Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
If baseball returns this summer, it would be a different game than the one played last fall.
And it would be different to watch, too.
No fans in stands. Ballparks will be empty. Beer vendors, peanut sellers, loud fans, waves — those familiar sounds and sights would be gone. How could a Giants broadcast fill that ambiance?
On ESPN’s telecasts of KBO games, there is often a third person in the booth — perhaps a former player or reporter Jeff Passan or a Korean baseball expert. You may start to see more of that inventiveness with MLB games.
“I think there could be room for, OK, the Giants are playing the Cubs in one of these weird games,” Dave Flemming said on “Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks” on Tuesday. “Let’s have Will Clark on and let’s show some highlights from that playoff series and let’s show the Maddux moment. I think there is some room to do a little bit of that while still actually covering the game.”
There would be plenty of time to fill, even if traditional fans may clamor to just show the game.
“When there’s no crowd and no ballpark atmosphere, there is a huge part of what we’re used to watching missing,” Flemming said. “That void probably does need to be filled somehow. I wouldn’t do it all game every game. But I think there is a spot for some stuff like that without fans and ballpark atmosphere to lean on. It is going to be tough on those directors and camera operators. It’s like, man, you can only get so many facial closeups of the guy on the on-deck circle.”