A Wild Pitch in Opening Ceremony, But Hopefully a COVID-19 Shutout

Published in The Sankei News
(Japan) on 31 July 2020
by Kyosuke Sumii (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Eric Stimson. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
The long-awaited major league games have finally begun. They were postponed due to COVID-19 and started about four months late.

The Nationals, the World Series champions, played the Yankees in Washington, D.C., the former’s hometown and the U.S. capital. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and an adviser to the Donald Trump administration on its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, played a major role in the opening game.

Fauci never minces words while discussing pandemic strategy, and he is popular with the American people. According to public opinion surveys by the American media, about two-thirds of Americans trust him.

The flip side of that popularity, as reported, is that fissures have opened up in his relationship with Trump, who has prioritized reopening the economy, and also due to the fact that his press briefings have decreased due to pressure from the White House.

Trump repeatedly criticized Fauci for “making a lot of mistakes,” but after the disagreements started to be increasingly reported, Trump made a U-turn, and now claims he is repairing his relationship with Fauci. Trump’s true motive is a desire not to lose Fauci while former Vice President Joe Biden, who is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, opens a lead.

In the opening game, Fauci threw a wild pitch far out of the strike zone. But but I hope his real job is a shutout.


待ち望んでいた大リーグの試合がようやく始まった。新型コロナウイルスの影響で延期され、約4カ月遅れでの開幕だ。

 昨季、ワールドシリーズを制したナショナルズは、本拠地の首都ワシントンでヤンキースと対戦。始球式の大役は、新型コロナの感染対策をトランプ米政権に助言する米国立アレルギー感染症研究所のアンソニー・ファウチ所長が務めた。

 ファウチ氏は歯に衣(きぬ)着せぬ言葉で感染防止対策を繰り返し、国民の人気が高い。米メディアの世論調査によると、国民の約3分の2が同氏を信頼しているとの結果が出ている。

 その人気の一方で、経済再開を優先するトランプ大統領との関係には亀裂が生じていると伝えられ、ホワイトハウスの圧力でメディアへの登場が減ったとも報じられた。

 再三にわたって「ファウチ氏は過ちを犯した」と批判していたトランプ氏は、亀裂が盛んに報じられると一転してファウチ氏との関係修復をアピールしている。米大統領選の民主党候補指名を確実にしたバイデン前副大統領に支持率で水をあけられる中、人気の高いファウチ氏を失いたくないというのが本音だろう。

 始球式では、ストライクゾーンから大きく外れる暴投となったファウチ氏だが、本職での“完封”を期待したい。(住井亨介)
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