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The 2020 coronavirus outbreak led Major League Baseball to cancel spring training and postpone the start of the regular season Although baseball stopped, reporters continued to write about baseball, and fans continued to talk about baseball But with no games being played, what were they writing and talking about? More than a simple examination of what these two groups are saying, the authors also examined why their focus has turned to particular topics and themes Through a textual analysis of Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) baseball headlines and Reddit posts, the authors found writers jolted out of their routines, yet still framing many of their 2020 stories to focus on the actions of players For fans, they uncovered conversations that, in many ways, read like friends mourning the loss of a loved one
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