SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Giants outfielder Alex Dickerson received news of a positive test result for the novel coronavirus on Friday night moments before he had been set to play for San Francisco against the Padres – and he knew in his gut it couldn’t possibly be right.
Dickerson got pulled off the field and immediatelywas placed in isolation at Petco Park. He was sure there was no way he could have COVID-19 after testing negative a day earlier in order to fly with the team and receiving his pregnant wife’s negative result, as well. He hadn’t broken any protocols.
Still, Friday night’s series opener at San Diego was called off along with the scheduled game Saturday.
A former Padre who is from the San Diego area, Dickerson had a half-dozen more tests and got back to the field Sunday for a doubleheader despite the emotional and physical exhaustion of what he went through – he was starting in left field and batting second in the opener.
Adding to the anxiety of his ordeal was Dickerson figuring out how to carefully get wife Jennifer, who is 39 weeks pregnant with their first child, to a hospital on Friday night to be tested again. The couple expect a baby boy this coming week.
”It was something you can’t really prepare for and you deal with it. It was very stressful. I didn’t sleep much. That’s the year we’re having,” said Dickerson, a self-described private person who fought tears during a pregame Zoom call. ”A lot of people have it very tough right now. It’s where you find out how to get through things.”
His follow-ups included two visits to the University of California San Diego for additional testing.
The 30-year-old Dickerson began the day batting .268 with eight home runs and 23 RBIs. He insists he never had contact with family members or friends and only saw his wife upon arriving in San Diego.
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