Andrew McCutchen says there’ll be baseball in 2020, but doesn’t want to play in empty stadiums | Extra Innings

No baseball today. But maybe soon? Donald Trump said this week that “we have to get our sports back” and that he’s sick of watching old baseball games. I guess the president is not subscribed to our Extra Innings podcast as we discuss classic Phillies games. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday that there’s a way for sports to return this summer and fall. The stadiums would be empty, but the games would go on. The offseason might finally be ending.

You’re signed up to get this newsletter in your inbox every Thursday during the Phillies offseason. If you like what you’re reading, tell your friends it’s free to sign up here. I want to know what you think, what we should add, and what you want to read, so send me feedback by email or on Twitter @matt_breen. Thank you for reading.

— Matt Breen (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

If there is a Phillies player accustomed to working in an empty ballpark, it is Andrew McCutchen. He has remained in Clearwater, Fla. during the coronavirus shutdown to train at Spectrum Field under the watch of the team’s medical staff. Five days a week, McCutchen runs on the field, pushes through agility drills, and throws inside an empty Spectrum Field, which could be the team’s home if they play a Florida-based regular season without fans in 2020.

McCutchen has spent the last month working without fans, but that does not mean that he wants to play the 2020 season in empty stadiums.

“I wouldn’t like to play in an empty stadium,” McCutchen said Wednesday in article published by Playboy. “I understand the safety behind that, but we like to play in front of the fans. The fans are the ones who make us feel a certain way when the stadium is full. I think back to last season, when I hit a leadoff home run on Opening Day. I’m like, “Dang, what if it’s Opening Day and I hit a leadoff home run and there are no fans in the stands?” It just wouldn’t be the same.”

A baseball season is far from guaranteed for 2020. But it is close to a guarantee that the stands will be empty if there is a baseball season in 2020. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said Wednesday that there’s a way professional sports could resume this year, as long as there are no fans. According to USA Today, Major League Baseball is considering a shortened season that has the league split between teams sequestered in Florida and Arizona. If so, McCutchen would be seeing his teammates again. But the stands would be still be empty.

“Whenever baseball returns, I just want it to be as normal as it can possibly be, even with everything that’s going on,” he said. “Whatever it takes for the game to just be the game. Let’s not worry about changes or how the roster is going to be expanded, how many games we’re going to play, how long they’ll go. I just want to play as many games as we can play and try to make it as simple as possible. Just go out and focus on the game itself.

“My final prediction for the season? Just this: We will have a season.”

The National Transportation Safety Board released its final report about Roy Halladay’s fatal 2017 plane crash. The NTSB said Halladay was performing a series of stunts in his airplane and had high levels of amphetamines in his system along with other drugs when he crashed his small plane into the Gulf of Mexico.

Nancy Giles, the wife of former Phillies owner Bill Giles, died on Easter. Mrs. Giles was instrumental in the team’s long-standing partnership with the ALS Foundation. The Phillies have since raised $19 million to help fight ALS.

Chase Utley surprised a Penn Medicine doctor this week by thanking Mark Mikkelsen live on MLB Network for his work battling the coronavirus. Mikkelsen is a big Phillies fan and Utley was his favorite on the 2008 World Champions. “I had the opportunity of a lifetime,” Mikkelsen said.

Bob Brookover, Scott Lauber, and myself got together virtually on Wednesday to talk about the Phillies. Usually, we would have these conversations in the press box or the dugout or on the walk to our cars after another night of watching the Phillies. There’s no baseball to watch in 2020, but there’s still plenty to talk about.

The three of us will record another episode of the Extra Innings podcast this week as we dig into the YouTube vault and watch classic Phillies games. Last week, we watched the Matt Stairs Game from 2008, the night everyone could tell the Phillies were ready to be World Champions.

Today: Antonio Alfonseca, the six-fingered reliever of the 2007 Phillies, turns 48.

Saturday: Rico Brogna, who hit 20 homers in three-straight seasons, turns 50.

April 21: The Phillies traded future Hall of Fame pitcher Ferguson Jenkins to the Cubs in 1966.

April 22: John Kennnedy becomes the first African American to play for the Phillies in 1957, who were the last National League franchise to intergrate.

Imagine the Phillies needing a late run and Joe Girardi just grabbing a bat and walking to the plate. That’s what happened 100 years ago on Monday. Gavvy Cravath, the star player of the Phillies 1915 National League championship team, was the team’s player-manager in 1920. The Phillies were tied with the Giants on April 20, 1920 when an umpire blew a call at home that would have given the Phillies a lead. So Cravath, peeved, inserted himself as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning at the Polo Grounds.

He hit a first-pitch, three-run homer off Rube Benton and the Phillies won, 3-0. It was the final homer of Cravath’s career, which many believe was a career worthy of being in the Hall of Fame. “New York can have Babe Ruth,” The Inquirer wrote that day. “But Philadelphians will be satisfied as long as it has Gavvy Cravath. When it comes to pinch hitting, this fellow is in a class by himself.” For more on Cravath’s interesting career, Frank Fitzpatrick wrote a terrific story about him in 2015.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @matt_breen.

Here’s some feedback to last week’s Extra Innings by Bob Brookover, which built the Wall of Fame case for several former Phillies.

“As far as the Phillies Wall of Fame, Jim Konstanty had that one great year only. Bake McBride had some memorable years, helping especially in 1977 when he arrived in that great Phillies trade. Ron Reed was mister steady. I would agree putting him in along with McBride. If an owner can be placed in, Ruly (and his dad?) should too. Greg Gross and Del Unser are both under appreciated. How clutch they were. They were wonderful Phillies who had many years of service. I just do not want “just anybody” admitted... they have to really deserve it. I can’t begin to tell you how much I miss baseball.” - David C. via email.

“As a 70 year fan of the Phillies, I would really like to see Ruly Carpenter added. I was the Carpenter family’s co-pilot for several years and got to know Ruly. He is really a First Class person and is very down to earth with everyone he meets. Ruly sure did a fine job as the [Phils] president in 1980.” - David H. via email.

“Just re-lived 1980 postseason and I totally agree about your choices. Thank you for leading me to Classic Phillies TV on YouTube. Bake McBride was huge throughout the postseason should definitely be on the Wall of Fame. He dug a few balls out of RF that led to outs at the plate, all with fantastic relays from Manny Trillo as well as some clutch hits like the three-run HR in game one of the WS, to change the whole direction of the game, as they were down 4-0. I was always a Del Unser fan back in the day. To me he was the clutchest of Phillies pinch hitters, always seemingly with a double. Can’t remember who he had an interview with, but he was “all business” saying - “this scratches a 26 year old itch.” Yeah ! Greg Gross hit the perfect bunt single to help the Phillies almost in a blink of an eye get the bases loaded with no outs after falling three runs behind (in the 8th to Nolan Ryan!) in the NLCS game 5. I have always been a big fan of the surprise bunt for a single. It almost always is a momentum changer. The Carpenters lived in Delaware, where I grew up. Just from the toil they endured, Ruly deserves mention. As for Ruthven and Larry C. They both stepped up especially late in the 1980 season... so go for it!” - Stuart R. via email.