Pittsburgh's Pace

The producer of any sports telecast can and must control the pace of the telecast. The producer of any sports telecast can never control the pace of the game. The pace of the game can be a producer's best friend or it can be a producer's worst enemy. The past three games of the Pirates series at Busch Stadium were all perfect examples of a worst enemy. These games had absolutely no pace. The times of these three nine inning games were 3:04, 3:11, and 3:26. The pace of the game is directly related to pitching. The pace of these games were directly related to Pittsburgh's pitching. Memo to the Pittsburgh Pirates: Start in the minor leagues. Start in rookie ball which is called low A. Teach your pitchers how to pace. Teach them how to "get the ball and go." There is a reason why the Pittsburgh Pirates have had 19 consecutive losing seasons - no pace pitching. By the way, the pace of our telecasts was fine despite the excruciating pace of the games.