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.

Blessed

The Cardinals became the NL Central Division Champs before they took the field to play the Diamondbacks. We were just moments away from the Cards batting order when we learned of wholesale changes in the lineup. Our graphics guru did a wonderful job of correcting the lineup and defense graphics in a quick fashion. Apart from that mayhem to start the telecast, this was the first meaningless game of the 2014 season. We of the Cardinals TV team are quite blessed. Let me count the ways. Only one game of the season was meaningless. Every single home game had an attendance over 40,000. The team had a winning record for each month of the season - the only NL Central team with that accomplishment. The TV team is becoming quite efficient in covering post game celebrations. A member of the Arizona TV team said to me after we were off the air - "Do you know how lucky you are? I responded "Yes I do and I am grateful each and every day. I am blessed." Thanks to all who follow this blog.