Rob Maaddi, FISM News
St. Louis Cardinals All-Stars Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt will miss the team’s two-game series in Toronto, which starts today, due to Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Several unvaccinated MLB players have been forced to sit out games in Canada throughout the season and forfeit their game salaries. By missing the two games against the Blue Jays, Goldschmidt loses $285,714 and Arenado forfeits $384,615.
Backup catcher Austin Romine also won’t make the trip to play in Toronto.
Arenado and Goldschmidt join Kansas City Royals outfielder Andrew Benintendi as the only All-Stars so far who have been banned from playing in Canada. Philadelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, a three-time All-Star who didn’t make the roster for last week’s midsummer classic, also missed a series in Toronto earlier this month.
Arenado, a 31-year-old third baseman, seven-time National League All-Star, and eight-time Gold Glove Award winner, explained his decision to reporters.
“It’s just a personal choice, and I’m not trying to do a political stand here or be a spokesperson for this or that,” Arenado said. “I’m just choosing to do what’s best for me and my family, and I mean no harm. But it’s unfortunate that I’ve got to miss two games.”
Goldschmidt, a 34-year-old first baseman and seven-time NL All-Star selection, said it wasn’t an easy choice to make.
“I’ve tried to talk to as many doctors and professionals as I could, figured out as much as I could, and I decided the potential risks outweighed the potential benefits of doing it,” Goldschmidt said. “It stinks that I can’t play in Toronto and can’t play these next couple of games. I hate that part of it, but that’s unfortunately the consequence. It’s a very personal, private medical decision, and, unfortunately, it becomes public with this. I think you’ve got to put your health above everything. For me, this was the best decision for my health, and I’ll have to suffer the consequences.”
The Cardinals are second in the National League Central Division standings behind the Milwaukee Brewers. St. Louis leads the Phillies in the race for the final wild-card spot.
Both players said they’d consider changing their stance to avoid missing games in Toronto should the Cardinals and Blue Jays meet again in the World Series.
“I was hopeful they would get rid of that ban and go to something like what we have,” Arenado said, referring to policy in the United States. “I would probably consider [taking the vaccine], especially if it’s a chance to play in the World Series. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing.”
Goldschmidt, who is of Jewish ancestry and was raised Catholic, was a featured speaker at the Cardinals’ annual Christian Family Day in 2019. He said he began seeking a deeper understanding of the Bible and a relationship with the Lord by reading Proverbs.
“Before as an outsider I was like, ‘Oh man, as a Christian you have to be perfect and all these people think they’re perfect,’” Goldschmidt said. “Let’s be honest, there’s no one on this planet who is perfect and I think we all know that. I started to see that with those guys; we all make mistakes, not just baseball mistakes but real-life mistakes.
“Everybody has a foundation they are trying to live their life by, mine is just the Lord’s Word and the Bible and what He said. I’m coming up short with that all the time, [but] definitely, my goal is to make my faith in Jesus the center and most important thing in my life.”
Copyright 2022 Thomson/Reuters