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

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.