The Dodgers’ Justin Turner Tested Positive for Covid-19. Then He Returned to the Field to Celebrate. - The Wall Street Journal

ARLINGTON, Texas—Amid the chaos of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrating their first title since 1988 on Tuesday night, third baseman Justin Turner made his way to the middle of the festivities.

Partway through Game 6 of the World Series, the Dodgers learned that Turner had tested positive for the coronavirus, the first Major League Baseball player to do so in nearly two months.

When told by MLB security that he had to leave, a person familiar with the matter said, Turner refused.

He continued to share space not just with other players who had already been in close contact with him throughout the game, but with his teammates’ spouses, children and other family members who had not been.

Turner didn’t respond to a request for comment and the Dodgers didn’t make him available to reporters after the game.

By the time word reached the Dodgers dugout, Turner had already played defense in the top of the seventh.

After the game, on a Zoom call with reporters, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman attempted to explain how Turner wound up on the field after the game in close proximity to others long after finding out of his positive test.

Friedman went on to say that he believed Turner was mindful of wearing a mask and keeping his distance, particularly from those he hadn’t already been in close contact with.

He claimed that he personally wore a mask the entire time—even though Friedman and Turner were sitting just a few feet apart without any face coverings during the Dodgers’ team photo.

In response to that, Friedman said he hadn’t seen the pictures that show Turner interacting with others without masks.

Friedman acknowledged that in the MLB bubble, the Dodgers all had frequent close contact with one other, seeming to suggest that further positive tests in the coming days wouldn’t be surprising?

“The fact that we were all in a bubble together means that from a contact tracing standpoint, we’re all in that web,” Friedman said.

They also didn’t know what they would have done if the Rays had staged a comeback Tuesday and forced a Game 7, now that the Dodgers have perhaps been infected