MESA, Ariz. – The signs on the closed ticket windows at Sloan Park all said, “Game cancelled due to inclement weather,” even though by Monday it had been four days since rain was a factor for a baseball game in Arizona.
It was as if everybody left when Major League Baseball shut down spring training last week and never came back – no signs or other indications in sight to suggest the coronavirus pandemic had caused it or for how long.
Just pushed-aside equipment, folded chairs, parked golf carts, empty fields and padlocks.
By Tuesday, even the skeleton crew of team officials the Cubs planned to keep in place to support players who chose to stay and work out on their own are expected to start clearing out – along with many of those players – after MLB’s announcement Monday that a potential restart date has been pushed back to mid-May at the earliest.