Our telecast of the final game of the three game series with the San Diego Padres matched the quick pace of the game (2:28) with a nice flow to the show.
The Cardinals lost the game 3-0 and collected only three hits.
Needless to say, the game did not present much in the way of video “highlights” concerning the Redbirds.
As I wrote in a previous blog, when a baseball TV production team covers the game to the best of its ability, the game will most likely reward the telecast with some rewarding “baseball” moments.
This was certainly the case in this telecast.
Early in the game, both starting pitchers were nearly hit by the baseball as it was smashed through the middle by the batter.
There were four angles available to the Producer for use as replays:
Centerfield – (this was the “live” look at the play as it occurred)
High home – (followed the ball from the pitcher’s hand to the batter and back through the box to centerfield)
High left field – (a pitcher/batter angle that shows both positions in the same shot)
Low 1st base – (isolated on the pitcher)
When the first base hit (that nearly hit the pitcher) occurred in the top of the inning, the Producer called for the centerfield and high home “looks” for replays immediately after the play occurred.
Then when the other starting pitcher was nearly hit by a smash up the middle in the bottom of the inning, the Producer called for the centerfield angle followed by the high left field “look” as the replay sequence.
These two occurrences in the game were so similar and happened so close to each other that it seemed they were the same play. If one was not paying attention, one might have thought they were the same play.
The replay sequences that the Producer called for immediately after these plays occurred were effective in capturing the similarities of the action.
But it was the teamwork of the Producer and the replay operators that really captured the essence of the moment in each of these two instances.
The four-part video sequence put together by the “tape” room utilized the use of “real time” replays to turn this moment from an ordinary replay into a memory. The sequence went as follows: Centerfield angle to side angle of pitcher to centerfield angle to side angle of pitcher. Each angle was “rolled” at real speed with the audio being tracked. The importance of “real time” replays to the telecast cannot be matched. “Real time” replays allow the viewer to not only see the action, but hear the action as well. In this sequence, the viewer watched the pitcher throw the ball, heard the bat crack, and saw the ball fly past the pitcher. The side angle “iso” of the pitcher combined with the natural audio allowed our viewers to experience a unique example of the speed of the ball off the bat.
These two instances in the game were excellent examples of the “game” giving the TV production team a unique opportunity to create a memory from the action.
It would have been very easy (and very lazy) to treat the two hits up the middle as just another part of the game - as just another ho-hum replay. But our TV team took what the game gave us and turned it into a valuable resource that added quality to the telecast.