Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner will not be punished for running onto the field to celebrate with his teammates following their World Series clinching victory on Oct. 27, hours after he was pulled from the game against Tampa Bay in the eighth inning because he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Major League Baseball said it had completed its investigation of the matter and essentially rendered him blameless of violating the league’s COVID-19 protocols because his teammates encouraged him to join them and that two Dodgers front office officials gave him permission to return to the field.
''Mr. Turner has publicly recognized that his conduct was wrong and has expressed remorse for that conduct,'' MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said. ''I have spoken to him personally and I know that he is extraordinarily upset by the incident. By all accounts, Justin is a leader in the clubhouse, a contributor to his community and a responsible person who was instrumental in the Dodgers diligently following the health protocols all season long.
''Staging a baseball season during the COVID-19 pandemic was an incredibly difficult undertaking and it required significant sacrifices and an enormous amount of work by players, club staff and the Commissioner’s Office. We all have made mistakes as we navigated these unprecedented challenges and have tried to learn from those mistakes so they are not repeated.''
ESPN reported at the time that the lab performing COVID-19 tests for MLB informed the league during the second inning of the game that Turner’s test from Oct. 26, the day before, was inconclusive. When his Tuesday sample arrived at the lab, they immediately performed the test, and when it proved positive, MLB called the Dodgers and told them to remove Turner from the game.
He was replaced at the beginning of the eighth inning. Turner didn’t immediately enter the field after the game, but showed up about an hour after the game with his wife, Kourtney, posing for photographs with the World Series trophy, hugging teammate Clayton Kershaw and sitting next to manager Dave Roberts for a team photo.
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