'Putting our lives on the line': Pirates players react to playing amid smoke, haze

The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t do anything about the smoke and haze over PNC Park for their game against the San Diego Padres on Thursday, but there was a clear-the-air meeting in the clubhouse when some players expressed concern about playing the game in those conditions.

Sensing a serious situation, veteran pitcher Rich Hill contacted the MLB Players Association, which then notified MLB officials, and a meeting with the players was called.

“Just telling (the union) this is the situation,” Hill said after the Pirates’ 5-4 victory against the San Diego Padres. “They got in touch with MLB, and they took it from there. We don’t have the scientific background. We’re here to play baseball.”

Andrew McCutchen, who was outspoken about playing before the game and put on a mask both times he got on base, said he was satisfied with what was said in the meeting.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton on players voicing their concerns about the air quality and the ensuing 45-minute delay before the start. pic.twitter.com/jTiFGEMKmq

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) June 29, 2023

“There wasn’t enough discussion amongst all of us as a unit before the game started up,” he said. “We wanted some clarification of where we were and kind of where the game stood, the whys, the reasons and all of that, have a better understanding of the game.”

Asked if he was satisfied with the answers, he said, “As much as I could be. This is newfound territory to everybody, not just the players or MLB. It’s one of those things where you have to go through it and if something like that would ever happen again, we’d have more of a feel for it.

“We can’t just go in and say, ‘Hey, we’re not playing,’ or ‘Hey, I don’t care what it’s like outside. We’re playing.’ It’s new for all of us. Gotta have some grace on both ends.”

Catcher Austin Hedges was not happy about Wednesday night’s playing conditions.

“It was terrible. It was just awful, kind of scary to be honest,” he told 93.7 FM before Thursday’s game. “I don’t really know why we were playing.

“It seems like everyone is kind of uneducated on this subject, which is too bad. I would expect that there would be some experts that would be able to take control of this significantly better than what happened but there’s not — and that’s too bad.

“The thing that stinks is that we’re the ones going out there and putting our lives on the line, and it’s not fun to go out and play baseball when you think you’re putting your life on the line instead of just going out and playing baseball.”

Thursday’s meeting delayed the start of the game 45 minutes. While the game was being played from approximately noon to 3 p.m., the air quality index rose from 217 to 243 — in the “very unhealthy” range, according to the website airnow.gov.

Manager Derek Shelton said the Pirates training staff “did a really good job (of being) in constant communication with guys.”

“If there was a concern, how they were feeling, where they were going. Just to make sure that player safety was first. I appreciate the fact that our players were concerned about safety. I think the reason we had the delay was to make sure we were able to have conversations with some of them about their concerns. They were able to voice them, and we were able to talk back with them about what was going on and just give them as much information as possible.

“The fact that we were able to give them information is the most important thing.”

Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen puts on a mask at second base after hitting a double during the sixth inning against the Padres on Thursday at PNC Park. Photo by @Hornerfoto1 @TribLIVE @TribSports pic.twitter.com/LcD9vZWQP5

— Rob Amen (@RobAmenTrib) June 29, 2023

Hours after throwing 104 pitches Wednesday night in similar circumstances to Thursday afternoon, Mitch Keller said he didn’t really encounter any after-effects.

“Not really. Kind of just a scratchy throat this morning when I woke up, but who knows what that’s from. Nothing crazy,” he said. “Honestly, I thought it was just a cloudy day. Then, I walked outside to let my dog out and smelled the air and was like, ‘That’s not clouds, that’s smoke.’ There was speculation because (other MLB) games had been canceled earlier in the year, but nothing came of it.

“There’s always talk about are we going to play or not, but as a player you’re always ready to play until they tell you ‘no.’ I think everyone here was pretty locked in.”

Hill noted that the atmosphere around PNC Park had “an apocalyptic kind of feel.”

“You can’t see too much through the haze of the outlines of the buildings or, obviously, too deep down the rivers,” he said Thursday morning. “You just see what’s highlighted in front of you a little bit. I remember (Wednesday) coming in. I could see more of (Acrisure Stadium) than I could (Thursday). I couldn’t see really much of it (Thursday).

“I don’t know what to make of it. That’s why we have experts who are educated who have studied their profession for our benefit as a society as a whole. Thankfully, we have those people in place to be able to tell us the appropriate answers that we’re looking for. Otherwise, we wouldn’t know what is going on.

“I think it’s appropriate that any time you have people who are doing their jobs in their selected fields, that’s who we rely on as a society. I hope those people who are being chosen to give us the information are, obviously, the ones who are telling us what we need to know and what we need to do in order to protect ourselves.

“If it’s not OK to play the game, that shouldn’t be for us (players) to decide. We’re not experts.”

After discussions with MLB, MLBPA, we have made the decision to move forward with our game today.

Today’s game will begin at 1:20PM.

We will continue to closely monitor the air quality index levels around the ballpark and respond accordingly.

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 29, 2023

Todd Tomczyk, the Pirates director of sports medicine, said the team has concerns for everyone, but especially for “high-risk athletes.”

“For our high-risk athletes, which we don’t have any at all, but as the EPA government standards say, it’s pretty black and white what the recommendations are for highly sensitive and high-risk individuals. Fortunately, we do not have any players that fit that criteria.”

He said any decision to cancel the game would originate from “a collaborative effort with our providers at AHN, our experts over there, the league, the players association.“