MLB will investigate Justin Turner for returning to field; Dodgers cleared to travel

ARLINGTON, Texas — A little over a week ago with the World Series about to begin, Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner praised MLB players for behaving responsibly and making it possible for the 2020 season to be played to its conclusion despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

“It’s ultimately a testament to the players for being responsible and making good choices and doing everything we had to do to ensure that the season was able to go on,” Turner said then. “I tip my cap to every player who put the uniform on and took that risk of playing and was responsible about it and enabled us to have a season and now participate in the World Series.”

But Turner wound up being the picture of irresponsibility when that season ended.

Pulled from the game in the final innings of the World Series when a positive coronavirus test was confirmed, Turner nonetheless returned to the field for the post-game celebration. His behavior was admonished by Major League Baseball in a statement released Wednesday afternoon and Turner could be subject to discipline for his actions.

“Immediately upon receiving notice from the laboratory of a positive test, protocols were triggered, leading to the removal of Justin Turner from last night’s game,” the MLB commissioner’s office outlined in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. “Turner was placed into isolation for the safety of those around him. However, following the Dodgers’ victory, it is clear that Turner chose to disregard the agreed-upon joint protocols and the instructions he was given regarding the safety and protection of others.

“While a desire to celebrate is understandable, Turner’s decision to leave isolation and enter the field was wrong and put everyone he came in contact with at risk.  When MLB Security raised the matter of being on the field with Turner, he emphatically refused to comply.”

The statement also said the commissioner’s office has begun a “full investigation” into Turner’s behavior and will consult with the players’ union “within the parameters of the joint 2020 Operations Manual.” The Operations Manual set out in over 100 pages the agreement between MLB and the players’ union that outlined the parameters under which the season would be played during the coronavirus pandemic.

The traveling parties for the Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays were tested following Game 6 on Tuesday night and again Wednesday morning. Late Wednesday afternoon, both teams’ traveling parties were cleared to return to their home cities. Turner and his wife, Kourtney, were reportedly the only members of the Dodgers’ traveling party not on the flight back to Los Angeles.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said he was unaware of Turner’s positive test until the seventh inning of World Series Game 6 and Turner was immediately removed from the game. However, Turner returned to the field for the post-game celebration and could be seen mingling with his teammates, hugging many and posing for photos with the World Series trophy and the entire team.

Friedman defended Turner, saying he wore a mask and was “socially distancing” from teammates most of that time. But there are photos clearly showing Turner without a mask – including sitting on the pitcher’s mound next to the trophy flanked by Friedman and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, both maskless.

“I think the people who were around him would be in the contact tracing web anyway – which is how close a lot of us have been around each other,” Friedman said Tuesday night. “The subsequent tests that we’re going to take are really important to figure out what we’re doing to do to make sure that any of us who are potentially positive do not spread it to other people.”

Turner posted on Twitter on Tuesday night that he is asymptomatic. But COVID-19 can spread from asymptomatic people. It is not clear how long an asymptomatic person can spread the virus.

“I think Justin wanted to come out and take a picture with the trophy and he did,” Friedman said.

“We did (follow protocol). When he came out of the game he went and was quarantined in a doctor’s office off to the side. … We’ve all been in a bubble and so I think the amount of contact and interaction between us that have been in that bubble is pretty high. So now it’s important to make sure that the people who are infected are subsequently quarantined. I think, by and large, it’s to make sure that we don’t spread it outside of this bubble because from a contact tracing standpoint we’re all kind of in that web.”

Turner is not the only one who was more interested in celebrating a championship than following health and safety recommendations.

L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said fan celebrations during the Lakers and Dodgers championship runs have contributed to the county’s stubbornly high rate of coronavirus infections due to all the gatherings.

“We are beginning to see another gradual increase,” Ferrer told the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday. “This does coincide with the opening of recent sectors as well as increased gatherings associated with sports teams and it includes celebrations that people have had for the Lakers and Dodgers.

“At many of these parties,” Ferrer continued, “people are gathering together often without face coverings. Sometimes these same dedicated fans are transmitting COVID-19 to other people.”

By the most recent rates of infection, the county was moving further away rather than closer toward reopening schools and additional businesses. Last week roughly 1,200 people per day in L.A. County tested positive representing a slight increase during October.

Reporter David Rosenfeld contributed to this report.