Tonight’s telecast was the first of a two-game series in San Francisco.
It is a pleasure televising from San Francisco because the crew is arguably the best crew for a road telecast in the National League.
Because we were in a dual feed situation, we were allotted three cameras, two replay machines and a two-channel Elvis.
The three cameras were located in tight centerfield (cam #6), mid-first base (cam #3), and low-first base (cam #5). Camera 5 also doubled as the pre-game show camera and the post-game show camera where it moved to the booth. Camera 5 was a handheld camera with a small lens so its game responsibilities were limited to the pitcher, batter, and first base pick-off. Camera 3 and camera 6 each had huge lenses and the operators were top- notch. They followed their responsibilities when appropriate, worked hard to find shots, and their game coverage was superb.
The game action was exciting and included a home runs and a play at the plate. The replay sequences of the home runs and the play at the plate were some of the best replays we have had all season. The ball-follow shots on the home runs were great and our angles on the bang-bang play at the plate clearly showed the runner to be safe.
I think the best moment on the telecast dealt with a situation that does not make the air very often.
The starting pitcher for the Giants was having trouble controlling his curve ball for most of the game. In the truck later in the game, we noticed that he was continually shaking off the curve ball sign from the catcher. The viewer at home and our announcers in the booth do not have the luxury of seeing all the cameras at the same time like we do in the truck. The viewer and the announcers can only see what is “on-line”. (The video that is going out over- the-air) So, while the shot going out over-the-air may be of the batter, or the pitcher, or a manager, the crew in the truck can see every camera.
The Producer and the Director in the truck can communicate with the announcers in their head sets without the audio going out over the air. We alerted the announcers of the fact that the pitcher was continually shaking off the curve ball. There was a tight shot of the pitcher on the mound and our play by play man, following our cue, stated to the audience this fact about the pitcher. I took a tight shot of the catcher giving the signs and, sure enough, the catcher put down two fingers (curve ball). The pitcher shook off the sign and went with another pitch. Our analyst, a former big-league pitcher, talked about the different reasons why a pitcher may lose confidence in a certain pitch. Once again our shot sequence was of the pitcher, to the catcher giving signs, to the pitcher shaking off the curve ball.
This moment in the telecast was an excellent example of the crew in the truck communicating with the announcers in the booth and, through this teamwork, providing an interesting story line to the telecast.
Home runs and plays at the plate are always exciting.
Teamwork from the whole baseball TV crew will provide interesting moments that are just as valuable as the exciting moments.