Sunday, October 3, 2010

A Legend

Today was the final telecast of the 2010 season.
Today was also the final telecast for one of the legends of broadcasting, Jay Randolph.
It was an honor to work on baseball telecasts with Mr. Randolph.
Mr. Randolph is an icon in the St. Louis area. He did the play by play on Cardinals' telecasts for almost 30 years. Mr. Randolph is a true professional, a master at his craft.
I believe that Jay Randolph is one of the greatest golf announcers of all-time.
The National Football League was blessed to have Jay call many of their games.
Jay Randolph taught me so much about television sports.
This is a man who is one of the most respected persons in our industry.
I have just used the following words to describe Mr. Randolph:
Legend
Icon
Professional
Master
Greatest
Respected
But there is one word that I believe best describes Jay Randolph:
Gentleman
It is a blessing that I was able to work with this gentleman.

Thank you for reading my blog.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Remember, spring training 2011 is just around the corner.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Two Emotions

I felt two distinctly different emotions as I cut today's Rockies/Cardinals game.
The Cardinals beat the Rockies today 1-0 in eleven innings on a walk-off single by Matt Holliday. Walk-off wins are a blast to cut.
Walk-off wins are a blast to cut even in meaningless games at the end of the season.
Walk-off wins are a blast to cut even in extra innings during meaningless games at the end of the season.
The emotion I felt cutting the walk-off win was one of excitement.
Even though the game was meaningless as far as the pennant race is concerned, I still was pumped and thrilled to be cutting this exciting Cardinals victory.
However, I felt a totally different emotion before the top of the sixth inning.
We knew going into the game/telecast that Stan "The Man" Musial was going to be introduced to the crowd as part of a campaign to get Stan the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This "Stand For Stan" ceremony should play an important part in honoring this Cardinals great.
"The Man" entered onto the warning track from the wagon gate in right field and circled the ballpark.
The adoring crowd all waved foot high cutouts of Stan and cheered loudly.
The Rockies players in their bullpen and dugout all were clapping.
The Cardinals players, manager, coaches, and staff stood in front of the dugout clapping, waving the cutouts and cheering.
This was an emotional moment for me to cut.
Stan "The Man" IS ST. LOUIS CARDINALS BASEBALL!
This iconic gentleman is beloved by all Cardinals fans.
Cutting this tribute was an honor and I was moved during the ceremony.
There was a huge lump in my throat and I could only whisper as our great TV crew covered this
wonderful moment.
Never get too high and never get too low.
Tough to do sometimes.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Nailing A Rare Play

The suicide squeeze is one of the rarest plays in baseball.
Because this play is so rare, the TV coverage is usually pretty basic. The mid-first base camera is usually utilized because this angle shows the pitcher, batter, and the runner. This replay shows the runner taking off from third base when the pitcher releases the pitch. To be the most effective, this angle must include the pitcher, the runner, and the batter.
There was a squeeze play in our game/telecast tonight and we nailed it's coverage about as well as can be expected.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cardinals had a runner on third base with one out. A recent call-up, rookie catcher Matt Pagnozzi, was at the plate.
Before the first pitch our announce team speculated that a suicide squeeze may be in the works.
I took a shot from camera 1 (left field corner) shooting Cardinals manager Tony Larussa giving signs to the third base coach. I told camera 3 (mid-first base) to pull out wide and include the pitcher, runner, and batter.
The first pitch of the at-bat was a ball and the squeeze was not attempted.
I took camera 1 again and LaRussa gave some more signs to the third base coach. These signs were much more emphatically given and this was pointed out by our play by play announcer, Rick Horton - a former big league pitcher.
I went back to camera 3 and stayed on the shot as the pitcher delivered to the plate. From this angle, we could see the runner at third base break for home. As Rick announced "Here it comes!", I went to camera 4 (centerfield) as the pitch was delivered.
The suicide squeeze worked and the Cardinals increased their lead to 3-0 which turned out to be the final score.
The hero shots of Pagnozzi, the runner from third base, the fans, and the dugout celebration were very effective and the replays were great.
This very rare baseball play worked for the Redbirds tonight.
This very rare baseball play worked for our telecast tonight.
We nailed it!