For Kansas City Royals broadcasters, things finally will be back to normal this season
During the previous two Royals seasons, Bally Sports Kansas City broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre’s travel plans were the same for every game.
Lefebvre would drive to Kauffman Stadium, call a game, then head back home. Half the time, the Royals were playing at the K, and they were on the road for the other half.
But because of COVID restrictions, Lefebvre, Rex Hudler, Steve Physioc and Jeff Montgomery couldn’t travel with the team. For the away games, the Royals broadcasters called the games at Kauffman Stadium while watching on television.
Starting this season, that’ll change as all the restrictions that were in place are now gone.
For Lefebvre, that means no more mental notes following a game.
“At least once a week,” he said, “I would drive home and think to myself, ‘OK, I can’t do that again.’ This goes back to the very first inning of the first game in 2020.”
In that game, shortstop Adalberto Mondesi attempted to steal second base during the opener in Cleveland.
“We’re in Kansas City and the camera operator in Cleveland got a really nice tight shot of the throw at second base, but it was a bang-bang play,” Lefebvre said. “And it was so tight that it took the umpire out of the picture. So there was nothing else for me to look at except for the screen.”
Not seeing the umpire’s call meant viewers, as well as Lefebvre and Hudler, didn’t know if Mondesi was safe or out. Normally, Lefebvre would’ve seen the umpire’s call because he’d have been in the stadium.
So it was a learning process for the broadcasters on how to react while calling a game hundreds of miles away.
Issues would arise from time to time for the announcers, whether it was a ball hit down the foul line or other action away from what camera operators were showing. That will not be a problem this season.
Lefebvre said it was a little bittersweet to be going back on the road because he had two seasons where he got to see him family every day.
But if a situation arises again that keeps the broadcasters from traveling with the team, Lefebvre believes he and the other Bally Sports colleagues will be prepared.
“I don’t think I don’t think any of us love doing the TV games off of the screens,” he said. “But I think over over the course of two years, we figured out to pull it off somehow. And so if there ever comes a time where, for whatever reason, we have to do the games remotely and we stay home and do a series instead of going out on the road at least now there’s a template for how to do it.”
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 12:20 PM.
