Great Fun

This was the most exciting game of the 2015 season for Cardinals fans. The Redbirds defeated the White Sox in Chicago by the score of 3 - 2 in 3:02. The Cards starting pitcher pitched well but left the game after 6 innings losing 2 - 0. The Sox starting pitched even better and was leading 2 - 0 when he was replaced in the 7th inning. We questioned the move in the truck because this pitcher was really dealing. Going into the 8th inning it really seemed like this was just not the Redbirds night. Then, with 2 outs and the bases loaded, the Cards batter ripped a 0-2 pitch into the right field corner for a bases clearing triple! This player, the catcher, hit his first triple since 2011. Totally unexpected! The Cardinals fans which numbered about half of the crowd went delirious. I don't remember crowd shots showing so much excitement. The Cards won this game in an outcome that happens only once or twice a season. Great fun!!

AL Baseball Sucks

The Cards beat the White Sox in Chicago tonight by the score of 8 - 5 in 3:06. This American League game featured a grand slam, a Major League debut, and a shitload of walks. Slams are exciting. Debuts are exciting. Walks are boring. Take away the walls tonight and this would have been a great game/telecast. Take away the slam and the debut and this game/telecast would have stunk. Tomorrow is our final road interleague game of the 2015 season. Thank God! Interleague play - don't even get me going.

Exact Opposites

While yesterday's game/telecast was, as I wrote, relaxing and fun", today's game/telecast was the exact opposite. Yesterday's game went 9 innings and lasted 3:01. Today's game, which was won by the Mets 3 - 1, went 18 innings and took 5:55 to play. To make matters worse, the game was scoreless through 12 innings. Both teams scored a run in the 13th inning and the Mets won the contest with two runs in the top of the 18th. There is no way to relax in a game such as this. I"ll tell you this - concentrating on a baseball game for almost 6 hours is draining - mentally draining. I am not in the least sleepy but I am mentally exhausted. Exactly the opposite from after yesterday's game.

Relaxing And Fun

The Cardinals beat the Mets 12 - 2 in 3:01 tonight at Busch Stadium. This was a relaxing game to direct as the Redbirds scored 4 in the 1st inning and 4 in the 5th and led 8 - 0 after 5. This was a fun game to direct as there was a 5-hit game by a Cardinal and a 2-homerun game by another. Usually blow out games can be fairly uninteresting and one can find himself losing concentration and being easily distracted. Not this game. There was quite a bit of fun action surrounding this game despite the score. Games that create a relaxed atmosphere are not usually fun to direct - at least not as fun as this game.

Back In The Chair

The Cards beat the Mets at Busch Stadium tonight in 3:01 by the score of 3 - 2. After 6 days off (and a wonderful time was had during the break) I felt fairly fresh sitting in the chair. There was a great pace during the game as both starting pitchers pitched fast and pitched well. Then, the Mets manager who was ejected earlier in the game for arguing balls and strikes (he was right), started managing with 3 pitching changes in the bottom of the 8 the inning. There was some grumbling from the crew but I thought he was just trying to win the game. After a tumultuous top of the 9th he almost did. But, the Cards held on and won the game with the tying run on third and the lead run on first. It was good to have a nice break in July and it was good to be back in the chair.

Aaahhh!!

The Pirates beat the Redbirds tonight in Pittsburgh by the score of 5 - 2. In my opinion, nothing much interesting happened during the game/telecast - nothing. Maybe I feel that way because I now have 7 days off until my next game. Aaahhh! This might seem selfish on my part and it probably is. 7 days off in July? Are you kidding me. That has never happened in my 32 year Major League TV baseball career. Televising baseball is the most difficult grind in all of television sports broadcasting. 7 days off in July is a Godsend. Recharging the batteries going into the second half is quite important. I am very thankful for this break and I am truly looking forward to the second half of the 2015 season. Aaahhh!!!

Pressure

The Cards beat the Pirates in Pittsburgh tonight by the score of 4 - 1. This 2:52 affair which included a 36 minute rain delay was a much anticipated game by both teams only for different reasons. The Pirates who may be the hottest team in the National League and their fans looked as this game as a chance to show who was the best team in baseball. The Cardinals, who are the best team in baseball, looked at this game as a chance to defeat another very good team. Why do I make this statement you ask? Comments I received from members of the TV crew in Pittsburgh (both home and visitor crew members) compared to the members of our Cards TV crew indicated that this series was much more important to the Pittsburgh side than the St. Louis side. I don't deny that the Pirates are a very good team. They are. But with what happened on the field tonight, I believe that the players on the field feel the same way. The Pirates felt the pressure of this series and the Cardinals didn't feel any pressure. The mistakes made by the Pirates and the fine play of the Cardinals tonight proved this. The Cards didn't make mistakes and the Pirates did. Watch the replay.