Nationals' ballpark in West Palm Beach serves as reminder of COVID shutdowns

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The last time the Yankees were in the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches for a spring training game was on March 12, 2020. 

It was their final game before baseball shut down because of COVID-19.  

Aaron Boone remembers it as the “end of the world,” he said on Wednesday before the Yankees faced the Nationals. 

“This is where it all stopped,” Boone said. “There was the buzz around it before the game like this could be (it), rumors of shutting it down. And then I got word middle of the game like, ‘Yeah, this is the last game.’ At that point, I certainly didn't know . . . we'd started to hear about COVID, obviously, but I didn't know what it meant.” 

The Yankees went back to Tampa and hunkered down for what they thought was going to be a “a couple of days” before things got back to normal, Boone said. 

“Ten days later, I'm at home, wiping my groceries down,” Boone said. “Standing in line at the grocery store and learning what it all meant. Something which we're probably still learning, right?” 

Extra bases 

Clarke Schmidt, who threw five perfect innings in his last outing, was charged with three runs in 3 2/3 innings in the Yankees’ 5-2 loss. Two balls that were lost in the wind and sun cost Schmidt, who was pleased with his outing other than back-to-back walks in the third . . . Michael King continued his unblemished spring training by throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings. King has not allowed a run in 8 1/3 innings as he comes back from a stress fracture in his right elbow . . . Tommy Kahnle (biceps tendinitis) was given a cortisone shot on Tuesday and will be re-evaluated later this week. 

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.