Dodgers COVID outbreak raises more questions about Justin Turner celebration

The Los Angeles Dodgers can’t dodge questions after the announcement of a post-World Series COVID-19 outbreak.

Rarely are the immediate consequences of a group’s actions so immediately known, but the second Justin Turner emerged from the Dodgers dugout in the wake of the team’s World Series victory, we could be fairly certain we’d have problems on our hands within a few weeks’ time.

Well, call us all collectively Nostradamus, because on the very same day that MLB and the Dodgers absolved Turner of any suspension-worthy wrongdoing, the team announced that five separate members of the organization had tested positive for the coronavirus.

Bizarrely, none of those people were with the team in the World Series bubble, but the evidence is still clear and present: Something fundamental within the organization’s stance on the virus has shifted to too lax a place over the past few months.

Remember when we were told Turner was paving the way for a new level of safety and security within the organization? He even alluded to it in his apology on Friday.

Clearly, that dedication to the cause wavered over the past few weeks, once a restricted celebration loomed ahead of those responsible for the World Series win. It’s a lot easier to instill protocols before your ultimate goal is met, isn’t it?

Whether Turner’s celebration led to the proliferation of the disease and the endangering of some tangential figures in the Dodgers universe (one of the positive tests is reportedly a family member), plenty of unnecessary risk was taken. And it was all embodied in Turner’s brazen stroll across the diamond, with the only justification being that he wanted to do it.

Something is clearly rotten in the Dodgers organization, something Rob Manfred hinted at when he absolved Turner specifically following an organization.

“Third, during the somewhat chaotic situation on the field, Mr. Turner was incorrectly told by an unidentified person that other players had tested positive, creating the impression in Mr. Turner’s mind that he was being singled out for isolation,” Manfred said, insinuating a culture of misinformation existed in the heat of the moment.

These test results only further speak to the new Dodgers way: Once the final out has been recorded, you might as well feel a very 2019 variety of joy, consequences be damned.

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