The Kansas City Royals traveled to Toronto to play a four-game series against their Eastern Conference rivals, but they made the trip a little shorthanded.
Ten Royals players refused to get vaccinated. Canada — like the United States — has a strict policy that all travelers entering the country must be vaccinated.
So the Royals, missing one-quarter of their 40-man roster, had to reach deep into their farm system to come up with enough players to put a team on the field.
In truth, the Royals are a terrible team and some of the high-priced talent they were fielding wasn’t producing. The team is 20 games under .500 and is far behind the pack in the A.L. Central.
But on Thursday night, without 10 major league players and fielding a bunch of minor leaguers and has-beens, the Royals defeated Toronto 3-1.
They lost 10-1 on Friday, so the Cinderella story was short-lived. But the abuse directed against the ten players was notable for its ferocity.
The player’s manhood was challenged. Their commitment to winning and their intelligence were questioned. One of the vaccine rebels, Whit Merrifield, explained, “The only reason that I would think about getting [the vaccine] at this point is to go to Canada. That might change down the road. Something happens and I happen to get on a team that has a chance to go play in Canada in the postseason, maybe that changes. But as we sit here right now, I’m comfortable with my decision.”
That makes sense: He is not a winning player. None of these scientists in baseball pants are. (This is a uniquely American breed of stupidity: Foreign-born players had to contend with U.S. entry requirements to play the season, so almost all of them are vaccinated.) Professional athletes have more resources than nearly anyone on earth, yet some of them cannot muster the energy to do enough research to come to the conclusion that every expert has: Vaccines are safe and effective. They give us our best shot at tamping down a pandemic that has already killed a million Americans and reshaped the lives of millions more. And players who refuse to get those vaccines—in addition to contributing to the extension of that pandemic—run the risk of fracturing their clubhouses and extinguishing their teams’ playoff hopes.
Related: Feds Who Enforce COVID Shot Mandates Exempt Themselves From COVID Shot Mandates
Yes, vaccines are safe and effective — for most people. Very few people are dropping dead in the streets after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Very few people are experiencing serious side effects. More than a few people have had a bad reaction to the vaccine, but the number of those who suffer noticeable side effects like headaches, fatigue, and nausea is less than 2%.
But percentages only matter if you become a statistic. It comes down to how much risk an individual wants to accept. Everyone should be free to determine the risks they’re willing to take with their bodies. Why should the Royals players be any different?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member