Highlights of the Show

TV sports production teams pride themselves in airing unique video that the fan in the stands doesn't see.
Finding video that the fan in the stands doesn't see is one of our goals each and every telecast. Tonight, we captured three moments that helped us succeed in this goal.
One of the themes that our announce team developed tonight described how important repetition was for a player during each game.
How does a batter get ready for each at-bat? Each batter has his own unique way of preparing to hit when he is at the plate. Lance Berkman came to the plate and we showed how he places the end of his bat on the plate while the pitcher is taking the catcher's signs. Then, as the pitcher goes into the stretch or begins to wind up, Berkman places the bat on his shoulder as he gets ready for the delivery. Berkman did this in exactly the same manner for every pitch.
In the truck, we looked for a similar example of preparation by a pitcher and we found a great example by one of the Marlins pitchers.
A reliever for the Marlins had a unique manner of foot movement before each delivery. As he went into the stretch, he lifted his left foot then his right foot and repeated this movement twice before delivering the pitch.
Both of these examples were captured live and the teamwork between the truck and the booth worked to the max. The video from the truck and the audio from the booth captured these two examples perfectly.
The third example of our goal of showing the viewer at home something the fan in the stands doesn't see occurred when our Ultra-Mo camera operator pointed out to the tape crew that his shot showed the Cardinals pitcher changing his grip on the ball after a come=backer to the mound. Every defensive player wants to throw the ball with his fingers across the four seams of the baseball. This pitcher caught the ball in the air (after it hit off his glove) in a two-seamer grip. He changed the grip to a four seam grip and we had it captured perfectly from the Ultra-Mo camera.
This great moment was aired because of the teamwork between the camera operator and the tape crew.
Once again the weather was cold and the attendance was sparse.
The atmosphere at the ballpark wasn't what the St. Louis TV baseball crew is used to and, as I wrote in yesterday's blog, it was not what we prefer.
However, the highlights of our telecast more than made up for the atmosphere of Busch Stadium.