Royals hit with outbreak of chicken pox
How’d you like to be Jonny Gomes, recently acquired by the Kansas City Royals, and joining your new team at Kauffman Stadium amid an outbreak of chicken pox? Not to worry, Gomes told the media Tuesday, including Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star:
Jonny Gomes says he is not at risk to catch the chickenpox. “I think I’ve had all my rabies shots,” he said.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) September 1, 2015
Gomes was being tongue-in-cheek in vouching for his own health, but the same cannot be said for outfielder Alex Rios and right-hander Kevin Herrera, who each will miss at least two weeks because of the illness.
McCullough writes that teammates who don’t remember with certainty are contacting their parents to see if the players had chicken pox as children, when it typically strikes. It’s a bit amusing on the surface, but — as the sacking of Rios and Herrera show — it’s also a serious situation.
The Royals believe Rios is their patient zero, though they’re not sure how he contracted the virus. For public health reasons, they sent him home on a private plane Sunday. Shortly thereafter, Herrera came down with symptoms. It’s too soon to know if he’ll be the only other player affected.
Alex Rios (left) is the Royals’ chicken pox patient zero. (USATSI)
Via the Kansas City Star:
Team officials are expected to address the situation before Tuesday’s game against the Tigers. The Royals believe the infections are limited to only Herrera and Rios. The most at-risk players are those from countries in Latin America, where the chances of childhood inoculation are lower, experts say.
Even in the hothouse of a major-league clubhouse, where players mingle in close quarters for upwards of nine months, the situation is unusual. Members of the Royals front office and big-league staff greeted the news with incredulity. Though the scenario sounds more amusing than worrisome — a potential World Series contender stricken by a children’s illness — the reality is far more insidious, given the severity of the virus when adults catch it.
The Royals, with an 80-50 record, have a 13-game lead on the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central. Like the other teams in MLB, they also have roster flexibility because of September expansion. They just added Gomes.
Those factors, along with the illness being confined to two players at the moment, are blessings. Everything else is wait-and-see.
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