No fans. Fake noise. Here’s what 2020 Giants baseball will sound like: pic.twitter.com/5MrSomgNlN
— KNBR (@KNBR) July 18, 2020
Just about every professional team throughout history has preached blocking out the external noise, not listening to the critics.
The Giants may have to try to ignore the literal noise.
Gabe Kapler, asked Saturday about the Giants’ first experiment with fake crowd noise a night prior, paused for a few seconds before offering, “It’s interesting.”
Good? Bad?
“Nondescript,” Kapler said, before choosing his words carefully.
“I’ll show you how I can handle this question very diplomatically,” the Giants manager said over Zoom. “We wish we had fans in the stands making that noise.”
They will not in the year of the coronavirus, instead playing with the piped-in sound tracks aimed at establishing the ambiance and feel of a pre-2020 baseball game. Major League Baseball has provided tracks for each team to play with that have been derived from source audio recorded by “MLB The Show,” the video game. There are 75 different effects/reaction noises that teams have at their disposal to provide the sounds that accompany on-field play.
There is no opting out; all teams will be using the fake crowd noise. (Although clubs can use a different audio provider if they want.)
There is a hum at the ballpark that feels familiar but also jarring without sentient fans in the seats. The buzz will be complemented by announcers, walkup music and in-stadium video as the league tries to replicate games from the players’ and fans’ past.
“Honestly, when I was out there I didn’t even really notice it,” Tony Watson said Friday, before adding he had noticed it when the game started.
“It’s better than silence for sure,” he said, perhaps not speaking for the team.
Johnny Cueto threw four innings in Saturday’s brief scrimmage, allowing three runs. His arm looks strong, and he will be the Opening Night starter Thursday in Los Angeles.
The Giants announced Kevin Gausman will start Monday in Oakland in the first of two exhibition tuneups before the regular season begins. The Giants have not announced 1) who will start Tuesday’s game or 2) who will start Game Two of the season. Jeff Samardzija, who pitched three innings Friday, seems to be in line after Cueto, and Gausman could pitch Saturday. Drew Smyly would be the sensible Sunday starter.
Tyler Heineman caught Cueto, which suggests he is the front-runner to catch Cueto on Game One. Facing lefty Clayton Kershaw, switch-hitting Heineman had an advantage over lefty-hitting Rob Brantly. As long as Cueto was comfortable throwing to Heineman, who has five games of MLB experience, he’ll get the nod.
Chadwick Tromp has made a run for the job with a solid summer training, and the righty hitter homered off Cueto, his third of camp. He also pinpointed a throw to second that caught Mike Yastrzemski stealing. The 25-year-old who has not debuted would be a fallback.
Jose Siri with the play of Giants camp:
"Hey Siri, show me a web gem." #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/tdVqz933vd
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 19, 2020
