Not You

The Cards beat the Mariners 12 - 2 in 3:09 today at Busch Stadium. That's right - 3 hours and 9 minutes in eight and a half innings. I know this was a nice Cardinals victory. I just wish the pace of games would improve. Get in the box!!!! Get on the mound!!! Fans want to watch the game - NOT YOU!!

Zip Zero Nada

During each telecast and on my drive home, I try and figure out the subject of this blog. Most days the subject is obvious. Some days the subject of the blog is murky. And some days absolutely nothing comes to me about the theme of this blog. This is one of those days. For the life of me I can't think of one second of the game/telecast that was interesting from a Cardinals perspective. So that's what I got - zip, zero, nada.

Memorable

The Cardinals beat the Mariners 2 - 1 in 10 innings in a game that took 3:15 to play. This was a very entertaining ballgame! Some of the best defensive plays a baseball fan could ever see occurred in this game. The quality of a baseball game and a baseball telecast can be evaluated by the number of memorable moments that occur during the contest. This game was rife with memorable moments. Each team made many great defensive plays and each starting pitcher came up with huge pitches throughout the game. It is too bad that this game ended on a bad play. The Redbirds loaded the bases on a single and two walks after the first two batters of the 10th inning made outs. The winning run scored on a passed ball. Our 4-replay sequence of the passed ball was priceless. This was one of the most memorable replay sequences I have ever been a part of in my thirty year career of directing baseball. Just wonderful and certainly memorable.

Just Going Through The Motions

The Brewers beat the Cardinals 5 - 3 in 3:02 tonight at Busch Stadium. The Brew Crew jumped out to a 4 - 0 lead and held on for the victory. It was during the 4 - 0 lead that our color analyst remarked the Cardinals looked like they were playing "in slow motion" that was exactly what I was thinking as he said it. There is a difference between playing in slow motion and just going through the motions. When a baseball team or a TV crew member is just "going through the motions" that means that the individual doesn't care. This certainly is not the case with the Cardinals or the St. Louis TV crew. Describing the Redbirds as playing "in slow motion" was accurate because they were just missing at the plate, just a bit too slow for a grounder and just being thrown out by a step on the bases. Sometimes the TV crew can be just a beat behind the pace of the game. And sometimes we will run into a crew member on the road who is just going through the motions. I can assure you the St. Louis TV crew members who "go through the motions" don't last long on the crew.

Good Start Better Finish

The main theme of our telecast tonight focused on the Cardinals starting pitcher. He had some pretty bad performances in his past 5 starts and there was real concern about his "body language" on the mound when things started going bad. We iso'd him throughout the game and captured only a few moments which showed some negativity on the mound. He pitched good, certainly better than his previous stints on the mound. The offense, which for the second game in a row was hitless and scoreless after 5 innings, tied the game in the seventh and put it away with a 5-run eighth. The 5 -run eighth was highlighted by a 3-run homerun. As you know from my book "Cutting The Game, Inside Television Baseball From The Director's Chair", cutting a homerun is the most fun a TV baseball director has during a game/telecast. (By the way, my book is now available on the Kindle and the Nook for $1.99) This game/telecast started good and just got better.

2 Different Teams

A hot Cardinals team beat a disinterested Brewers club 4 - 2 in 3:02 tonight at Busch Stadium. There was no way the Cards were going to lose to the Brew Crew tonight. You could tell that after the top of the first inning. The Brewers were totally not interested in being on the field tonight at Busch. Maybe it was the 90 plus degree temperature. Maybe it was the fact that the Brewers have no chance at post season. Whatever the reason, their body language showed a total lack of interest in the game.

I Cursed

The Cards clobbered the Pirates today 9 - 2 in 3:06 at Busch Stadium. During blowouts, especially late in the season, it can be a tad bit difficult maintaining focus throughout the game/telecast. I found myself starting to drift at times during today's contest. I understand that when the game is in the 8th inning and the score is 9 - 0, one's attention may stray from the task at hand, but you have to fight this and get back on track. Today's game was one of those games where it became difficult to maintain focus especially in the top of the ninth inning when the batter leading off the inning walked with the score 9 - 0. I believe I cursed at that point.