Most people who work in minor league baseball consider themselves part of a massive family that includes everyone in the industry.
It’s not unusual for one team’s general manager to call another’s to ask how he or she handled a particular problem that arose, and their peers are generally glad to help.
But in an extended offseason unlike any other, no one seemed to have the answers.
The COVID-19 pandemic not only cost the minors the entire 2020 season, but it’s vastly altered how 2021 will go when it is scheduled to start next week.
Club executives from around Virginia have leaned on each other, exchanging ideas and experiences via Zoom while evolving into an even closer branch of the game’s family tree.
Speaking this week in a forum organized by the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, top officials from five state teams said they’ve struggled to reach the finish line so they can get started.
“We’re all trying to learn this together, and I don’t know that anybody has the perfect solution,” said Allen Lawrence, the GM of the low Class A Salem Red Sox. “But just in talking this out with so many other people, I think we’re putting best processes in place. It’s like a very complicated puzzle.”
Routine things like changing stadium signage, ordering food and beverage supplies and printing tickets hadn’t been done since after the 2019 season, the last time minor league games were played.
With attendance likely limited to 38-50% capacity and players kept at a distance from fans, the game won’t look quite like it did back then.
On-field promotions like dizzy-bat races and sumo wrestling are prohibited indefinitely by Major League Baseball as are mascots on the field, meaning those in front offices have been challenged to find new ways to entertain people between innings.
At Double-A Richmond, CEO Todd Parnell said his staff has shot dozens of versions of on-field activities to be played on The Diamond’s video board. Norfolk Tides GM Joe Gregory said his staff has done the same thing, adding that some promotions can be done in Harbor Park’s concourse.
“I think the community’s salivating for something to do, to get out of the house and do something outside that’s in a safe environment, a fun environment,” said Gregory, whose team opens on the road and won’t play a home game until May 18. “Get back to the sounds and smells of a minor league stadium. I think the community couldn’t be more receptive to the season starting again.”
Added Parnell: “I think that the pandemic has put us all in a huge timeout, and I think the things that we took for granted or complained about will not be taken for granted and they will not be complained about anymore by any of us in this industry.”
Distinct harbingers of the season are starting to abound. Low Class A Lynchburg GM Chris Jones said he’s received a preliminary roster from the parent Cleveland Indians. He’s started putting together lists of roommate pairings for the players, who start arriving this week.
The Tides announced Thursday that they plan to open Harbor Park at 38% capacity. Single-game tickets for May games go on sale Tuesday, a long-awaited sign that baseball season is firmly within reach.
Jones said running a team in the face of so much uncertainty for so long has been a collaborative effort for the state’s executives.
“It’s made us be more creative, and I didn’t think that was possible with how creative we all are in minor league baseball,” he said. “I think that’s a positive.”
In addition to challenges brought on by the pandemic, minor league baseball is dealing with a more existential situation.
In February, MLB announced a complete restructuring of its player development system that reduced the number of teams from about 160 to 120 and wiped away decades-old leagues in their previous forms.
Among the casualties was Danville, where the Atlanta Braves had a Rookie-level affiliate in the Appalachian League for 27 years.
The league rebranded itself as an unaffiliated, amateur wood-bat summer league for active college players identified as draft prospects, and the Danville Otterbots were born.
The team, which derives its name from otters found in the Dan River and a local push for precision manufacturing technology, will play 54 games.
First-year GM Austin Scher, the club’s lone employee, said losing the relationship with the Braves doesn’t mean a lack of local enthusiasm. There is a waiting list for season tickets, and sponsorship sales are way up, he said.
“Having that hometown feel or having something the community can really rally behind,” Scher said, “I feel like that is more important than who your affiliation is with or having an affiliation, period.”
What matters most to all the executives is simply getting a product onto the field and maximizing fans’ enjoyment of it.
They expect the season to be unique, but that’s OK.
“You know what?” Parnell said. “It can be different all it wants because we’re having it, baby, and that’s the most important thing.
“We’re going to be part of the healing process when you come out of COVID. Our ballparks are going to be the place that you see your friends for the first time. Our ballparks are going to be the place where your company gets together. Our ballparks are going to be the place where you just forget about what happened the last 14 months and have a good time.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com
Infobox:
State minor league teams
Virginia teams that are affiliated with Major League Baseball organizations:
Team;Class;MLB affiliate
Norfolk Tides;Triple-A;Baltimore Orioles
Richmond Flying Squirrels;Double-A;San Francisco Giants
Lynchburg Hillcats;Low-A;Cleveland Indians
Salem Red Sox;Low-A; Boston Red Sox
Fredericksburg Nationals;Low-A;Washington Nationals
