to reopen baseball activities in NY.  We have safe solutions to propose. "Play Ball. Stay Safe."

This video roundtable Resuming Youth Baseball Safely hosted by Senator Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania that aired on Thursday May 21 is a credible and supportive case for safely returning to the field.  Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a professor at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, said baseball — a game that has some natural social distancing built in — is a logical place to start.   When it comes to youth, data so far has shown that children have been unlikely to pass the virus to their parents, and that the virus’s most dangerous effects have been less prevalent in children, who have suffered far fewer deaths, Bhattacharya said.  Toomey said the data on how the coronavirus affects children, as well as evidence that it does not transmit well outside, signals that organized sports can be return if safety precautions are followed.  Younger people are considerably less at-risk than retiree-aged people with respect to Covid-related hospitalizations and deaths. People under 20 years old have ONLY accounted for approximately 1% of all Covid-related hospitalizations in NY. In contrast, over 86% of all Covid-related deaths in NY are people over 60 years old.

Reopening golf was a good step for communities, but mostly affluent people play golf with a significant portion of them being retirees who are considered “most at-risk” for serious Covid-related complications. According to the National Golf Foundation, golfers 65+ played 3x as many rounds annually as those aged 18-34. Similarly turkey hunting and tennis is not easily accessible for a cross-section of NY residents. It is time to consider re-opening baseball now!  The baseball ecosystem supports people of all ages and socioeconomic classes, but mostly younger people.

Baseball is a low risk, non-contact outdoor sport with appropriate social distancing built-in to the game. Studies show children are not strong carriers of the infection.  The sport should get the same opportunity as hunting, golf, and tennis to open up safely.

We ask the Governor and County Executives to allow us back out on the baseball field safely. We ask for an opportunity to propose various safety measures, such as, limiting the number of players/spectators, wearing masks, sanitizing hands/equipment, temperature checks, no concessions, no handshakes or high fives and more. The signers of this petition believe that not allowing baseball to be played in New York this spring/summer will have a profoundly negative impact on the community's health, both physically and mentally. It's time to Play Ball. And Stay Safe.

Send this petition to your friends/teammates/parents/coaches/elected officials.

Send along to our/your softball sisters too!

Video interview discussing safety:

Is it safe to play baseball?

 

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Signatures: 8,135Next Goal: 10,000
Support now
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Decision Makers

  • Andrew M. CuomoGovernor - New York