Cutting A Milestone

I wrote in my book Cutting The Game, Inside Television Baseball From the Director's Chair (now available as an ebook on the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook) that the most fun a TV baseball director has during a game/telecast is cutting a homerun. I may have to amend that chapter to include cutting a player's milestone.

Albert Pujols collected his 2000th hit during tonight's game/telecast as the Chicago Cubs played the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

When Albert came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning we were ready in the TV truck.

The crowd in Busch Stadium was ready as well. It seemed like everyone in Busch Stadium was on their feet.

The energy was electric.

Albert doubled into the left field corner and the fun began!

The shots capturing this wonderful moment included Albert as he arrived at second base, a wide crowd shot of the crowd going crazy, Albert's teammates clapping in the dugout, a tight crowd shot of the jubilation, Albert's manager Tony Larussa applauding and a shot of Albert tipping his cap to the fans!

Our Producer, Mike, called a wonderful replay sequence of two swings followed by two real speed replays which were followed by a slow motion look at Albert tipping his cap.

Great, great sequence!

Great, great fun!

The fantastic energy of this moment was in direct contrast to the overall play of the Chicago Cubs during this game.

I remarked to our announcers earlier in the game that the Cubs had the worst pace of any team in baseball. From the pitchers to the batters in the box, their pace was embarrassing. They looked like they just did not want to be there.

Our analyst, Rick, commented on talk back (so the comment did not go out over the air) "They look like they are walking to the electric chair".

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Baseball can be a beautiful game.

Watching as a fan in the stands or a viewer at home or at the tavern can be a scintillating experience.

Covering these types of games for television are what a television production crew loves.

There is nothing better.

That is the good.

Baseball can be real, real ugly.

Watching as a fan in the stands or a viewer at home or at the tavern can be a terrible experience.

At least the viewer at home can turn off the TV and the patron at the bar can play pool.

Covering these types of games for television create the worst possible experience for the TV production crew.

We can't turn off the TV set - we are sending the signal to the TV sets!

There is nothing worse.

Tonight's game was one of those awful games that comes around every so often. It is the responsibility of the TV baseball production crew to continue delivering quality baseball coverage despite games such as this one.

It is very difficult to provide quality baseball coverage when there is no quality baseball to coverage.

That is the ugly.

I made numerous comments on headset tonight about how awful this game was.

That was the bad.

As the TV director, I should have kept my mouth shut.

Everybody and his uncle knew this was a poorly played game. My comments certainly did not make a bad situation better. No, those comments made a bad situation worse.

My apologies to my teammates on the TV crew.

Didn't Get Trapped

The Cardinals lost to the Astros tonight by the score of 4 - 2.

For the Redbirds, the game was neither-well played nor well-pitched.

For the Astros, the game was well-played and well-pitched.

Hence the final score.

Game/telecasts such as this can really trap a TV baseball production crew. When the team that one covers is not playing well, it is easy to become almost lackadaisical during coverage. There is a tendency to stop taking chances with camera isos for replays.

The game cut becomes almost rote.

If this happens, the highest quality of coverage will NOT occur and the telecast will suffer.

Baseball is a game of "moments".

When a "moment" occurs, the TV crew had better be ready.

Despite the fact that the Cardinals did not play a very clean game, the Cardinals TV crew did not become lackadaisical and "mail it in".

It's a good thing we didn't because the game ended with Albert Pujols at the plate in the bottom of the 9th inning with the score 4 - 2 and runners on second and third.

We were ready.

Albert struck out on a 2 - 2 count and the game was over.

Our coverage captured the excitement of the "moment" and we delivered quality baseball television.

We delivered because we "didn't get trapped".

Homerun Review

There was a homerun review in the first inning of the Astros/Cardinals game tonight at Busch Stadium.

Our replays showed that the ball did NOT leave the ballpark. In fact, we aired 2 replays that showed the ball did not clear the fence.

The umpires left the field for four minutes and returned rewarding Albert Pujols with his 23rd homerun.

I was happy that the Cardinals were given a 2 - 0 lead with that call but I still felt perplexed that the call was wrong.

The Cardinals are playing good baseball right now and the Astros are the worst team in the National League and are probably tied with the Seattle Mariners (17 losses in a row) with playing the worst brand of baseball in the Major Leagues.

My point being that the Cardinals were most likely to beat the Astros and didn't need any help from a blown call.

Now, I may not know the exact ground rules for Busch Stadium, but I do know that the ball did not leave the Park.

Like the first inning homerun review call, our telecast was a bit sloppy tonight as well.

We will get it right tomorrow night.

I hope the umpires do as well.

Luxury

I love baseball.

I love directing television baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals.

I love directing television baseball period.

Covering television baseball is fun, is a blast, especially if the game is played well.

Directing television baseball is even fun if the game of the night is well played or poorly played.

I am spoiled because directing television baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals is the BEST job in baseball.

The Cardinals are almost always successful.

The Cardinals are almost always good.

St. Louis Cardinals baseball is ALWAYS competitive.

When our fans turn into a telecast, they expect a victory.

That is why our TV ratings are the highest in the game....period.

I am blessed that I direct TV baseball for the Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals baseball on television is produced my Mike and directed by me.

We know and understand the responsibility we have when we televise a game for our fans. These fans expect great coverage and we deliver.

The quality of play by the team dictates the quality of coverage we provide.

Yes, there is pressure because of this but we thrive on that pressure.

Kudos to the Houston Astros TV production team. This season they don't have the LUXURY of covering a good baseball team.

The Houston Astros are terrible.

I paid attention to the Astros' telecast tonight to see if they were affected by the poor quality of play that this team provides.

They have a great telecast.

They cover the game with great respect. They cover their team with great respect.

They have it figured out.

Despite the fact that this is one of the worst Major League baseball teams ever, they cover EACH GAME as if this team was special.

I cover the St. Louis Cardinals with the "luxury" of a good team.

They cover each game as a luxury.

I learned from them tonight.

2 Bad Endings Forgotten

There were 2 bad endings in my life today.

The first bad ending occurred in the Cardinals/Pirates game. The Redbirds lost 4 - 3 on a walk-off sacrifice fly IN EXTRA INNINGS.

Getaway days are good. Extra innings on getaway days are bad.

The second bad ending happened after I arrived at Busch Stadium from the 3-city, 11 day roadtrip.

My son Brian was picking me up and the car he borrowed from a buddy broke down near the ballpark and wouldn't start. Since Brian was stalled 6 blocks from Busch, my good friend and TV teammate Keith offered to drive me and my luggage to the stalled vehicle to give it a jump.

How nice was that. He was gone for the whole roadtrip and his girlfriend came to pick him up. I know the last thing Keith expected to do was delay his arrival home. But there he was trying to help me out.

The jump did not work as the battery was completely dead.

Keith offered to stay until help arrived but I thanked this great friend and told him to get home.

I called AAA at 8;30 and they said they would be there "before 9:30". At 9:08 the AAA vehicle arrived and Paul, the technician, tested the battery and replaced it. He did a great job and we were on our way at 9:45.

I arrived in my door at 10:33 and was met by my beautiful wife Jane and Kirby "the wonder dog".

The two bad endings were immediately forgotten.

Pittsburgh Camera Ops

Most of the camera operators around Major League baseball know the players on the teams from their hometowns.

The best camera operators around baseball know the players on the team visiting their city. The immediate identification of the players helps the director develop a nice rhythm. The immediate identification of the players by the camera operators may be the most important aspect governing the "flow of the show".

Gerald Laird is one of the newest Cardinals players. He is playing in his first season with the team. During tonight's game/telecast, I asked camera 1 to "give me Gerald Laird". Not only did camera 1 located at mid-first base immediately find Laird in the dugout but camera 5 (Located in the first base dugout) also immediately took a shot of Laird.

Very impressive!

For telecasts in Pittsburgh I am in the back end of a dual feed which means I have three cameras at my disposal and I share other cameras with the home TV feed which is the primary feed. There is a huge reliance on the three cameras relegated to our telecast. The higher the quality of these operators = the higher quality of the telecast.

The three camera operators that are on the St. Louis Cardinals telecast are very, very talented. There is always a great "flow to the show" whenever we are in Pittsburgh.

Camera 1 is at mid-1st base, camera 5 is at low 1st base (Cardinals' dugout), and camera 6 is tight centerfield.

All three of these operators are a pleasure to work with.

I learn from them each and every telecast.

Thanks guys!