Another Hard Loss

Seven games into the season and the Cardinals have suffered three heart breaking losses. Once a month - maybe, but not three times in the first week. I love covering baseball on television for a living. I am blessed to have such a position and I am very grateful for it. This is my 24th season of covering St. Louis Cardinals baseball on television. The Cardinals are the most storied organization in the National League. When a person thinks of the most storied franchises in the big leagues, the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Yankees always come to mind. It is a privilege to cover this great organization. As a major league TV baseball director, I have 4 major responsibilities: 1 - respect the game 2 - respect the players 3 - respect the organization 4 - respect the viewer. The game, the players, the organization, and the viewer are all equally important. One is not more important than another. After tonight's tough loss, I was thinking about these responsibilities as I walked from AT & T Park to my hotel. I realized that #1 I am a fan of the game. I love the game of baseball. I have a real respect for the athletes that play this game at such a high level. I am honored to be a part of such a wonderful organization and I am thrilled to present St. Louis Cardinals baseball to the knowledgeable fans that make up Cardinal Nation. During moments when the Cardinals lose in a awful way I must remain focused as I cut the action on the field. Trust me, there is nothing more difficult than cutting the game during a difficult loss. I know - I have done it three times this week.

WOW

Giants 5, Cardinals 4 12 Innings Two of the best closers in the game each blow ninth inning leads with 2 outs and nobody on! The Cardinals employ a 5-man infield in the bottom of the 11th inning after the Giants have a runner on third base with nobody out. They don't score! This was maybe the strangest game I have ever been involved with as I enter my 24th season of Cardinals baseball and my 29th season of major league baseball television. As everyone in our business will attest, extra innings generally suck. But, because this game was so unique, this was one of those games that the extra innings were those innings that provided the most "wows" of the telecast. What constitutes a "wow" for a telecast can include great defense, clutch hitting, great and unique video. Sometimes even comments from the announcers can enter the "wow"category. The "wows" of this game were uttered because of great defense and the unbelievable similarities of the blown saves. The dual feed here in San Francisco is the most comfortable "dual" situation in baseball. The crew is great. Every person on this crew works from the time we hit air until we sign off. There is one word to describe the crew members of the visiting feed in San Francisco - WOW!

The Beginning of the Season

The two spring training telecasts that I was involved with went better than expected. The crews were both very good for the Jupiter game and the road game in Vireo against the Nationals. The opening homestand went less than expected as far as the telecast was concerned. However, this season's start was a bit different from any other season start that I can remember. The opener was on Thursday, there was an off day on Friday and a game of the week on Saturday. Our second regular season telecast was on Sunday. Usually the rustiness will wear off during the second telecast but that was not the case this season. Our home opening telecast was good except for the fact that members of the media don't understand the importance of TIMING when it comes to the television network. We dumped out of our pre-game telecast at 3:00 to insure the huge St. Louis Cardinals television network could join our coverage for the season opener. Unfortunately, this just so happened during the Cardinals players introductions and the coverage was interupted for the St. Louis viewer. The last player introduced before we went to our 3:00 telecast was Albert Pujols so the damage was limited. I don't get too riled up by negative reactions to our telecasts because I know that; #1 - we do our best to present Cardinals baseball in the best possible light. And # 2 - I know that the majority (99%) of the people that comment on a telecast are negative. Our presentation of Cardinals baseball is top notch. We cover the game as good as anyone. It's proven. Look at our numbers.

Busy Busy Busy

Hello, My apologies for not blogging as of yet but I have been very busy turning my book Cutting The Game, Inside Television Baseball from the Director's Chair into an e-book. Cutting The Game will soon be available on Kindle and Nook as well as other e-readers. This is my excuse and I am sticking to it! After 2 spring training games and the 6-game homestand to open the 2011 season, I am ready to continue this blog about St. Louis Cardinals' telecasts. Our first roadtrip of the year starts tomorrow when we begin a ten day trip to San Francisco, Arizona and Los Angeles. I will write when I arrive in San Francisco tomorrow with my thoughts on the upcoming season and our telecasts thus far. But now I am off to pack. Busy, busy, busy.

A Legend

Today was the final telecast of the 2010 season.
Today was also the final telecast for one of the legends of broadcasting, Jay Randolph.
It was an honor to work on baseball telecasts with Mr. Randolph.
Mr. Randolph is an icon in the St. Louis area. He did the play by play on Cardinals' telecasts for almost 30 years. Mr. Randolph is a true professional, a master at his craft.
I believe that Jay Randolph is one of the greatest golf announcers of all-time.
The National Football League was blessed to have Jay call many of their games.
Jay Randolph taught me so much about television sports.
This is a man who is one of the most respected persons in our industry.
I have just used the following words to describe Mr. Randolph:
Legend
Icon
Professional
Master
Greatest
Respected
But there is one word that I believe best describes Jay Randolph:
Gentleman
It is a blessing that I was able to work with this gentleman.

Thank you for reading my blog.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Remember, spring training 2011 is just around the corner.

Two Emotions

I felt two distinctly different emotions as I cut today's Rockies/Cardinals game.
The Cardinals beat the Rockies today 1-0 in eleven innings on a walk-off single by Matt Holliday. Walk-off wins are a blast to cut.
Walk-off wins are a blast to cut even in meaningless games at the end of the season.
Walk-off wins are a blast to cut even in extra innings during meaningless games at the end of the season.
The emotion I felt cutting the walk-off win was one of excitement.
Even though the game was meaningless as far as the pennant race is concerned, I still was pumped and thrilled to be cutting this exciting Cardinals victory.
However, I felt a totally different emotion before the top of the sixth inning.
We knew going into the game/telecast that Stan "The Man" Musial was going to be introduced to the crowd as part of a campaign to get Stan the Presidential Medal of Freedom. This "Stand For Stan" ceremony should play an important part in honoring this Cardinals great.
"The Man" entered onto the warning track from the wagon gate in right field and circled the ballpark.
The adoring crowd all waved foot high cutouts of Stan and cheered loudly.
The Rockies players in their bullpen and dugout all were clapping.
The Cardinals players, manager, coaches, and staff stood in front of the dugout clapping, waving the cutouts and cheering.
This was an emotional moment for me to cut.
Stan "The Man" IS ST. LOUIS CARDINALS BASEBALL!
This iconic gentleman is beloved by all Cardinals fans.
Cutting this tribute was an honor and I was moved during the ceremony.
There was a huge lump in my throat and I could only whisper as our great TV crew covered this
wonderful moment.
Never get too high and never get too low.
Tough to do sometimes.

Nailing A Rare Play

The suicide squeeze is one of the rarest plays in baseball.
Because this play is so rare, the TV coverage is usually pretty basic. The mid-first base camera is usually utilized because this angle shows the pitcher, batter, and the runner. This replay shows the runner taking off from third base when the pitcher releases the pitch. To be the most effective, this angle must include the pitcher, the runner, and the batter.
There was a squeeze play in our game/telecast tonight and we nailed it's coverage about as well as can be expected.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Cardinals had a runner on third base with one out. A recent call-up, rookie catcher Matt Pagnozzi, was at the plate.
Before the first pitch our announce team speculated that a suicide squeeze may be in the works.
I took a shot from camera 1 (left field corner) shooting Cardinals manager Tony Larussa giving signs to the third base coach. I told camera 3 (mid-first base) to pull out wide and include the pitcher, runner, and batter.
The first pitch of the at-bat was a ball and the squeeze was not attempted.
I took camera 1 again and LaRussa gave some more signs to the third base coach. These signs were much more emphatically given and this was pointed out by our play by play announcer, Rick Horton - a former big league pitcher.
I went back to camera 3 and stayed on the shot as the pitcher delivered to the plate. From this angle, we could see the runner at third base break for home. As Rick announced "Here it comes!", I went to camera 4 (centerfield) as the pitch was delivered.
The suicide squeeze worked and the Cardinals increased their lead to 3-0 which turned out to be the final score.
The hero shots of Pagnozzi, the runner from third base, the fans, and the dugout celebration were very effective and the replays were great.
This very rare baseball play worked for the Redbirds tonight.
This very rare baseball play worked for our telecast tonight.
We nailed it!