By John Boccacino ’03
Major League Baseball kicks off its truncated 60-game season — the shortest campaign since 1878 — on Thursday, the first of the four major North American team sports to return to the playing field since the COVID-19 global pandemic struck.
As part of its coronavirus protocols, players and coaches will be tested every other day during the season and will be screened daily for fevers and symptoms. Inside the ballparks, players, managers and coaches must wear masks while practicing social distancing during games and batting practice. Fourteen high-risk players have already opted out of the 2020 season over coronavirus-related fears, but MLB is planning on seeing the season through to completion, with a World Series champion being crowned at the end of October.
With the WNBA season beginning on July 25, followed by the resumption of the NBA (July 30) and NHL (Aug. 1) seasons, and the NFL’s season opening Sept. 10, all eyes will be on the MLB to see how the league’s return to play protocols pan out.
“I'm excited to finally get the season going, but I'm also apprehensive. There are a lot of hurdles that need to be cleared for the season to be completed, and I think it would be naive to lose sight of that,” says Robert Ford ’01, in his eighth season as the radio play-by-play commentator for the Houston Astros.
“I'm feeling mixed emotions. I'll be quite happy to sit in a broadcast booth again and call a game. But I won't be able to stop thinking about the ongoing pandemic. … I don’t feel confident we'll have a full season. I hope we'll have one. I think it's possible. But the country by and large hasn't handled the virus well to this point, and I can't ignore that simply with baseball blinders on,” says Kevin Brown ’11, who handles Baltimore Orioles’ radio play-by-play responsibilities for the Orioles Radio Network.
Fans tuning in will notice several differences between the game they used to know, and baseball in 2020. Games will be played without fans in the stands, with teams piping in crowd noise to add atmosphere and excitement. For broadcasters like Ford and Brown, this will create its own series of challenges.
“I've called plenty of games with only a sprinkling of fans; though, to be fair, not many of those have
occurred in a Major League ballpark. Any broadcaster who says it will be normal is lying. We may have to tell more stories and fill the empty space more to feel comfortable,” says Brown, who earned a broadcast journalism degree.
“Not being able to feed off of the crowd will be weird. Broadcasters, like the players, often feed off of the energy of the crowd, and the crowd noise is often used to tell the story,” adds Ford, a fellow broadcast journalism degree-holder.
On the field, for the first time in the history of the National League, the bat has been removed from the pitcher’s hands as all of baseball is utilizing a designated hitter. Extra innings will start with a runner on second base, increasing the odds a team pushes across the potential game-winning run while reducing the chances of teams playing in marathon extra-innings games. Pitchers must face at least three batters or complete a half-inning before their outings are complete.
Ford is curious to see how the universal DH plays out, while Brown hopes it is a one-year solution. As for the extra-inning rule, Brown feels it is “completely gimmicky” and “silly as a competitive rule,” while Ford isn’t crazy about the change but believes it to just be a one-year fix.
Factor in the new rules and the rampant concerns about the health and safety of the hundreds of players, managers and front office personnel and you’ve got a baseball season unlike any other in the sport’s 144-year history.
After four long months without live team sports, will baseball be able to pull off this most unusual of seasons and offer sports fans a much-needed distraction?
“All the social responsibility in the world from within baseball doesn't guarantee anything.
Rising (coronavirus) cases in other states could cut the season short at any time, and it may have nothing to do with MLB's approach. Yes, baseball's return would be a boost for a country in desperate need of one - but let's hope the sport doesn't rush back simply to be a status symbol,” Brown says.
“We all know sports are a wonderful diversion, but it’s never the most important thing going on in the world, and it’s important to never lose sight of that,” adds Ford.
While baseball and its fans have waited nearly four months for Opening Day of the 2020 season, when it came to choosing a profession, Jason Benetti '05 knew from an early age that he would broadcast games for his hometown Chicago White Sox. When he was in elementary school on the south side of Chicago, in response to a homework assignment about his future occupation, Benetti confidently declared he was going to one day be the White Sox' announcer.
Today, Benetti is living out his dream job, entering his fourth season handling television play-by-play responsibilities for the White Sox. He also broadcasts college football and basketball games for ESPN.
“Every day is an opportunity to learn something new to bring to the audience, whether I’m at the batting cages watching players hit, reading an
article or having an idle conversation with a coach. I genuinely enjoy what I do and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world," says Benetti, who earned bachelor’s degrees in broadcast journalism, economics and psychology from Syracuse.
Benetti, Brown and Ford are among the dozen Orange alumni serving in a play-by-play or commentator role this baseball season, along with: Joe Castiglione G’70 (Boston Red Sox), Bob Costas ’74 (MLB Network), Dave Flemming ’98 (San Francisco Giants), Rich Hollenberg ’93 (Tampa Bay Rays), Dave Jageler ’93 (Washington Nationals), Todd Kalas ’88 (Houston Astros), Dave O’Brien ’86 (Red Sox), Cory Provus ’00 (Minnesota Twins) and Zach Zaidman ’96 (Chicago Cubs).