“I’d be more comfortable not having that go across air”- PitchCom audio was accidentally televised on ESPN during live Sunday night baseball interview

The PitchCom Communication System was introduced by Major League Baseball this season to assist in combat sign-stealing, however, ESPN blatantly defeated its intent by broadcasting the pitches during their Sunday Night Baseball coverage.

Without using hand signals, a catcher and pitcher can communicate pitch requests via PitchCom. The pitcher’s hat receives an audio signal from the catcher through a keypad. PitchCom is another tool available to infielders for keeping track of the next pitch, which proved problematic on Sunday night.

Boston shortstop Christian Arroyo was fitted with a microphone for a live in-game interview with the Sunday Night Baseball announcers during ESPN’s coverage of the Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. However, throughout the interview, a machine voice could be heard saying, “Four-seam fastball inside, four-seam fastball up in the zone.” With a fastball up and in, Red Sox pitcher Nick Pivetta promptly brushed Orioles batter, Austin Hays, off the plate.

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Merging of PitchCom and in-game interviews proved to be too much to handle for ESPN

PitchCom is designed to give a pitcher the confidence that the opposition won’t pick up their chosen pitches. It’s safe to argue that the opposite purpose of the communication system would be served if ESPN used PitchCom to accidentally broadcast a team’s pitch choices on national television. Play-by-play announcer Karl Ravech recognized the potential problem after consecutive pitch selections were televised by ESPN, alerting Arroyo to what the audience was hearing.

“We have this really interesting, and I don’t know if we’re comfortable with it or not, but you can hear the PitchCom through your microphone,” Ravech admitted.“Can you?” Arroyo asked. “Oh goodness. Let me turn that down.” “You have volume? You can turn that down a little bit?” Ravech asked. “I’d be more comfortable not having that go out across the air.”

Baseball players are increasingly being mic’d up to speak with the booth from the field during national broadcasts, with Fox and ESPN following suit. Players have been unexpectedly laid-back during these interviews, giving fans exclusive in-game access, which has mainly been praised.

PitchCom and in-game interviews were both created to improve Major League Baseball’s product, but combining those two technological advancements was too much for ESPN to handle. Ravech deserves praise, though, for spotting the potential problem and intervening to at least recognize what the audience was hearing.

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