Thunder go virtual to bring games to fans
There isn’t going to be baseball anytime soon for area fans, so the Thunder found a new way to give them a taste of America’s pastime.
The Yankees’ Double-A affiliate went virtual.
The Thunder hosted the first of what could be eight Thursday Night Thunder broadcasts on the team’s YouTube channel, which feature gameplay from MLB 20 The Show, commentary and between innings promotions.
“We were trying to think of something to keep baseball in our fans’ minds other than our social media accounts,” said Jon Mozes, who is in his seventh season as the club’s radio voice.
The idea originated after watching other MiLB teams role out their own twitch accounts and play each other in the popular MLB The Show video game, which now has full rosters of minor league players. Mozes said the first conversations about pulling this together happened on March 19 — the team’s offices have been closed since March 16 because of the Covid-19 pandemic that has brought the sports world to a screeching halt — and the first broadcast went up on Thursday night.
The front office wanted to make it compelling for fans of the team.
“The ideas started to flow about how to make this like a Thunder game,” Mozes said. “We have plenty of content on our servers in terms of National Anthem performances, between inning promos ... and many of those groups and sponsors have been loyal to us for many years so we wanted to find a
Thunder’s Brandon Wagner rounds the bases after hitting a home run in a virtual game against the Harrisburg Senators. The team is rolling out Thursday Night Thunder broadcasts, utilizing the MLB The Show video game to bring a virtual experience to fans stuck without baseball.
way to show them some love when they couldn’t have their typical experience with us.”
Mozes, the team’s booming baritone voice, provided the play-by-play while being joined by an array of guests. Game 1 visitors to the broadcast included former Thunder players Gosuke Katoh, James Reeves and Kellin Deglan and Executive Director of the Miracle League of Mercer County Dan Sczweck.
“It was strange at first and then it was actually a trip down memory lane,” Mozes said. “When I was like 11,
I would turn down the announcers on the video games I was playing and call the game myself. I remember my twin brother would come down to the basement and ask me who I was talking to. Guess it ended up being good practice for my future career. The main difference this time around is that I was in the closet of my apartment to try to create a good sound environment.”
The Thunder defeated the Harrisburg Senators, 4-3, on a solo home run by Brandon Wagner in the eighth inning. Reigning Eastern League
MVP Chris Gittens also homered and Yankees No. 2 prospect Deivi Garcia started on the mound.
The plan is to simulate the whole season, Mozes said. When the next broadcast drops, there will be stats to talk about. The whole package wrapped up in a tidy 1-hour, 28 minutes.
Front office employees Jon Bodnar, Seth English and Nick Abella got the ball rolling on the idea, Ben Wolverton and Marisa Murphy did the video editing and Brady LeDonne did the social media.