Brewers’ Sedar adjusts to COVID-19 protocols
Much has been made about behavioral adjustments major-league players will have to make during games with MLB protocols for coronavirus prohibiting things such as spitting and high fives.
But what about third base coaches? How are you supposed to give signs to the hitters when you can't touch your face? Most of the signs are given in that fashion, so the Milwaukee Brewers' Ed Sedar knows he'll have to come up with something before real games begin July 24.
“I haven't started doing the signs, but I'm going to have to check on it because a lot of the signs are around my face, and I might have to come up with some new ones,” said Sedar, in his 14th season on the staff and 10th as third base coach.
It's a whole new world for third base coaches during the pandemic because they also can't high-five a home-run hitter rounding the bag, give him a handshake or a pat on the rump. What exactly does that leave in terms of celebration techniques?
“So far, I really haven't come up with any,” Sedar said. “It's just kind of a point (fingers at the player) so far right now. We were thinking about doing the little foot taps, extending the feet, but I don't think that's going to work because of my age (58) and stuff.”
As for the no sunflower seed chewing and spitting, admittedly one of his favorite habits, Sedar said, “That's been kind of easy because they take all that stuff away from you.”
Such is life in the new COVID-19 world of baseball. Social distancing hasn’t been much fun, either, for Sedar, who isn’t a social-distancing kind of guy. Known for his outgoing nature and great sense of humor, Sedar has been limiting his interactions to those you can do 6 feet apart.
“There’s been a lot of changes,” he said. “The big one is not everyone can be here at the same time. (The Brewers have held workouts in two groups.) It’s very hard on the staff, but they’ve been awesome. And the medical staff, coming up with all of this stuff.
“The intake (testing) and all that stuff has run really smooth, I hear. But, as far as the scheduling, the biggest thing was not being able to have everyone here at one time, so we’ve been doing double and sometimes even a third shift. There’s a lot of hands on the schedule-making, but actually working quite well. A lot better than I thought it would, actually.”
The Brewers have been very inventive in celebrating big moments in games, including often raucous receiving lines in the dugout. The new protocols prohibit such activity but Sedar said the players will figure something out to keep things interesting.
“For sure, we’re going to come up with something as we go on,” he said. “We have one of the best energizers in baseball in Brent Suter, so I think it will be OK in that department. But, without the loudness (of fans), you can hear everyone talking. It would be like 10 years ago when I first went out there and heard people talking about Home Depot while the game was going on. There were fans but not many of them.”
It was the players’ responsibility to stay in playing shape as best they could during the game’s three-month shutdown due to the pandemic and eventual haggling between owners and the union over money. Sedar and wife Marsha found a noble pursuit: making face masks for anyone in need of them. His stepdaughter, Nicole, is a nurse in the intensive care unit at Children’s Wisconsin, so many were sent there.
“I was following Marsha’s orders as she made masks,” said Sedar, who spent half of the shutdown at the family’s home in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, but is happy to be out of that COVID-19 hot spot now. “We made up to 200, 300 masks for family and friends, and helping out Nicole at Children’s Hospital. We definitely kept busy, but it was nice to come back to work.
“Marsha had the idea. The hospital sent us mask diagrams for what they needed. We have ones that are filtered, ones that just have the multiple cloth, and we actually went out and got a sewing machine. That one wasn’t able to put out the masks that Marsha wanted done, so we went out and got another one, and she did an excellent job.
“I was just the pattern cutter and maybe at the end, a quality control guy cutting the extra threads off. We were probably four to five hours a day, sometimes, doing it.”
Marsha even made a mask for beloved family dog Squirt, who “supervised” production at times. Sedar often brought Squirt to Miller Park to run around and have fun with the players but said that’s been a no-no with the virus protocols.
“He doesn’t understand why he’s not Tier 1 (highest COVID clearance) at the ballpark,” Sedar said. “He’s staying home. We’re looking into that.”
With no fans allowed in the stands for games, Sedar is going to have to make an adjustment in one of his most-cherished traditions with the club – trotting out to the first-base line, with arms up and waving both hands to the crowd as he takes the field for the home opener during pregame introductions.
“I’m probably still going to do that,” he said. “I know the Brewers are going to save a lot of money because you know how I like to go down to the stands and hand out (sunflower) seeds and bubblegum and things like that. So, we’ll be well-stocked without me doing that every game.”