All the details for Virginia Tech’s 2020 Baseball Night in Blacksburg are now set. The 12th annual event is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 1 starting at 7 p.m. in Lane Stadium with current Major League Baseball analyst Ken Rosenthal booked as the night’s special guest speaker.
Rosenthal is a sportswriter and reporter serving as a field reporter for Fox Major League Baseball and an in-studio reporter for the MLB Network. Since August 2017, he has been a senior baseball writer for The Athletic.
In the past, Rosenthal contributed to Sports Illustrated (1990-00), providing weekly notes during baseball season while working for the Baltimore Sun (1987-00). He then spent five years at The Sporting News before joining Fox Sports in 2005. He regularly wears a bow tie when appearing on Fox Sports telecasts in support of various charitable organizations. In 2015 and 2016, Rosenthal won Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Reporter for his work with Fox Sports and MLB Network.
Tickets for the event are $75 per person, $50 for a baseball alumni and $20 for Virginia Tech students or youth 13 and under. Tickets may be purchased in advance on the link Baseball Night Tickets.
The program includes a Mission BBQ catered dinner, drinks, a silent auction, a chance to meet the 2020 Hokies and to hear remarks from Rosenthal and Tech head coach John Szefc. For those interested in a more intimate experience that starts an hour earlier (6 p.m.), a private, VIP cocktail hour with Rosenthal is available that includes a photo opportunity. Access to this reception can be gained by purchasing a single ticket for $200 while the Home Run Package of eight tickets can be purchased for $1,500.
All proceeds of the auction and banquet go to Virginia Tech baseball and the Hokies’ efforts to improve various aspects of the baseball program. Recent efforts include the building of an indoor baseball facility, the James C. Weaver Baseball Center, which is available for the team’s use year-round, and various enhancements to the ballpark, among them the addition of artificial turf and expanded dugouts prior to the 2012 season. The most recently completed construction project is the overhaul of the field.
Baseball Night in Blacksburg has featured a number of high-profile guests for its annual banquet. It began in 2008 with Baltimore Oriole legend and Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr.. His brother, Billy Ripkin, was the guest last year. Other guests have included Hall of Famer Jim Palmer, MLB pitchers Mike Williams and Billy Wagner, MLB managers Bobby Valentine and Charlie Manuel, MLB analyst Tim Kurkjian, Tech’s Hall of Fame coach Chuck Hartman and former Tech players Franklin Stubbs and Brad Clontz — the program’s only World Series alums — and Wyatt Toregas.