BLACKSBURG – On the fourth floor of Lane Stadium Saturday night, current Major League Baseball analyst Ken Rosenthal highlighted Virginia Tech's 12th annual Baseball Night in Blacksburg as he shared stories of covering the MLB and entertained the crowd with a follow-up Q&A session.
As always the night featured a silent auction that benefits the baseball program, a catered dinner provided by Mission BBQ and a rundown on the status of the program from head coach John Szefc before Rosenthal took the stage.
Gallery: (2/1/2020) 2020 BASEBALL NIGHT IN BLACKSBURG
Szefc thanked all the former players and supporters of the program in attendance, gave his outlook on the season, introduced his staff and, with a new wrinkle, all of the players (by class) were brought up and introduced by a class rep. Szefc also talked about where the overall program stands, with the upgrades to English Field at Union Park and the James C. Weaver Baseball Center, and where he sees the program moving forward in terms of making improvements.
After a brief intermission, it was Rosenthal's turn and he started by sharing a story about the 1988 Orioles, a team he covered at the time as a beat reported. Baltimore lost their first 21 games of the year and 107 the entire season. The 1989 Orioles were known as the Comeback Kids as they rebounded from the previous year. That season they took on the "Why Not?!" slogan as the team's pursuit of the pennant went down to the final series of the regular season.
He explained that the 1989 team had an intangible quality, was team oriented, enjoyed the process and savored the moment - something he thought the 2020 Hokies could benefit by modeling. He ended by telling the players to be the best team they can be before taking a number of questions from the crowd. Those ranged from Hall of Fame voting, the Houston Astros' cheating scandal - which he and others broke - his favorite player (Pedro Martinez), analytics in baseball among others.
The event came just 13 days ahead of the Hokies season opener, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 14 in Conway, South Carolina at the Brittain Resorts Baseball at the Beach tournament. Tech will open the year against San Diego State with first pitch slated for 11 a.m.
