Johnny Damon on MLB's coronavirus-impacted 60-game season: 'I just hope everything stays on track'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two-time World Series champion Johnny Damon joined the "Fox News Rundown" podcast Thursday to discuss Major League Baseball's plans to play a 60-game regular season due to the coronavirus pandemic and what that could mean for the players.
"It's going to be exciting, I mean, 60 games," Damon said in an interview with Jessica Rosenthal. "These guys can get off to a hot start and stay there and whoever gets off to the best start, I mean, they have the best chance to hold it together and end up winning because most of these teams are actually very close to each other as far as talent."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"And I just hope everything stays on track because I know there's more positive cases that are going to keep popping up," Damon added. "I just hope that people don't keep getting scared of it, and I guess I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't take a step back from all the hard work that the American people have done."
The two-time All-Star told Rosenthal that players contracting coronavirus during the shortened season -- which is scheduled to start in late July -- is "going to happen."
"People are going to be affected by this," Damon said. "But I think most of the baseball players who don't have the underlying health issues, they're going to come out of it and not even know that they have it.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"But," Damon added, "you also have to worry about their families ... people with health issues and also the older generation, like my mother. She's almost 80 years old and we've been very careful with her the entire time."
If there is a World Series this fall, Damon likes one of his old teams to hoist the Commissioner's Trophy.
As for Damon's pick to win the championship, he believes one of his old teams has the best chance.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I really like the Yankees," he said. "[They] have a strong team."
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Turning to the National League, Damon said he had high hopes that his former manager Joe Girardi could find success in his first year with the Philadelphia Phillies.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They had a really good team last year and now they have the best manager in baseball with Joe Girardi ... " Damon said. "We know what he was able to do with the Yankees and, you know, he had a great team with us in 2009 [when Girardi led Damon and the Yankees to their most recent World Series].
"And so Joe Girardi, like I said, best manager in baseball. And he's going to do a lot of great things for the Phillies."
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