Entering Tuesday night’s contest against the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs sat three games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Wild Card standings, sporting a 75-64 record with a legitimate chance to qualify for the postseason. Baseball fans are closely following the race within its final months where there are essentially six teams vying for three coveted Wild Card spots.
The Cubs knew that Tuesday’s game would be a pivotal one, and infielder Christopher Morel ended up coming in the clutch with a three-run homer, fueling the team to an 11-8 comeback win over the Giants. As the team flew the “W” above the manual scoreboard in center field, the franchise was aware that it had won the tiebreaker over San Francisco, a fundamental attainment to catalyze the team’s World Series hopes.
During one inning of the game, Marquee Sports Network conversed with Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger, but it came at an inopportune time. Bellinger was forced to move back on a fly ball hit by the Giants and ended up missing a throw to ensnare the runner at second base. Dan Bernstein conveyed his displeasure towards the endeavor Wednesday afternoon on 670 The Score, emphasizing how the magnitude of the game should have prevented the heightened access.
“I’m not asking for [a] screeching halt on the whole thing, but maybe in the middle of a pennant race in a game that matters; for as important a defensive position as center field is that maybe you just pick your spots a little bit better,” Bernstein articulated. “Maybe you have a group that says, ‘Hey, what’s the best way to do this?’”
After the play concluded, Bellinger spoke to play-by-play announcer Jon “Boog” Sciambi and color commentator Jim Deshaies about the difficulty of the play. While the wind affects certain fly balls, he shared that it was hit so hard off the bat that it did not have any impact whatsoever.
“I’m for us getting as much access into the game as we can,” show co-host Laurence Holmes said. “I think to do it with a player – and you’re taking a risk – we’ve seen it before where outfielders are mic’d up and nothing happens and it’s fine. Last night, it was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t fine,’ but I don’t know if I want people to stop trying to give us more access to the game.”
Major League Baseball has improved its metrics related to key performance indicators (KPIs) across the board this year, attracting a younger demographic through increased accessibility and shorter average game times. Throughout the season, the league has reported record levels of attendance, equating to a 9% overall gain on the year. Ratings for Cubs games on Marquee dropped 41% last season but could very well be on the upswing with the team competing for a postseason spot. If the game had been lost, according to show contributor Leila Rahimi, the conversation would have sounded much different on the air.
“I guarantee you, it at least will merit a bullet point in a meeting at Marquee,” Bernstein said of the regional sports network, which is co-owned by the Cubs and Sinclair, Inc. “They’ll at least say, ‘Hey, how should we think about where’s the mic and when’ as we go forward thinking there’s a lot of eyes on the broadcast.”
