Today’s telecast was the best show of the year.
An important goal of our production team is to televise an incident on the field that the fans in attendance do not, will not, or cannot see. In fact, two of our camera operators – camera 1 (left field corner) and camera 8 (super slo-mo camera @ mid first base) have no specific camera responsibilities. Their main responsibility is to “show the viewer something he/she has never seen before”.
Today’s telecast included some moments that I have rarely seen during a major league baseball game.
We followed the umpires from their umpire’s room, through the bowels of Busch Stadium, onto the field. Our camera operator stayed at the home plate position and captured the exchange of line-up cards between the two teams. We would like to thank the umpiring crew for allowing us to capture this rare footage. When I asked for the umpire crew’s permission, they were more than happy to accommodate us.
During batting practice for the three games of this series, we captured and saved shots of Cardinals players working on fundamentals. Some of this footage included the starting catcher taking ground balls at third base, shortstop, and first base. There was also a shot of a rookie outfielder taking fly balls over his head to the wall, catching the ball, and throwing it to second base. This may seem to be pretty common footage, but the announce team in the booth really played up the fact that practice is very important to a major league ballplayer. The combination of commentary and video, in this instance, was extraordinary.
With a shutter in our tight centerfield camera (camera 6), we captured yet another example of something on the field that fans in the ballpark did not see.
We took two different pitches from the Houston Astros pitcher and froze each shot at the release point of the ball out of the pitcher’s hand. One shot showed a 2-seam grip and the other shot showed a 4-seam grip. The color analyst described each grip and explained the movement of the ball for each grip. Excellent use of the video with the “freeze” shot coupled with expert analysis made for a very rewarding moment on the telecast.
There was a bench clearing incident during the game.
There is nothing new about a bench clearing incident in a baseball game. We have all seen them and rarely are there punches thrown. Just like in today’s game, there were a few shoves and a few words but that was about it.
Where our broadcast team excelled in this “incident” was the fact that we were prepared for it. There was some bad blood brewing between these two clubs dating from the second week of the season and from yesterday’s game. The camera operators on our production team were right on during the fracas. We captured straight on face shots of the primary combatants of the incident during the incident – shots that captured the moment as good as possible. But the best was yet to come. The tight centerfield operator (camera 6) and the left field corner camera operator (camera 1) both stayed with the Astros’ pitcher in the dugout after the inning was over. He was very upset and kept yapping and yapping. We found out at the start of the following half inning that he was being replaced by a reliever. Because of the diligence of these camera operators, the viewers at home saw a moment during the game that the people present in the ball park did not see.
Capturing rare moments during a baseball game/telecast occur with good planning, hard work, and sometimes with a little luck.
We planned the umpire’s shot, our camera operators do not stop working between innings, our announce team’s comments on the importance of practice for major league baseball players really put a ribbon on our video package of these players working on fundamentals.
When a baseball TV production team plans ahead and works hard, it just proves you don’t have to be lucky to be good.

We just took off from Pittsburgh after a 2-city, 4-game road trip.
No more ground hog day from a game standpoint, but, being in the back end of a dual feed creates its own “groundhog day” effect.
The past four games were all different and all four telecasts had challenges. The first two games of the trip were in Milwaukee and the final two contests were in Pittsburgh. The dual feed crews in each town are a pleasure to work with. The Producer and the Director in each of these towns are very aware of the needs of the visiting TV crew and practically go out of their way to make our broadcast experience as painless as possible.
The four games of this trip were all different, yet, in the back end of the dual feed, each game telecast has the same feel. The limitations on the TV crew in the back end of a dual feed create an atmosphere of frustration because of these limitations.
Each game/telecast wore me out because I was very frustrated during the shows that our broadcast team, because of the dual feed, could not present the game to our viewers as crisply and succinctly, and with the quality that we expect. While I do understand the fiscal reasons for dual feeds, my pride is affected when I am part of a telecast that cannot be produced in the highest quality fashion.
The Cardinals split the four games of this road trip. Our presentation of these games could have and would have been more valuable to our viewers if our TV production crew did not have to rely on the “primary” feed for shots during the highest “impact” moments of each game.
The back end of a dual feed relies on the primary feed (home telecast) for coverage when the ball is in play. The home feed has a full complement of equipment and, therefore, is able to provide coverage of game action with better angles than the visiting dual feed which has three cameras. I was told that the reason for dual feeds is that all “ALL GAME ACTION IS CUT THE SAME BY EVERY DIRECTOR”. Obviously, this decision was made by a person who has never directed a baseball game. In fact, this mind set is a slap in the face to All TV baseball Directors.
Yes it is true that a baseball game can be presented in a dual feed situation where the visitors control three cameras and rely on the home telecast crew which controls 8, 9, or 10 cameras.
However, it is also true that in order for the highest quality TV baseball production, each broadcast entity MUST have complete control over their “product” or that product will suffer.
Quality or cost – take your pick.

It is Saturday night and we have televised the first five of the six games of this home stand. There have been some moments in these telecasts that were fairly special, but, oddly enough, the games have all been similar. They have all been well pitched (for the most part), there have been some monstrous home runs, some nice defensive plays have been made, and there have been some key two out hits.
There just hasn’t been much drama.
At certain times during this past week’s games/telecasts, I felt like I was in the movie “Groundhog Day”.
We have covered the games well and the chemistry between the truck and the booth has been exceptional. I sensed a real total team effort during these telecasts and, because of this, the quality of certain “moments” of the show was outstanding. It almost just didn’t seem to matter.
There just hasn’t been much drama.
I tried different shots to break up this sense that everything was too similar and too familiar. Coming back from breaks I started wide on the centerfield camera (camera 4) and pushed to the pitcher/batter shot. I used the mid third base camera (camera 3) to frame the runner on first with the pitcher also in the shot hoping to get a different angle of the runner’s “jump”. We already capture the “jump” from the robotic cam (camera 7) which is located on the back stop, but in an effort to escape from “Groundhog Day” I tried to change things up a bit.
There just hasn’t been much drama.
The final telecast of this home stand is tomorrow and then we depart on the road for a two-city four-game trip.
I hope the upcoming games provide our crew with plays, action, and drama as rare as this trip.
I must escape “Groundhog Day”.

For a visiting TV baseball production team, there is no better place to broadcast on the road than San Francisco.
The visitor’s crew is the best among the road crews in the National League. There is not one weak aspect to any of the crew positions on the telecast.
The camera operators are complete and total professionals. They work their tails off, they do not take themselves too seriously, they have the perfect attitude, and they are an absolute pleasure to work with.
The audio mix is terrific. The mix of the crowd, the bat crack, and the announcers is always impeccable. And, like the camera operators, the audio technician never complains and is always pleasurable.
The Technical Director (TD) is the best TD in the country in regards to a visiting crew. This guy never makes a mistake. He is relaxed and his confidence rubs off on everyone. I am a better Director whenever I have the good fortune to sit next to this true professional.
It is a privilege to televise baseball with this crew.
The home TV baseball Director for the San Francisco Giants is one of the best baseball Directors in the country and a good friend. He is always trying to get better and I look forward to our conversations about “televising baseball”. We talk about camera positions in other National League ballparks, crews around the league, and our philosophies about baseball “game” coverage. His use of an RF camera from ten years ago is still one of the best “improvements” to the overall “look” of a baseball game ever implemented.
I believe that the quality of the visiting baseball crew in San Francisco is a direct result of the quality of a baseball telecast that this Director provides. This guy has led the way in San Francisco and the quality of the coverage in that town is a testament to this person’s hard work and his love of a great telecast.
The San Francisco Giants baseball TV Director is one of those people in our industry who, just by showing up, makes everyone better.

We did a side by side in San Francisco tonight!!!
Because there were nine sports television feeds out of the bay area tonight, we were fortunate to telecast with six cameras, two channel Elvis and two replay machines for the TV production of the Cardinals’ game tonight.
I do not care if we are in New York, Chicago, Miami, or Los Angeles, when there are nine TV feeds going out from one particular broadcast area, the talent pool should be severely deleted.
Not tonight.
What is it about the Bay Area?
Each and every member of our crew was top notch.
The camera operators worked their butts off. Their shots were tight and meaningful. Throughout most TV baseball telecast, the Director can count on many meaningless, “throw away” shots that the camera operators contribute to the telecast. This attitude contributes to the increasing attitude that “any shot is better than no shot”. It has become increasingly evident that this attitude has spilled over to other aspects of a TV sports telecast.
“Any graphic is better than no graphic.”
“Any replay is better than no replay.”
WRONG!!!!!!!!!!
In order for a sports telecast to be relevant, meaningful, and successful, there CANNOT be a wasted moment on the show.
Irrelevant graphic, irrelevant replays, indeed, irrelevant moments of any sports telecast diminish the credibility of the telecast.
It is very gratifying to me that the crew in San Francisco is very aware of the importance of relevant shots, sound, and replays. There are not many TV baseball crews in the country that understand the importance of “non-wasted” moments.
I believe that our “home” crew (for the most part) in St. Louis agrees with this sports broadcasting “rule”. However, the “visiting” TV crew in San Francisco understands how this knowledge contributes to the overall quality of the telecast as better than any crew in the country.
There are very few crew members on the National League Baseball visiting crews that understand the importance of each and every shot, each and every graphic, indeed, “EACH AND EVERY MOMENT” of a telecast.
To each and every member of our baseball TV broadcast fraternity: “Make every moment of your contribution to the telecast relevant, important, and concise.”
If you love this business, this request is not unreasonable.
If you are in this business for any other reason,
WE WILL WORK AROUND YOU.

I am writing this blog at 35,000 feet as we fly from Houston to San Francisco. We had three telecasts from Houston and each game/telecast was fairly comfortable. We were in a new “dual” truck that afforded a bit more room for the visitors than most other dual trucks. The comfort level from a physical standpoint was better but, from a creative standpoint, it is still a dual.
Each game was well played and well pitched.
The first telecast/game featured a “walk off” home run for the home team (Astros) which came after the visiting club (Cardinals) had tied the score 3-3 with three runs in the ninth. This was a very entertaining game for the fans of both teams. Unfortunately for the Cardinals’ fans, the Astros prevailed.
We incorporated a new feature into our telecast called “Did you know”? “Did you know? is just a one-line note on a player that teaches the viewer something about a player involved in the game/telecast. Members of the Houston TV production team offered some very positive feedback on this feature. This feature is an entertaining piece that does not take away from the game and is quite effective.
Our second telecast/game was another tightly fought contest that featured some excellent pitching and some wonderful defense. There was a certain flow to the game and, thus, the telecast. A poignant moment of the game came when a player on the Cardinals had a hard slide into the catcher that may not have been warranted. We replayed the slide and our announcers commented and the sequence seemed to be over. Not a mention was made on the home feed and not a mention was made in the local papers in Houston. The St. Louis newspaper included this “story” in this morning’s edition and the “slide” was addressed in tonight’s pre-game show. This is a good example of a moment in a game/telecast when the back end of a dual feed sees and airs something that the primary feed of the dual either does not capture or decides not to address it.
Tonight’s telecast was another of those telecast’s that occur and make the back end of the dual somewhat passable. The game was well paced and well played. A highlight of the telecast occurred early when, with runners in scoring position, we aired a full-page graphic describing the strength and accuracy of the outfielder’s arms on the Astros’ club. Included in the graphic was a quote from the Cardinals’ third base coach in which he said he would “challenge” the opposing outfield, Successful execution of this sequence is one of those examples where pre-planning and luck come together and produce a memorable moment in the telecast.
These first three “duals” of the 2008 season proved to be somewhat painless and somewhat rewarding.
Oh what we could have accomplished if those games/telecasts were at home.

Our weekend series with the Washington Nationals was a typical series for a baseball TV production team. The wonderful aspect of covering sports for television is that no two games are the same. Each and every day I go to “work” the game is different. I learn something new every day I do a baseball game. Each day of “work” is a different learning experience.
Because televising baseball is the most challenging of any sport, it is exciting to go to the ballpark to televise a game.
The three Nationals/Cardinals games this weekend were a perfect example of the nature of television baseball.
Game one featured something that I have rarely seen in my 27 years in the business. Our play by play announcer predicted that the batter would or should have success against the opposing pitcher. No sooner were the words out of his mouth and the hitter smacked a home run. I have been involved in telecasts where an announcer’s “prediction” comes true and it is always a great moment in the telecast when that occurs. However, in this instance, this rare moment was highlighted even more when our Producer used the sound-on-tape of this prediction as a roll-out to break. It was only the first inning of our telecast and it proved to be the best, most memorable moment of the show. Not even the exciting ninth inning of this tightly fought baseball game came close to the high value the first inning roll-out gave to our show.
Game two was also a well pitched game. There was a good flow to our telecast and some revealing shots from our home camera crew provided our show with a different look than the shots from game one. I wanted to experiment with the shots that were used in this telecast, so I instructed the camera operators to “use their lens” to provide a much tighter look to the show. While there were some “interesting” replays from the shots, I found that the use of tight shots throughout the telecast really took away from this type of shot late in the game. Because I was shooting tighter throughout the telecast, when a suspenseful moment came late in the game, the shot was not nearly as effective as I had hoped.
The final game of the series with the Nationals was the best pitched game of the series. This type of game allows the telecast the luxury of a nice flow where things seem to fall in place. The whole TV production crew is in sync. The camera shots are “there”, replays are cued with precision, audio is capturing the “sounds of the ballpark” at appropriate times, and the graphics are accentuating the moment.
This telecast is the type of show that all TV sports production teams enjoy and look forward to.
This series featured three different games and three different telecasts. Each game was different and each telecast was a learning experience.
Tomorrow is our first dual of the season.
What will I learn tomorrow?

The first home series of the 2008 season concluded today with a well pitched and well played game. This contest was very different from the game played yesterday. I wish today’s game would have occurred yesterday and I wish yesterday’s game would have been played today.
Let me explain the difference.
Because the baseball game that was played today had a very nice pace, the TV production team was able to establish a good rhythm and a comfortable flow to the show. We had a full complement of equipment with eight cameras. Last season we utilized seven cameras. Our show has added a super slo-mo (X MO) camera for home games this season. We are going to experiment with locations for the X MO and for the opening home stand we located this camera at mid-first base.
It is very nice to have a well played and well pitched game with a full camera complement and the usual “home” crew because, with the great flow to the telecast, the game seems to fly by.
I wish we could have had a full camera complement and our usual crew yesterday because yesterday’s ballgame was not pitched well and had a lousy pace to it. I wrote earlier about the importance of “adjusting” to situations as they occur during a telecast. It seems that the more a game is poorly pitched, the more adjustments must be made within the show. And, whenever adjustments have to be made, it is important for the TV production team in the truck to be as comfortable as possible. There is no greater comfort level for a sports TV production than when they are working a home show.
Also for yesterday’s telecast, there was a crew shortage in town because of another event and we were in a dual situation.
Therefore, we were short a camera operator.
(We had no robotic operators on the show. The robotic camera usually scores runners, so I adjusted and gave that responsibility to camera 3- (mid third)
We used a hand-held build up in the first base dugout.
(This has a much smaller lens than the “hard” camera we usually place in that position.)
Four of the seven camera operators were not familiar with the home show.
(These operators all worked hard but unfamiliarity breeds hesitation which damages the flow of the show.)
Yesterday’s telecast = A poorly pitched game, short one camera operator, smaller lens in prime camera, good but unfamiliar crew. Add these components together and there was a definite lack of a rhythm to the telecast.
Today’s telecast = A well pitched game and our full “home” crew. (I would have liked the “hard” camera in the dugout.) The pace of the telecast was smooth and enjoyable. It is a great feeling when the whole crew is “feeling it”. When the crew has established a good rhythm, excellent audio is captured and shots are executed with outstanding results.
Love the X MO!