I was on a Zoom call with my two best friends from high school last night and I started listing (okay, maybe ranting a bit) about all of the things 2020 has brought into my life that I never knew existed: derechos, murder hornets, and coronaviruses to name just a few. It has been a truly awful year and just when you think you’ve got a handle on it, something you never even knew was out there shows up to remind you that it can, in fact, get worse.
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball is not one of those “Wait, we have to deal with what, now?” curveballs 2020 keeps slinging our way like some sadistic pitcher with an ax to grind. It’s more of the garden variety “Ugh, really?” type of disappointment that seems quaint by comparison. Speaking only for myself, these mundane let downs piling on top of the truly terrible has introduced me to a type of exhaustion I never knew existed. I am tired — so, of course, in the middle of the worst year ever, fans’ least favorite broadcast crew will get the Cubs‘ final regular season game at Wrigley Field.
To alleviate some of that pain, I’m bringing back ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Bingo, the game Andi Cruz Vanecek and I invented after Alex Rodriguez took it upon himself to suggest that Javier Báez should be more boring. It’s incredible that he gets paid for comments like that.
One note, I struggled a bit guessing how Matt Vasgersian and ARod would talk about the Twins, mainly because they haven’t talked about the Twins in a decade. That’s right, this will be the Twins first appearance on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball since August 22, 2010. There are no active players from that game who will take place in tonight’s contest, although Cubs Quality Assurance Coach Mike Napoli did play first base for the Los Angeles Angels that day. Check out these starting lineups courtesy of Baseball Reference:
If the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball crew owns up to not covering the Twins for a decade that will be worth a square on our Bingo board which you can view below: