NEW YORK _ In their never-ending quest to make their telecasts seem normal, baseball's TV voices are reluctant to hold players accountable for violating on-field coronavirus protocols.
Baseball is continuously testing players, but does anyone really know when this mysterious coronavirus strikes? When and where it can be spread from one player to another? Is it happening on the field during game action?
Watching games on YES, SNY and national outlets like ESPN and Fox, there are a variety of instances where the virus could have been spread. We have repeatedly seen players high five in celebration, engage in an old-fashion hug, spit, wipe mucus/snot from their noses with their jersey in close proximity to the catcher and home plate umpire.
Some players don't wear masks in the dugout or on the field. There is other stuff; like a player pulling, what looked like, a protein bar out of his back pocket and taking a bite of it on his way to the batter's box. And during Wednesday night's Yankees-Orioles game, there was a close-up of mask-less teammates Gerrit Cole and Gary Sanchez in an animated dugout conversation. They were not nearly socially distanced. How many virus particles could have been put in play?
Maybe the broadcasters don't see these examples as violations. If that's the case, they should say so. But if they do see something they know violates the protocols (like spitting or chewing tobacco), the broadcaster should single out that player. They should also ask, out loud, why one of the umpires isn't warning a player to stop spitting. Instead, what we usually hear is a pity party, a voice that reminds us how certain habits are hard for players to break.
Maybe the voices just don't care what the cameras are revealing. After all, why shatter good vibrations about baseball being back? Better SNY and YES waste time showing live shots of their broadcasters calling the games from Citi Field or Yankee Stadium, or some other remote location, while the Mets and Yankees play on the road. Better they give us more talk about piped in fake noise or cardboard fans.
On his ESPN-98.7 radio show, YES play-by-play voice Michael Kay said he wasn't singling players out for violating coronavirus protocols because: "I don't want to be a scold. That's not my job." Some of the baseball TV producers we spoke with agreed with Kay. They said game broadcasters should point out that "so and so is not wearing a mask" but should not be in the booth to "enforce" coronavirus protocols.
Sorry, but that doesn't cut it here. These are incredibly unusual times. For safety sake it's OK to be a scold. The broadcasters would be helping the situation, providing a service to baseball, if they vociferously called players out. The broadcaster's harsh critiques would filter back to the offending players and get their attention. The criticism could pressure the players to finally hold themselves accountable.
It's time for the voices to turn up the heat. Before it's too late.
