For the most part, ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets wasn’t particularly memorable. There were a few tense moments as the Giants hit in the eighth inning. Still, the Mets won the game 8-4.
But while the game itself wasn’t especially memorable, something that happened was — it just had nothing to do with any of the players. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the game was delayed for about two minutes after a fan fell onto the field. By the time ESPN’s cameras got to the fan, he was on his feet, so there was no real concern about a significant injury. Nevertheless, anyone watching the game was likely concerned, at least briefly. Well, almost anyone watching the game.
If you were watching ESPN 2’s Kay-Rod, Sunday Night Baseball’s alternate broadcast, you may not have known what was happening.
The look on Michael Kay’s face indicated that he knew that, at the very least, something was off. But the other half of Kay-Rod, Alex Rodriguez, was locked in a discussion about modern baseball with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo. Russo, true to form, dominated most of the conversation, talking about baseball not getting the national attention that the NFL and NBA get. When Russo did pause to breathe, Rodriguez immediately picked up the slack.
So, while it certainly looked like Kay was concerned, we don’t know. Because throughout the whole ordeal, Kay never got a word in. He wasn’t able to speak until after the game resumed, when New York’s Francisco Álvarez grounded out to end the inning, sending the broadcast to commercial.
A fan fell onto the field at Citi Field on Sunday, delaying the Giants vs. Mets game for nearly 2 minutes as security helped him off the field.
The Kay-Rod broadcast never even paused the conversation between Alex Rodriguez and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo to acknowledge it. pic.twitter.com/uegsP0WswQ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 3, 2023
This was not a typical fan-on-the-field situation. Networks generally go to painstaking lengths to not show that when it happens, often focusing on random fans in the stands or the sidelines/dugouts. This was clearly not happening here.
Of course, it has to be noted that alternate broadcasts will not call a game in a normal way. They shouldn’t. That’s what the main broadcasts do. Alternate broadcasts, like this and the Manningcast, generally rely on their hosts telling stories, oftentimes with guests. Some folks may love it, others may hate it. But as the name suggests, an alternate broadcast is meant to be different than the main one. So, we’re not trying to dissect Kay, or even Rodriguez and Russo.
Still, while we don’t need an alternate broadcast to call every (or, for that matter, any) routine plays, updates on abnormal things are still needed.
For example, earlier in the game, Kay and Rodriguez had Kevin Mitchell as a guest. While most of the conversation centered around Mitchell’s take on the modern-day baseball as well as talking about his experiences playing for the Mets and Giants, that inning also featured a replay review. San Francisco’s Bryce Johnson was initially called out trying to steal third base. But the Giants challenged the play and the call was overturned. Rodriguez and Mitchell paused for long enough to Kay to give that update.
That’s all that was needed here.
This isn’t a knock on Kay. He seemed genuinely concerned. It’s not really even a critique of Russo or Rodriguez. They were just locked in conversation. That’s how this broadcast works. Would it be nice if Russo paused for long enough to take an occasional breather? That’s a matter of opinion. But this has been his style for decades and he’s one of the most successful sport’s talk guys in history. We can’t blame him for staying with what’s worked.
But somewhere in the broadcast’s chain of command, there needs to be a way to communicate that the regular discussion needs to be paused to give the fans a brief update about what’s happening. Fortunately, there was no disaster here. But if a fan was genuinely hurt on the field, there needs to be a way to table a conversation about baseball’s place in the sporting landscape.
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
