What it’s like being one of the few dozen people in the park with Phillies playing
The intrasquad games played all week at Citizens Bank Park have given the players and everyone streaming from home a glimpse of what baseball in 2020 will look like. Artificial noise, empty seats, a more relaxed atmosphere, self-created energy.
The first thing you notice upon entering CBP is, obviously, how many fewer people are around. Typically, when I walk through the media entrance out onto the concourse to make my way to the elevator four hours before first pitch, I encounter no fewer than two dozen stadium employees – ballpark security, concession staff, janitorial workers, etc.
Now, one or two people, you’re on the elevator, you’re in the press box. It’s a smooth, safe system in place at Citizens Bank Park.
Pregame
I arrived at the ballpark around 3 p.m. Thursday, just before an interview session over Zoom with Roman Quinn, who said something you’ll hear again from players over the next few months.
“Just playing in some of these intrasquad games, I can feel myself not having as much energy as I would with fans in the stands,” the speedy centerfielder said. “Just because of that adrenaline rush they give you. I definitely think it’s something we have to push through.”
Batting practice ensued. The handful of writers present were spaced out. Play-by-play men Tom McCarthy and Jim Jackson were in the house, as was former Phils GM Ruben Amaro Jr.
Some of the little things stick out, like Joe Girardi walking through the empty stands behind home plate at points during BP, or Bryce Harper in shorts poking his head out of the dugout to yell (more audibly now) to someone in the field.
Activity began in the bullpens around 5:30 ahead of the Phils’ 6 p.m. intrasquad game. At 5:45, position players lined up along the first-base line to play catch and warm up their arms. At 5:56, starting pitcher Jake Arrieta emerged from the bullpen and slowly made his way toward the dugout.
Game quirks
Arrieta’s first pitch to leadoff hitter Jay Bruce was low and inside and went to the screen. For that first batter, there was no umpire in place, and Girardi was standing near the screen, about eight feet from Harper in the on-deck circle.
After Bruce’s AB, Girardi moved to the top step of the dugout, and bullpen catcher Greg Brodzinski took over as the home plate ump. He did a good job, though he got a little grief on a pitch the Phils’ skipper thought should have been strike three for Nick Pivetta.
The second batter Arrieta faced was Harper, who lined a ball down the right-field line as the non-existent crowd roared.
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2020Bryce Harper double down the line against Jake Arrieta, followed by the roar of the crowd. pic.twitter.com/yfIcmmnDFv
— Corey Seidman (@CSeidmanNBCS)
Bryce Harper double down the line against Jake Arrieta, followed by the roar of the crowd. pic.twitter.com/yfIcmmnDFv
— Corey Seidman (@CSeidmanNBCS) July 16, 2020
The “ovation” for Harper’s double could have kicked in a little bit earlier, and at one point there was a loud cheer for a pickoff attempt at first base, but hey, we’re all adjusting to this on the fly.
Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm were on the red team, which started Pivetta. Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery, returning to second base after a few days as the DH, made up the right side of the infield on the other side behind Arrieta. Both Arrieta and Pivetta pitched four innings.
In the third inning, Realmuto made one of his trademark, lightning-quick transitions into a strong throw right on the money to nail Scott Kingery on a stolen base attempt. With no field umpire, second baseman Josh Harrison called Kingery out on the bang-bang play. Gotta go with the honor system for a few more days here!
And afterward?
The routine after a game used to be trudging down to the media room in the basement of Citizens Bank Park to take a seat before the manager speaks, then making the short walk into the clubhouse to talk to players. It’s different every night in the clubhouse in terms of who is available when. Sometimes, the starting pitcher is already standing in the middle of the clubhouse waiting to be interviewed. Sometimes, the starting pitcher takes 15 minutes to emerge. Sometimes, the key player that night is at his locker immediately, other times you have to wait until he’s finished working out, receiving treatment, showering or all of the above.
That’s all gone now. All interviews take place via Zoom in a group setting. So while being at the park can provide you a more complete picture of what is going on and offer different vantage points, it doesn’t really result in more access this season. Hopefully, it’s just a one-year thing, but you wonder if it will take years for teams to feel comfortable allowing even some media back inside the clubhouse. The possibility exists that the pregame or postgame media routine has been changed forever by COVID-19.
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