Away From The Ball

9 - 3 was the score as the Redbirds prevailed over the Phillies in 2:55 today at Busch Stadium. The Cards' starting pitcher was making his Major League debut and didn't make it out of the third inning. But he was in the game long enough that his mother, who was in the seats, gave our telecast it's best replays of the day and, in fact, the best live shots of the day. The live shots and replays showed happiness and anguish, anxiety and relief, all during the first 2 1/3 innings. In fact, the joy expressed when her son retired the first batter of the game was the only shot we used in our rollout. I believe the best shots and the best replays are those that don't follow the ball. I believe shots away from the ball are most effective because only the viewer at home sees them. The fans in the stands are following the ball and, therefore, don't see them.

Speed

It took 2:38 for the Redbirds to beat Philadelphia by the score of 5 - 2 at Busch Stadium tonight. The highlights from our game/telecast featured speed. I felt that our "real speed" replays were the most effective moments of our telecast. We captured a triple, a marvelous catch in right centerfield and a bang bang play at home plate on a ground ball with the infield playing in. These three plays were all committed by the same player. Capturing the speed of the game of baseball is very tricky. The only way to capture this speed is by real time replays. In fact, I believe there should be more replays of this type. Even on routine plays.

Chunked

The Cards beat the Phil's at Busch Stadium tonight by the score of 11 - 5. This 2:58 clunker was completely opposite of last night's game. There was absolutely no rhythm in this game. It was like every inning just chunked together. Is chunked a word? Well if it is, then this game defined it.

I Got Rhythm

The Phillies beat the Cardinals 4 - 1 tonight at Busch Stadium. This 2:32 affair is an example of my favorite games to direct. It was well pitched. Well pitched = well paced = good rhythm. I copied the great George Gershwin song from 1930 - "I Got Rhythm". Our telecast had rhythm tonight. It flowed. When there is rhythm to a telecast, it seems like the game takes 5 minutes to play. A very very fun game/telecast tonight.

2 Wins 2 Losses

The Cardinals defeated the Brewers in 3:01 tonight at Miller Park by the score of 5 - 3. Tonight's contest was eerily similar to last night's Redbirds win over the Brew Crew. Last night, the Cards lost their every day catcher and team leader, Yadier Molina, to injury from a foul tip off his knee. The good news was that this injury was considered "day to day". Tonight, the Cards team leader of the pitchers, Adam Wainwright, stumbled coming out of the box and was in obvious pain as he hobbled off the field. Not good. The Cardinals celebrated two wins and suffered two losses in two days at Milwaukee.

Their Season Is Over

This 3 - 0 Cardinals win over the Brewers took 2:42 to complete. While it is true that the Brew Crew are 3 - 14 in this young season, that is no excuse for the brand of baseball I witnessed tonight at Miller Park. The Brewers played like the date was September 24 and they were 29 games out of first place instead of April 24 where they are now 9 games out of first. This was one of the most pathetic performances I have ever witnessed in ANY sport at ANY level. This situation has gone from "something has to be done" to "something will be done". That being said, this 2015 Brewers Baseball Club is the first Major League Team to have ever been eliminated in April. They are done.

The Faster The Better

From a TV baseball director's standpoint, the faster the pace of the game the better. When the pace of the game is brisk, the director is able to get into a very comfortable rhythm. Today's game between the Cardinals and the Nationals was just one of those games. This 2:31 affair was won by the Redbirds by the score of 4 - 1. Starting pitching will dictate the quality of the speed of the game. I was very excited about this contest today because the starting pitchers were Michael Wacha and Max Scherzer. They fulfilled their promise as two of the finest pitchers in the game. Coupled with the truly talented DC TV crew and this was one of my most enjoyable days of my career.

Good Then Bad Then Good Then Bad

The Cards beat the Nats tonight in 2:51 by the score of 7 - 5. The Redbirds were good early on and the Nationals were bad. The Nationals were good during the middle of the game and the Cardinals were bad at the same time. St. Louis was good at the end of the game while the Nationals were bad at the same time. Regardless of the quality of the play of the teams during the game, the quality of the Washington visiting TV crew was excellent the whole telecast. This crew is very very good. It truly is a pleasure being a part of their TV team. Despite the fact that the play on the field fluctuated from inning to inning, this crew was on top of it every inning. Ever since interleague play began in Major League Baseball, this DC crew has been one of the top crews in baseball. They might be the best crew in the game.

To Each His Own

The Washington Nationals hit a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the Redbirds 2 - 1. This entertaining game which lasted 3:43 included good pitching and defense. The Cards provided excitement in the top of the ninth when they tied the score at 1 apiece. This was one of those games that had many exciting "moments". For Nat's fans the top highlight would certainly be the walk-off homerun. Cardinals' fans would choose between 2 outstanding catches by the centerfielder or the game tying single in the top of the ninth inning. Maybe the most memorable moment from the standpoint of the TV production was the sound of a thrown bat smashing into the low brick wall behind the on deck circle. To each his own.

Blessed And Thankful

The Cards defeated the Reds today in front of a sold out Busch Stadium by the score of 5 - 2. The St. Louis Cardinals TV team is blessed. Last season, there was not one crowd below 40,000 at Busch Stadium and that trend has continued this season. It is so much fun to cut a baseball game when the ballpark is electric. The difference between televising a game at Busch Stadium compared to, let's say, Miami is staggering. Televising with a full stadium keeps everyone on their toes. It is much easier to lose your concentration when the ballpark has 15,000 fans as compared to 40,000 plus. Truly we are blessed. I'm very thankful for that.

Special Night

The Cards beat the Reds 6 - 1 on Red Schoendienst night at Busch Stadium. Red Schoendienst may be the classiest Major League Baseball player who ever lived. Certainly, he is one of the nicest persons you could ever meet. It was only fitting that the Redbirds would beat the Reds in dramatic fashion on this great night. I am proud to know this man and I am blessed to call him a friend. Good going Redbirds!!!

Nicely Done

The Cards beat the Brewers 4 - 0 in 2:54 today at Busch Stadium. Apart from a strange 3-2-6 force out at second base, this was a game without any memorable moments for the fans in the stands or the viewers watching on television. From a TV production outlook this was a totally different telecast than our usual show. Apart from a few members of our regular crew we worked with totally different technicians. Our regulars were working the Blues playoff game so we used the baseball crew from Kansas City. What a pleasure!! These guys are good!! Nicely done KC!!

Brain Dead

During the second inning of tonight's Brewers/Cardinals game at Busch Stadium I missed a pitch. I was on camera 7 (mid third)who was shooting the pitcher. He threw a pitch and I didn't go to camera 4 (centerfield). The strange thing was that I thought I was on camera 4. I was brain dead for that one pitch. There is no excuse for missing a pitch - none. But, if a TV baseball director misses a pitch then claiming "brain dead" as the reason, I guess everyone could understand. That's my reasoning and I am sticking to it.

Powerful Moment

The Brewers beat the Cardinals 5 - 4 in the Redbirds home opener today. There wasn't anything memorable about this game and the game telecast. The most powerful moment of the day occurred during the pregame ceremony. Over the off season, the Cardinals' family lost a teammate when Oscar Taveras was killed along with his girlfriend in a car accident. We aired a feature on Oscar that was also played on the scoreboard in Busch Stadium. One of Taveras best friends was Carlos Martinez - a current member of the Cardinals. During the feature, I took a shot of Martinez as he began tearing up. He dabbed his eyes with his jersey. I got a lump in my throat so big that I literally couldn't talk. This powerful moment really got to me.

3 Different Games

The weekend series against the Reds in Cincinnati featured 3 totally different games. The Reds defeated the Cards 5 - 4 in 2:26 in a game that featured 9 pitchers. The Reds utilized 6 pitchers and the Redbirds 3. There was a very comfortable pace to this game and a nice pace to the telecast. The Cardinals beat the Reds on Saturday by the score of 4 - 1 in 2:36. The beginning of this contest was the fastest paced baseball game I have ever experienced. The game was 1 hour old and we were in the bottom of the 5th inning with 1 out. The outrageous pace of the game at that point was mentally taxing. I believe the baseball Gods granted both TV crews a reprieve and the remainder of the game delivered a great pace but not nearly as fast as before. Today's game went 11 innings and lasted 4:03. This game, however, may have been the most entertaining of the 3 games of the weekend. There were homeruns (great fun to cut) and a managerial ejection. (by Joe West) this weekend was great fun - just in different ways.

1st Telecast

Fox Sports Midwest, home of the St. Louis Cardinals, aired the first telecast of the 2015 season today at Wrigley Field. The Cubs defeated the Redbirds 2 - 0 in 2:23. A nicely paced game and a nicely paced telecast. There were a few moments of questionable quality during the telecast. However, with all respect to our knowledgeable Cardinals viewers, I don't think these fans realized the mistakes. This was in final analysis a very nice show. We are a very experiencd TV team and the Chicago crew was outstanding. This combination proved to be a positive combination that provided the Cards' fans a nice final product. I was very proud of our performance today.

Rain Rain Go Away

The start of the 2015 season has been good for the Cardinals TV crew for a couple of reasons. The season opener for the Cards was on ESPN. Don't get me wrong, season openers are very exciting. Season openers at home ARE very exciting. However, season openers on the road are not nearly as fun as the home opener. For that fact, I am not really that disappointed when we don't televise a season opener on the road. That being said, this was only the second season opener that I have not been a part of in this, my 28th season televising Cardinals baseball. Our season opener was postponed today before 2:00 central time. This allowed us to do some production so that we will not be stressed when we televise tomorrow's St. Louis Cardinals Fox Sports Midwest "season opener". However, I will be surprised if the Cards and Cubs play tomorrow as the weather is not supposed to cooperate. I hope they play, but if they don't, I am still, and always, eagerly awaiting our home opener Monday. Guess what? An 80% chance of rain on that day. Rain, rain - go away.