Don't Get Me Wrong

Don't get me wrong. Tonight's Cardinals/Pirates game was great fun. Yes, the Bucs beat the Cards 5 - 4 scoring the winning run in the bottom of the 8th inning before a full house at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Don't get me wrong. I love the St. Louis Cardinals. I have had the privilege of covering this great franchise for the past 26 years and I want them to win every game. Still, tonight's game, even though it was the Cards 7th loss in a row, was great fun to televise. This had the atmosphere of a playoff game. PNC Park was electric. Don't get me wrong. I had a blast covering this game tonight. Don't get me wrong. I would have been more happy if the Cards would have won this game.

A Long Day

The Pirates swept the Cardinals in a doubleheader today at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The first game took 11 innings with the final score being 2 - 1. This 3:50 minute affair was certainly not the way we wanted this day to begin. The second game took just over two and a half hours with the Bucs winning 6 - 0. This was a long day. Certainly a lot longer for Cardinals' fans than Pirates fans.

A Spanking

In arguably the most important game of the 2013 season for both the Cardinals and Pirates, the Bucs spanked the Birds 9 - 2 in 2:51 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The score was 4 - 0 before there was an out in the bottom of the first inning. PNC was nearly sold out and there was an electric atmosphere in the ballpark. It felt a bit like Busch Stadium. I wish the game would have been better but this is not the Pirates team of old. This team not only is good, they believe they are good. They laid a good old fashioned whooping on the Redbirds tonight. The doubleheader tomorrow should be very interesting.

Good Move

I am in Pittsburgh watching the Cards on Sunday Night Baseball from Atlanta. The Cardinals begin a 5 game in 4 days important series against the Pirates tomorrow here in Pittsburgh. Kudos to Fox Sports Midwest and EXecutive Producer Kevin Landy for flying me and our Producer Mike into Pittsburgh early. The club will not arrive at the hotel here before 3:30 in the morning. I am very appreciative that we were able to get to Pittsburgh at a reasonable hour. I can't wait for this series.

Capitalize

In Atlanta tonight, the Braves beat the Cards 4 - 1 in 2:33. These are two very good teams and I was excited about televising this contest. What good teams do is capitalize on mistakes. The Braves starting pitcher made one mistake all game and it was hit for a homerun - the only run of the game for the Redbirds. The Braves offense capitalized on a night when the Cardinals starter - their ace - did not have his best stuff. I capitalized on the fact that the TV crew for the visiting team in Atlanta is very good - we had an excellent show. Now, I am going to capitalize on the fact that I have the next two days off. There is a Capital Grille in my future!

Favorite Telecast

Tonight was our "This ones for you" telecast where we celebrate the work of our men and women in uniform. We had a live hookup via Skype with a military base in Afghanistan and we had 2 whole sections filled at Busch Stadium with families of Missouri soldiers who were deployed overseas. Sometimes the shots of the young children brought a lump to my throat as I thought of them being separated from a parent but all in all this telecast is very rewarding to be a part of. A heartfelt thank you to our military personnel.

A Huge Difference

The Cards defeated the Phil's 11 - 3 in 3:06 tonight at Busch Stadium. There are two different teams. The Cardinals pitch and the Phil's throw. The Rebirds take good at -bats and the Phil's give away at-bats. The Cards attack and the Phillies wait. This game was played totally different by each team. There is a huge difference between these two teams and it was very telling tonight.

I Just Know

When an athlete gets into a "zone" you not only expect something good to happen you KNOW something good is going to happen. In 1998, during the McGwire/Sosa homerun chase, I knew something sensational was going to happen every time McGwire was at-bat. I was rarely disappointed. I was fortunate to cover the first eleven years of Albert Pujols career. For eleven straight seasons I knew something spectacular was going to happen whenever Albert was at the plate. I KNEW. Well, it has happened again with this Cardinals ballclub. When there is a runner or runners in scoring position and Allen Craig is at-bat, I know he will deliver with an RBI. I know it. I knew it with McGwire. I knew it with Albert and I know it with Craig. I just know.

Good Start Great Ending

It took 2:53 for the Cardinals to beat the Padres by the score of 3 - 2 today at Busch Stadium. Redbird's starter Wainwright picked up the victory with a very good performance. It is a pleasure televising Cardinals' baseball when Wainwright is on the mound. He provides an excellent pace to the game which in turn provides a nice pace for the telecast. The game ended on a wonderful leaping catch against the left field wall by Allen Craig with runners on second and third in the top of the ninth. A great start to the game - thank you Adam Wainwright and a great end to the game - thank you Allen Craig.

Brutal Just Brutal

The Padres and the Cardinals played a game that started at 6:15 tonight at Busch Stadium. I arrived in my door at 10:51 tonight after the game. I will not blog for long tonight because my mother always taught me that if I didn't have anything nice to say then don't say anything. So, the following will be my last sentence of this blog. This so-called baseball game tonight between the Padres and the Cards was the absolute worst piece of crap that I have been involved with in my 30 years of televising Major League Baseball.

Embarrassing

The Cards started the 2nd half of the 2013 season with a 9 - 6 victory over the Padres in a game that took 2:53. Believe me, I was just awful the whole game/telecast. Just terrible. I didn't have a good flow the entire evening and I fought it. I tried speeding up my cut. I tried slowing down my cut. Nothing worked. I was lost the whole show. My framing stunk the joint out. For the most part my shot sequences didn't make any sense. Awful, terrible, lost perfectly describes my performance tonight. I guess I should add the word embarrassing to this summary.

Comfort Levels

It was a 3 - 2 victory in 2:58 for the Cardinals over the Cubs at Wrigley Field today. I really enjoy the local TV crew in Chicago. It wasn't that long ago when Chicago was a tough place to televise baseball because of the high turnover of the TV crew. I had the same crew both games at Wrigley which was nice. The comfort level between the crew and the Producer and Director is very, very important to the quality of the telecast. Great comfort levels = great TV. The St. Louis Cardinals TV production team is very comfortable in Chicago and it showed the last two days. Big FOX tomorrow and ESPN Sunday Night baseball to close out the first half of the 2013 season for the Redbirds. I'm off until next Friday when the Padres come to Busch Stadium. Enjoy the All-Star game and the All-Star break everyone!

Nothing Like It

Two hours and forty four minutes was what it took for the Cubs to beat the Cardinals tonight at Wrigley Field. As you may know, I love Wrigley! Absolutely love it! I also love baseball game/telecasts with a good flow. This game/telecast flowed the whole night. There is nothing better in my mind than a well played, well pitched game at Wrigley Field. I know Cards fans are raising their eyebrows right now but I am telling you that before you make a decision about my comments on Wrigley go to a Cards/Cubs game there. Trust me, there is nothing like it.

"A Different Game"

The Cards beat the Astros tonight at Busch Stadium in 3:23 by the score of 5 - 4. Before the game, I was talking to my colleague with the Astros about the Astros going to the American League. He told me that the best part about going to the "other" league was that he "could experience different cities" He loved Seattle for example. He made a comment that I found very interesting. He said American League baseball is "a different game." The lack of strategy makes American League baseball less interesting than National League baseball. There is very little, if any, anticipation in the AL game." I know where he is coming from. Anticipating is one of the most enjoyable traits of directing baseball. Not much gives a TV baseball director more pleasure than when he/she anticipates a play and the play happens. I am so blessed to be a National League TV baseball director. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

From The Best To The Worst

The Cardinals beat the Astros tonight at Busch Stadium by the score of 9 - 5 in 3:20. The a cardinals starting pitcher was masterful. This was one of the top pitching performances by a Redbirds starting pitcher all season. In fact, the Cards starter Adam Wainwright could be considered the best pitcher in the National League. There was also possibly the worst performance this season by a Cards pitcher. A young reliever came into the game in the ninth inning with a runner on first base and nobody out with the Cards leading 9 - 1. This young pitcher gave up a couple of hits and walked three batters. An eon later the Cards closer finished the game a collected a save. From the best to the worst in this game indeed.

The Final Out

The Cards beat the Marlins 3 - 2 in 2:39 before a packed house at Busch Stadium. Sometimes a game can be so poorly played that the final out should be the play of the game. Not today. With two outs and nobody on base the fans at Busch Stadium were going crazy. Over 43,000 fans were on their feet cheering. The place was electric. It is a blast cutting the game in this situation. The final out in today's game was certainly not the play of the game but it was the most fun I had the whole game/telecast.

Bad Call + Bad Play = Win

The Cardinals beat the Marlins 5 - 4 in 2:44 today at Busch Stadium. The Marlins appeared to have scored a second run in the fourth inning but a bad call by the home plate umpire ruled the runner out at the plate. Replays clearly showed the runner was safe. It wasn't even close! As expected, the Florida manager was ejected from the game after that play. Then, with the score tied in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Redbirds scored the winning run on a throwing error by the right fielder. To make matters worse for the Marlins the first two batters of the ninth inning made outs. The third batter then walked on a 3 - 2 pitch. Then, with another full count, the runner took off with the pitch. The batter stoked a line drive base hit to right field. The rightfielder rather than fire the ball back to the infield just sort of tossed it towards the first baseman who was the cutoff man. The ball short-hopped the fielder and the Cardinals runner raced home with the winning run. Bad call + bad play = Cardinals victory.

Many Thanks

The St. Louis Cardinals' traveling party landed in St. Louis from LA at 4:42AM. After bussing downtown to Busch Stadium to collect my suitcase and my car, I arrived in my driveway in the morning sun at 6:08AM. I went right to bed and slept until noon. I left for tonight's game at 2:00PM praying that we would have a briskly played game against the Marlins. My prayers were answered as the Cards beat the Fish 4 - 1 in 2:17. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Good To Get Home

A three run ninth inning gave the Angels a 6 - 5 come from behind victory over the Cards tonight in 2:51 tonight in Anaheim. I am currently flying at 32,000 feet as we jet our way back to St. Louis. Thanks for the night time getaway game Angels! I should arrive in my door about 5:00 AM. This was a crushing defeat for the Redbirds. We open a three game series against the Marlins tonight. The crew in Anaheim was fantastic! It was truly a pleasure televising Cardinals' baseball with them. They are hard working, fun to work with, and a pleasure to be around. Just like our home crew. I look forward to returning to Busch Stadium.

Figure It Out

The Cardinals beat the Angels 12 - 2 in 3:22 tonight in Anaheim. The first five innings of this game were excruciating. The last four innings had a nice flow. Here was the difference; during the first 5 innings the pitchers for the Angels picked and picked and were not aggressive. The second half of this game flowed because the pitchers were aggressive. Baseball can be the most beautiful sport in the world. Tonight's game showed how ugly this game can be. I love this game. I just wish that pitchers would understand that if they took the ball and pitched, threw strikes, and never picked and picked and picked, they would be rewarded handsomely. This is proven - the pitchers who get the ball and go and throw strikes are the elite pitchers of this game and they are rewarded. Figure it out.

Pitcher Uncomfortable Director Comfortable

In 2:40, the Cardinals lost to the Angels 5 - 1 tonight in LA. The Angels scored all their runs in the second inning when the Redbirds starting pitcher seemed a bit uncomfortable. The Cardinals' TV director - me - was not uncomfortable for even one second during tonight's game/telecast. That's because my TD (technical director) is a guy I have known for over twenty five years and he is one of best in the business. Having confidence in the TD is one of the most valuable feelings a TV sports director can have - if not the most valuable. I knew we were going to have a super clean show and we did. Not once in my mind did I believe that tonight's show would turn ugly. In fact, I knew this telecast was going to be one of the cleanest of the 2013 season - it was.

Road Trip Off Day #2

Allow me to bore you with today's off-day in Southern California. After being greatly over served with wine last night, I rolled (hesitantly) out of bed at noon pacific time. At 1:00, I called the person responsible for my over serving and suggested lunch. He agreed and we went to Maggiano's for a very nice lunch. (My crab and shrimp pasta dish was outstanding) After lunch, we headed back to the hotel where I got my email and proceeded to be bored out of my mind. At 5:30 I decided to go shopping at the mall adjacent to the hotel rather than blow my brains out. 2 shirts later, I went to a restaurant in the mall. I noticed two members of our traveling party already seated and joined them. Of course, they were more than happy that I sat at their table!! Two beers and a huge loaded baked potatoe later and we were done with our meal. Despite the terrible service, we had a good time. I must still be bored. I just ordered almost $500 of wine on-line. Ah the glamor of the road!!

Absolute Ugliness

The A's beat the Cards 7 - 5 in 2:35 today in Oakland. This was the ugliest game of the 2013 season. Bad pitching, bad fielding, bad base running and bad at-bats by both clubs describe this awful game. That so much ugliness could be played in 2 hours and 35 minutes is beyond me. In fact, there were only two good defensive plays made the whole game and these plays were made by Oakland. To join in the general ugliness of this contest, the Oakland centerfielder who made a great diving catch had to leave the game because of back stiffness suffered while making that play. Off day tomorrow and then three games with the Anaheim Angels and Albert Pujols. This is the only ballpark in the big leagues that I have never visited. I'm looking forward to the series. I hope it won't be ugly.