SF Giants’ Dickerson returns to ballpark where false positive COVID-19 result rocked his season
When Alex Dickerson looks up in the stands at Petco Park on Monday, he’ll see his wife Jennifer and six-month-old son, Levi.
He’ll savor the moment, but the Giants outfielder admitted returning to his hometown ballpark wasn’t easy.
“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some PTSD as I was spitting into that tube today,” Dickerson said.
Seven months ago, San Diego was the city where a COVID-19 test Dickerson took returned a positive result, forcing an immediate cancellation of a game between the Giants and Padres and a nightmare 48-hour stretch for him and Jennifer, who was 39 weeks pregnant.
Subsequent tests confirmed what Dickerson believed all along: The result was a false positive.
A series of negative results brought the Giants outfielder, his family and his team some peace of mind, but an erroneous report surfaced that suggested Dickerson had broken team protocols and contracted COVID-19, which caused an unnerving level of stress.
“A report from USA Today saying that the player who remains unidentified told several members of the Giants traveling party that he believed he was possibly infected by a family member or friend in San Diego, that is completely false,” Dickerson said at the time. “Those kinds of statements lead to a steamrolling effect that caused my wife, who is 39 weeks pregnant, to deal with a lot of stuff she did not deserve to deal with. It was not easy.”
Upon arriving in San Diego with the Giants for this week’s three-game series and taking another COVID-19 test, Dickerson reflected on the false positive and the effect it had on his family.
“That’s a memory from my past that wasn’t that great, but it’s kind of funny to talk about now because it was ridiculous,” Dickerson said. “There’s a little bit of me walking around these hallways like, I wonder if people are still looking at me as that guy.”
Dickerson said Monday he’s already received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and is “really looking forward to getting that second one.” He’s hopeful the Giants will be among the teams that have 85% of Tier 1 personnel — which includes players, coaches and staff members who are close contacts — be fully vaccinated, which would allow for the loosening of health and safety protocols.
For now, Dickerson and his teammates are still holding some of their pregame meetings on videoconferences, but playing in front of fans during spring training and at T-Mobile Park in Seattle provided reason for optimism.
“It’s a little more normal I’d say at this point and by the end of the year, hopefully it does feel like the good old days,” Dickerson said.
The 2021 season is already off to a better start for the Dickerson family, as Jennifer and Levi attended spring training games and Alex homered in Seattle, which is close to neighboring Tacoma where the outfielder spent a portion of his childhood while his father was stationed at McChord Air Force Base.
“My dad immediately called and said, ‘Hey, you finally got to hit one in Seattle,’ the place where I started playing baseball,” Dickerson said.
Dickerson said he spent 1995-1997 in Tacoma so his favorite player growing up was Ken Griffey Jr., but he had moved back to San Diego in time to become a Padres fan during the club’s run to the 1998 World Series.
Giants go with right-handers against Morejon
With Padres lefty Adrian Morejon on the mound, all but one of the Giants right-handed hitters –backup catcher Curt Casali– is in the starting lineup Monday. Manager Gabe Kapler said he believes one of the strengths of his team is the quality of players available off the bench and even though players such as Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford aren’t starting, they are available as substitutes.
The lineup
- Austin Slater, CF
- Donovan Solano, 2B
- Mike Yastrzemski, RF
- Evan Longoria, 3B
- Wilmer Flores, 1B
- Darin Ruf, LF
- Buster Posey, C
- Mauricio Dubón, SS
- Anthony DeSclafani, SP