Adjustments

During a baseball telecast, the director is constantly making adjustments trying to develop a rhythm as he/she cuts the game. Adjustments are much more prevalent when the director is working with a road crew rather than the familiar home production team. Making the proper adjustments in developing a nice flow to the show is very rewarding. There is no better feeling for a TV sports director than when you have a nice rhythm going.

The same is true for the athletes on the field during a Major League baseball game.

The key to success for these players is their ability to make adjustments throughout the game.

Pitchers and batters must make adjustments during at-bats.

The most successful pitchers and the best batters make higher quality adjustments than the less successful players.

When adjustments are made by the players on the field quality baseball occurs and the game is a blast to cut and fun to watch.

Perhaps the most important person on the field that determines whether adjustments must be made is the home plate umpire.

Tonight's home plate umpire had an off night. This umpire had such an off night that neither the pitchers or the batters could adjust during the at-bats.

There were bad pitch sequences and terrible at-bats all night long.

This was an ugly baseball game.

When the actions of one person on the field affect the quality of the game then the game is in trouble.

It is true that anyone can have a bad night, (read my blog from yesterday) but it is truly awful when a single person's "bad night" ruins the game.

That is the summary of the Rockies/Cardinals baseball game from Busch Stadium tonight.