Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Baseball Season Warm Up

Spring training is just around the corner; a chance for players to work on the basics, announcers to learn the new roster and cameramen to follow the action. Pitchers and catchers report very soon and before you know it, the boys of summer will be ready.

This morning with the covers pulled up snug, a chill in the air pulling me away from dreamland; I was watching a televised spring training game. There was a very light dusting of snow on the field; unusual for Florida anytime of year. The camera was aimed toward shallow left field where someone from my team had flicked a low arching pop up that was going to drop in.

I could hear the announcer calling the play by play as our man rounded first trying to stretch it into a leg double, the odds marginal at best. The left fielder gathered the ball and made his throw toward second and the camera backed off from the close up to give a wider angle; however, it never showed the close play being called by the announcer, the aim of the camera still lost with a shot of the left fielder’s arm having released the throw.

There’s the tag and the dust from the slide; is he safe or out? How would I know, the cameraman has no idea what his job is. I throw my hands up in disgust, tossing a few well chosen insults at the imbecile working the camera.

There was no call as yet by the umpire, our man stood up, dusted himself off and moved back along the path he’d taken as he took off his batting gloves. The camera finally got to the right area of the field; but it was too late to have seen the slide or the tag being applied; was he safe or out? I couldn’t tell if he was walking back to the dug out or handing his gear off to the first base coach when the dream ended.

Spring training games are interesting; but what kind of fool schedules any game that early in the morning? Come on guys, get real.

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