Phillies: Broadcasters likely would call road games remotely
By Matt Rappa
Phillies broadcasters would call 2020 road games from Citizens Bank Park
In recent months, a lot of things have gone “virtual.” Work meetings, high school and college graduations, you name it. And, it appears Major League Baseball broadcasters, including those of the Phillies for television and radio broadcasts, will similarly have to get accustomed to the “new norm.”
Earlier this week, The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber reported that MLB broadcasters are expected to call 2020 road games — if they happen — remotely using monitors.
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That means Tom McCarthy, John Kruk, Ben Davis, and Gregg Murphy on NBC Sports Philadelphia, as well as Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen, Jim Jackson, and Kevin Frandsen on SportsRadio 94 WIP, would not travel with the team.
This would all be to promote social distancing and the health of the players, coaches, and whomever else would travel for road contests.
According to Lauber, the Phillies broadcast team would likely broadcast road games from their booth at Citizens Bank Park. And, since a road broadcast team would not be at the venue, they could spread out, even more, to “socially distance.”
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Lauber writes:
"In a 67-page first draft of a health and safety manual that was presented to the Players Association three weeks ago, MLB outlined procedures for staging a season in the midst of a pandemic that has killed more than 108,000 people in the United States. Road teams would face particularly austere behavioral restrictions, including not being allowed to leave the hotel other than to go to the ballpark. They also are prohibited from using hotel gyms and other shared facilities, or riding in taxis, Ubers or other forms of mass transit."
For nearly one month, ESPN has already done remote broadcasts of Korean Baseball Organization games, nearly 7,000 miles away. Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, and this report is the latest example of that in the professional sports world.