Masked man Anthony Fauci’s inglorious baseball debut

Only in 2020 does an infectious disease expert get to throw the ceremonial first pitch of the Major League Baseball season.

Dr Anthony Fauci, director of America’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who also happens to be a huge Washington Nationals’ fan took to the mound at Nationals Park in Washington DC on Friday to get the season underway donning a mask and, we can only assume, a large grin as he headed on to the field.

Fauci, perhaps more than any other person on Planet Earth, has become the face of the fight against coronavirus. Maybe he should stick to science.

Falling well wide and well short, Fauci entered baseball’s Hall of Shame with a throw that rolled past the catcher. The baseball equivalent of John Howard’s infamous mullygrubber.

“Dr Fauci’s first pitch was just trying to social distance from home plate,” suggested one observer. “Anthony Fauci flattening the curve,” wrote another. Others have suggested his pitching is as accurate as his Covid advice. Ouch.

With no fans in the stands, something American sports fans will have to get used to, at least Fauci was spared the taunts of the crowd. He is 79 years old, so we’ll give him a break.

G’day to Stu and Stu

Nobody has ever seen Stuart MacGill and Andrew Faulkner in the same room, but the sight of them recently in a chat room of sorts had cricket’s QAnon types chatting.

MacGill, as you all know, is the extremely talented former Test wrist spinner.

Faulkner is the extremely talented cricket writer, life member of the Kensington Cricket Club, vegan, wicketkeeper, award-winning military author and a proud South Australian. When not involved in any of the aforementioned activities he can be found volunteering behind the bar of his local returned serviceman’s club while reminiscing about the glory days of the SANFL and complaining about Victorian football.

If this man refused to give you Stuart MacGill’s autograph, it was with good reason.

Stuart MacGill, honest. Cricket writer Andrew Faulkner is in the other photo.

He’s old school. Only drinks West End, loves a dart and while he was a regular at club cricket for decades he quit in disgust when helmets became mandatory.

Everywhere Faulkner goes in life somebody mistakes him for MacGill. Everywhere. Everyone.

Cricket writers fall about laughing when it happens, because they know nothing sets him off more than a “g’day Stu” from a random person. He insists on setting them straight and if they persist after being corrected, things can elevate quickly.

There was only once where the person was neither corrected nor berated and it was at the Wellington Basin Reserve in February 2016.

Faulkner, fascinated by all things military, was staring at the roll of honour for the war dead at the ground when an old man shuffled up beside him, put a hand on his shoulder and whispered “he was a leggie, just like you Stu”.

Even Faulkner had to let that one go.

Anyway, Faulkner, as he would, sent out a tweet recently mourning the death of the brilliant South Australian keeper, Barry Jarman, a sentiment which was retweeted and endorsed by MacGill.

One wag noted later that while they have never been seen in the same room, at least now we can say they have been seen in the same chat room.

One thought: if Stuart MacGill refused to give you an autograph at any time in the past 20 years reconsider any grudge you may have — there’s a fair chance it wasn’t him.

Also, Andrew is one of the many who have lost his job in this tough time. A good journo and a good bloke we all miss him dearly.

Reality check

By now Bronte Campbell was supposed be swimming in the Olympics and sleeping on a bunk bed in the athlete’s village in Tokyo. Instead she’ll be laying out on a sheet of cardboard and hoping the flimsy bit of plastic she’s scrounged up in case it rains won’t be necessary as she spends the night on the dew topped turf at the SCG.

Campbell and a group of generous athletes are giving up their time and comfort to raise money for homeless kids on the night of August 3.

The swimmer who shares a name with a Sydney beach and the English sister-authors seems to be pretty switched on.

“As it gets colder and colder and you start to think about people living on the streets and how hard it would be to go about your everyday life if that was your reality,” she said.

“I really wanted to raise awareness for this cause and see what that experience would be like for myself because I’ve often thought if you are not even able to be safe when you are sleeping at night, I don’t know how you are supposed to have enough energy to confront the rest of your day.

“It has definitely been something I have thought about a bit this year, especially with everyone spending a lot of time in their houses – what it would feel like to not have that sense of security.”

The Sports Star Sleep Out, an initiative of The Chappell Foundation, is in its third year and servicing a need more critical than ever.

Greg Chappell, who will be joining stars such as Mitchell Starc, Alyssa Healy, Lisa Forrest, Benny Elias and Louise Sauvage on the cold ground, tells us “43,000 people aged under 25 are homeless on any night” and the COVID-19 crisis has agencies reporting alarming rates of referrals.

Kids don’t choose to sleep on the streets unless it is a safer option than home, the foundation says. It’s a disturbing observation.

You can give the cause a hand and support by visiting www.sportsstarsleppout.com to choose an athlete to sponsor. Michael Slater, MacGill (or is it Andrew Faulkner?) and Steve O’Keefe are involved along with a long list of others.

BC’s tip of the week

Outback Diva is no Makybe Diva but she is honest and is Brendan Cormick’s tip of the weekend when she steps out in race 8 at Rosehill on Saturday.

Known for her blazing finish, this race should set up well and the Freedman brothers, Richard and Michael, have placed Outback Diva (No 9) well with only 50kg after apprentice jockey Louise Day’s claim.