The Rays’ televised intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday evening at Tropicana Field offered an extended preview of the game-night scene, sounds and overall vibe in what shapes up as the briefest, most bizarre season in big-league history.
Here are some of our more notable observations:
1. Living in glass houses
Talk about strict social distancing. Rays veteran broadcasters Dewayne Staats and Brian Anderson were separated in their booth by a large wall of clear Plexiglass.
“Reminds me of Oakland,” Staats said.
“This one you can see through though,” Anderson retorted.
2. Benign breaches of etiquette
As mask wearing goes, some Rays are far from midseason form.
First baseman Ji-Man Choi wore his disposable mask below his nose for much of the night. Jose Martinez ― first baseman for the light-blue squad ― had his down around his chin.
Masks are optional for players in the field or at bat this season. Spitting, however, is forbidden. Right-handed starter Tyler Glasnow quickly violated that new guideline, subconsciously emitting a few flecks of spittle as he walked off the mound after the top of the first inning.
3. Social-distance celebration
Choi’s three-run home run off Glasnow in the top of the third offered us our first look at the no-contact celebrations to which the Rays will be limited in ’20.
After crossing home plate, Choi did a light fist-elbow bump with Yoshi Tsutsugo before delivering a sequence of air fist bumps with..well...the air.
4. Wired for sound ... sort of
The piped-in crowd noise provided a bit more game-day authenticity than some might presume, especially when accompanied by the customary sound effects (ball park organ, blaring horn after home runs, etc.). The crowd noise was heightened when pitchers had two-out, two-strike counts on batters.