Baseball telecasts technology

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The following is a chronological list of the technological advancements of Major League Baseball television broadcasts:

Contents

[edit] 1930s and 1940s[1]

[edit] 1939

See also: Baseball broadcasting firsts, 1939 in baseball, and 1939 in television

On August 26, the first ever Major League Baseball game was televised W2XBS, an experimental station in New York City which would ultimately become WNBC-TV.

Red Barber called the game without the benefit of a monitor and with only two cameras capturing the game. One camera was on Barber and the other was behind the plate. Barber had to guess from which light was on and where it pointed.

In 1939, baseball games were usually covered by one camera providing a point-of-view along the third base line.

[edit] 1949

Main articles: 1949 in baseball and 1949 in television
  1. Equipment: Three black-and-white cameras, all located on the Mezzanine level.
  2. Camera lenses: Fixed, no zoom capabilities.
  3. Replays: None
  4. Graphics: None
  5. Audio: One microphone on the play-by-play announcer.

[edit] 1950s[2]

[edit] 1951

Main articles: 1951 in baseball and 1951 in television

On August 11, 1951, WCBS-TV in New York City televised the first baseball game (in which the Boston Braves beat the Brooklyn Dodgers by the score of 8-1) in color.

On October 3 of that year, NBC aired the first coast-to-coast baseball telecast as the Brooklyn Dodgers were beaten by the New York Giants in the final game of a playoff series by the score of 3-1 (off Bobby Thomson's now-legendary home run).

[edit] 1953

Main articles: 1953 in baseball and 1953 in television
  1. Equipment: Four black-and-white cameras, all located on the Mezzanine level.
  2. Camera lenses: Fixed, no zoom capabilities.
  3. Video: Quailty of picture has improved since the 1940s.
  4. Replay: None
  5. Graphics: White-text containing one line of information.
  6. Audio: One microphone on the play-by-play announcer and one mic is suspended from the press box for crowd noise.

[edit] 1957

Main articles: 1957 in baseball and 1957 in television
  1. Equipment: Four cameras on Mezzanine level while a fifth camera is added in center field.
  2. Camera lenses: Three fixed lenses on each camera that's manually rotated by a camera operator.
  3. Video: Quality of picture is a very sharp black-and-white.
  4. Replays: None
  5. Graphics: White-text only; information about the balls and strikes are added.
  6. Broadcasters: Analysts added to broadcast alongside the play-by-play announcer.
  7. Audio: One mic is suspended from the press box for crowd noise.

[edit] 1960s[3]

[edit] 1961

Main articles: 1961 in baseball and 1961 in television
  1. Equipment: Five cameras: Four on the Mezzanine level and one in center field.
  2. Camera lenses: Zoom capability existed albeit, limited.
  3. Video: Black-and-white picture quality has improved.
  4. Replays: Yes; regular speed; no longer than thirty seconds long at a line angle only.
  5. Graphics: White-text only including two lines of text.
  6. Audio: Improved - Audience can now hear the crack of the bat.

[edit] 1962

Main articles: 1962 in baseball and 1962 in television

On July 23, 1962, Major League Baseball had its first satellite telecast (via Telstar Communications). The telecast included portion of a contest between the Chicago Cubs vs. the Philadelphia Phillies from Wrigley Field with Jack Brickhouse commentating.

The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their Game 7 victory in the 1965 World Series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate their Game 7 victory in the 1965 World Series.

[edit] 1969

Main articles: 1969 in baseball and 1969 in television

By 1969, the usage of chroma key (in which the commentators would opening up a telecast by standing in front of a greenscreen composite of the stadiums' crowds) became a common practice for baseball telecast.

  1. Equipment: Five cameras: Four on the Mezzanine level and one in center field.
  2. Camera lenses: Zoom capability existed albeit, limited.
  3. Video: Color became an industry standard.
  4. Replays: Yes; regular speed; no longer than thirty seconds long at a line angle.
  5. Graphics: Electronic graphics introduced.
  6. Audio: Improved - Audience can now hear the crack of the bat.

[edit] 1970s[4]

[edit] 1974

Main articles: 1974 in baseball and 1974 in television
  1. Equipment: Seven cameras: One at first and third base each, one at home plate, one at center field, one at left field, and each in the dugout.
  2. Camera lenses: 18×1; the batter can now be seen from head to toe.
  3. Video: Color quality has improved since the 1960s.
  4. Replays: Slow-motion from all camera angles.
  5. Graphics: Video font with two color capabilities.
  6. Audio: Mono. - much improved quality; an effect microphone is placed near the field.

[edit] 1975

Main articles: 1975 in baseball and 1975 in television

In the bottom of the 12th inning of Game 6 of the 1975 World Series at Boston's Fenway Park, Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk was facing Cincinnati Reds pitcher Pat Darcy. and hit a pitch down the left field line that appeared to be heading to foul territory. The enduring image of Fisk jumping and waving the ball fair as he made his way to first base is inarguably one of baseball's greatest moments. And it worked -- the ball struck the foul pole, giving the Red Sox a 7-6 win and forcing a seventh and deciding game of the fall classic. During this time, cameramen covering baseball were instructed to follow the flight of the ball; reportedly, Fisk's reaction was only being recorded because a cameraman had become frightened by a rat. This play was perhaps the most important catalyst in getting camera operators to focus most of their attention on the players themselves.

[edit] 1980s[5]

[edit] 1983

Main articles: 1983 in baseball and 1983 in television

On July 6, 1983, NBC televised the All-Star Game out of Chicago's Comiskey Park. During the telecast, special guest analyst, Don Sutton helped introduce NBC's new pitching tracking device dubbed The NBC Tracer[6]. The NBC Tracer was a stroboscopic comet tail showing the path of a pitch to the catcher's glove. For instance, The NBC Tracer helped track a Dave Stieb curveball among others.

[edit] 1985

Main articles: 1985 in baseball and 1985 in television

In 1985, NBC's telecast of the All-Star Game out of the Metrodome in Minnesota was the first program to be broadcast in stereo by a television network.

See also: Major League Baseball on NBC
  1. Equipment: Eight cameras: One at first and third base each, one at home plate (a low home angle is added), one each in right field, center field and left field, and one in each dugout.
  2. Camera lenses: 40×1; tight shots of players are routine.
  3. Replays: Super slow-motion replays became a new technology.
  4. Graphics: Computer generated in multiple colors.
  5. Audio: Mono. - much improved quality.

[edit] 1989

Main articles: 1989 in baseball and 1989 in television

The Loma Prieta earthquake that hit on October 17, 1989 was one of the few times that the onset of an earthquake of such magnitude had occurred during a live network television broadcast. The 1989 World Series was being broadcast by the American Broadcasting Company. At the moment the quake struck, sportscaster Tim McCarver was narrating taped highlights of the previous Series game. Viewers saw the video signal begin to break up, and heard McCarver's colleague, Al Michaels exclaim, "I'll tell you what -- we're having an earth--." At that moment the feed from Candlestick Park was lost.

Audio was restored minutes later (a green ABC Sports graphic replaced the picture though) where Michaels, over a telephone line started off by trying to make light of the chaotic situation by quipping that it was "The greatest open in the history of television -- bar none!" ABC would then go on a 15 minute break from their World Series coverage by sending viewers to a rerun of The Wonder Years. After ABC restored the telecast with a backup generator, Michaels (reporting from ABC Sports' production truck), by virtue of his presence on the scene and the already existing video link, was ABC's main contact from San Francisco, feeding reports and commentary to anchorman Ted Koppel (in Washington D.C.). The Goodyear Blimp (which was already aloft for the game) provided video of structural damage and fires within the city. Michaels was later nominated for an Emmy Award for these news broadcasts.

See also: Major League Baseball on ABC

[edit] 1990s[7]

[edit] 1990

Main articles: 1990 in baseball and 1990 in television

In 1990, CBS took over from both ABC and NBC as Major League Baseball's national, over-the-air television provider. They in the process brought along their telestration technology that they dubbed CBS Chalkboard. CBS Chalkboard made its debut eight years earlier during CBS' coverage of Super Bowl XVI.

See also: Major League Baseball on CBS

[edit] 1993

See also: Skycam, 1993 in baseball, and 1993 in television

During CBS' coverage of the 1993 World Series, umpires were upset with the overhead replays being televised by CBS. Dave Phillips, the crew chief, said just prior to Game 2 that the umpires want "CBS to be fair with their approach."

Rick Gentile, the senior vice president for production of CBS Sports, said that Richie Phillips, the lawyer for the Major League Umpires Association, tried to call the broadcast booth during Saturday's game, but the call was not put through. Richie Phillips apparently was upset when Dave Phillips called the Philadelphia Phillies' Ricky Jordan out on strikes in the fourth inning, and a replay showed the pitch to be about 6 inches outside.

National League President Bill White, while using a CBS headset in the broadcast booth during Game 1, was overheard telling Gentile and the producer Bob Dekas:

“ You guys keep using that camera the way you want. Don't let Phillips intimidate you. ”

[edit] 1995

See also: ESPN Major League Baseball, 1995 in baseball, and 1995 in television
  • April 1995 - ESPN debuted in-game box scores during Major League Baseball telecasts. Hitting, pitching and fielding stats from the game are shown along the bottom of the screen three times per game.

[edit] 1996

Main articles: 1996 in baseball and 1996 in television
  1. Equipment: Ten cameras: Eight manned cameras pluse two robotic cameras. Six tape machines plus one digital disk recorder.
  2. Camera lenses: 55×1
  3. Graphics: Computuer generated and in high resolution; the FoxBox is introduced.
  4. Audio: In Stereo and surround sound; wireless mics are placed in the bases.

[edit] 1997

Main articles: 1997 in baseball and 1997 in television
See also: Major League Baseball on FOX
NBC viewers followed every pitch in the 1997 World Series with the aid of SuperVision, a pitch-tracking system developed by QuesTec Imaging Inc.
NBC viewers followed every pitch in the 1997 World Series with the aid of SuperVision, a pitch-tracking system developed by QuesTec Imaging Inc.

On July 8, 1997, FOX televised its first ever All-Star Game (out of Jacobs Field in Cleveland). For this particular game, FOX introduced "Catcher-Cam" in which a camera was affixed to the catchers' masks in order to provide unique perspectives of the action around home plate. Catcher-Cam soon would become a regular fixture in FOX's baseball broadcasts.

In addition to Catcher-Cam, other innovations (some of which have received more acclaim than others) that FOX has provided for baseball telecasts have been:

  • Between 12 and 16 microphones throughout the outfield, ranging from Sennheiser MKH-416 shotgun microphones to DPA 4061s with Crystal Partners Big Ear parabolic microphones to Crown Audio PCC160 plate microphones.
  • The continuous "Fox Box" graphic, which contained the score, inning and other information in an upper corner of the TV screen. Since 2001, the Fox Box has morphed into a strip across the top of the screen which would later be used by other sports networks.
  • Audio accompanying graphics and sandwiched replays between "whooshes."
  • Scooter, a cartoony 3-D animated talking baseball (voiced by Tom Kenny) that occasionally appears to explain pitch types and mechanics, purportedly for younger viewers -- approximately the 10- to 12-year-olds.[8]
  • Ball Tracer, a stroboscopic comet tail showing the path of a pitch to the catcher's glove.
  • Strike Zone, which shows pitch sequences with strikes in yellow and balls in white. It can put a simulated pane of glass that shatters when a ball goes through the zone (a la the computerized scoring graphics used for bowling).
  • The "high home" camera from high behind home plate. Its purpose is that it can trace the arc of a home run and measure the distance the ball traveled. The "high home" camera can also measure a runner's lead off first base while showing in different colors (green, yellow, red) and how far off the base and into pickoff danger a runner is venturing.

[edit] 2000s[9]

[edit] 2001

Main articles: 2001 in baseball and 2001 in television
K Zone 1.0
K Zone 1.0
  • April 15, 2001 - ESPN Dead Center debuted on Sunday Night Baseball with Texas vs. Oakland. This new camera angle, directly behind the pitcher, is used provide true depiction of inside/outside pitch location and is used in certain parks in conjunction with K Zone.

[edit] 2002

Main articles: 2002 in baseball and 2002 in television
  • April 7, 2002 - ESPN became the first network to place a microphone on a player during a regular-season baseball game. "Player Mic" was worn by Oakland catcher Ramon Hernandez (who also wore "MaskCam") and taped segments were heard.

In October 2002, FOX televised the first ever World Series to be shown in high definition.

[edit] 2003

Main articles: 2003 in baseball and 2003 in television

[edit] 2004

Main articles: 2004 in baseball and 2004 in television

In October 2004, FOX started airing all Major League Baseball postseason broadcasts (including the League Championship Series and World Series) in high definition. FOX also started airing the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in HD the following year.

[edit] 2005

Main articles: 2005 in baseball and 2005 in television
  • April 10, 2005 - "SkyCam" premiered during Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN. "SkyCam" is mounted more than 20 feet above the stands in foul territory and travels down a designated base path (first or third base line, from behind home plate to the foul pole), capturing overhead views of the action. The remote-controlled camera can zoom, pan and tilt.

[edit] 2006

Main articles: 2006 in baseball and 2006 in television
  • April 2, 2006 - A handheld camera brings viewers closer to the action for in-game live shots of home run celebrations, managers approaching the mound and more.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Baseball's Best: 1930s-1940s
  2. ^ Baseball's Best: 1950s
  3. ^ Baseball's Best: 1960s
  4. ^ Baseball's Best: 1970s
  5. ^ Baseball's Best: 1980s
  6. ^ Take a look at the latest in technology, as the NBC Tracer tracks a curveball (from the 1983 Major League Baseball All-Star Game).
  7. ^ Baseball's Best: 1990s
  8. ^ http://www.thedartmouth.com/article.php?aid=2004042305050
  9. ^ Baseball's Best: 2000s
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