It's catchers - catching!!!!
I’m currently watching close-ups of Daniel Bard and John Lackey on NESN warming up in Ft Myers. It’s reminiscent of getting to see warm-ups and BP when you go watch the team play on the road and suddenly it truly hits me that Spring Training is upon us and April 4th will be here sooner than I think!
And it really does look like mid-September in Baltimore given all these pitchers are in long sleeves or even sweatshirts. According to weather.com it’s 58 degrees there at 9:45 this morning (which is balmy in Boston!). Tom Caron and Peter Gammons are talking over the footage of the pitchers (hey there’s Tim Wakefield!!) and are pretty much just telling us things we’ve already heard – but it doesn’t matter, does it? They’re talking about baseball, we’re watching baseball players in uniform doing baseball player-type things (Wakefield next to Papelbon both stretching with as little effort as they can muster is entertaining) and all looks hopeful for 2010.
Peter Gammons seems to be a tremendous Tim Wakefield fan. “Buchholz might have to wait his turn”, he just said. I’ve been critical of Gammons (and stand by my criticisms, especially in regard to his interview with Alex Rodriguez last year) but the one thing I like about him that others always criticize him for is that he isn’t afraid to admit what a baseball fan he is. I think, for the most part, I’m going to enjoy him being on NESN this season.
NESN has received a lot of criticism ever since they started this Spring Training coverage a couple of years ago. Critics complain that there is no real substance to the shows and it’s just another way to overexpose the Red Sox and take advantage of the loyal nature of Red Sox fans. I don’t agree at all. Much like many other things the Sox have done since the current owners took over, this team knows their target audience. I know plenty of people who are watching this along with me this morning. Maybe we aren’t hearing much (Heidi Watney is currently telling us how Clay “bulked” up and showing us an interview with Clay from earlier this week) but it’s no different than pre-game or post-game shows except they don’t have the “game” to dissect. My only complaint is NESN giving a forum to the sports writers, most of whom spend the season bashing the team. When those folks come on (Shaughnessy, Cafardo and Massarotti come springing to mind. Think it’s a coincidence they all work for the same paper?) the tv goes off. (Hey, I dvr it, I can come back later and fast-forward through their segments.)
NESN is going to commercial with the highlights from the Sox/Yanks games in 2009. Again, this station knows their audience!
Fans want to see their team and hear what’s going on with them. NESN is feeding our need for Red Sox baseball and I won’t be complaining about that.
Comments 7
I agree that most of the stuff the new ownership has done has been awesome. I don’t know why so many people are so quick to complain. It’s like, “Oh, look at this, they’re charging for tours of Fenway Park, those greedy bastards!” No! We’re Red Sox fans who want to be able to do stuff like that! Or, “look, they’re showing spring training coverage, anything for a buck…” Uh, this is, like, what I always wished for, being able to see the Red Sox in February when I’m dying to see baseball. I think a lot of people on the Internet who make fun of the Red Sox are just Yankee fans trying to make us look bad. Sometimes I’ll catch a “Red Sox fan” with a “1996″ in their e-mail address, if ya know what I mean.
But Cyn, average temp in Baltimore on September 15th: 80 degrees. Sorry, I always have to defend mid-September since that’s when I was born…people think of my birthday as fall–but it’s still summer in mid-Sept! Okay I’m done.
Posted 21 Feb 2010 at 12:20 pm ¶How is showing us something we’ve been dying to see exploiting us? I can tune out, mute, or fast-forward through the Cafardo or Shaughnessy parts if I want, but I personally love seeing the players back at work again after missing baseball all winter.
I’m heading down to the Fort later this week, and seeing the first workout gets me really excited to go. (Plus I spotted my parents walking past the set a couple of times.) When I’m there, I love watching PFP and all the other so-called “boring” drills. I also like watching the players interact between the drills, and I think it’s great how close we can get to everything. I find the workouts more fun than the spring games because of the closeness of the access. Not only that, but they’re free (with just a $2 shuttle ride from the free parking lot). So if that’s being exploited, then, yeah, bring it on.
People who don’t get Truck Day or televised PFP probably don’t watch batting practice before games either, or read up on baseball history, or appreciate the beauty of the game. They’re the ones missing out, not those of us who set the alarm for 9am yesterday!
Posted 21 Feb 2010 at 2:08 pm ¶The average temperature and the temperature it usually is when I’ve been in ANY ballpark in mid-September is quite different. :)
I think all the easy access before the real games in ST start is fabulous and NESN giving those of us who won’t be in Fort Myers a peek at that is just another bonus to being a Red Sox fan!
Posted 21 Feb 2010 at 7:58 pm ¶I love the televised workouts. They don’t try to make it something it isn’t–it’s not jazzed up like a Fox broadcast, say. (Thinking not really of baseball but of the way, when they show horse racing, they use everything from overly-dramatic setups to crazy camera angles to dramatize a sport that really doesn’t need any extra drama!) It’s a season preview in the best setting possible. I’ve already set the recorder for Wednesday morning.
MY only complaint is that I can practically smell the grass, and I want to be there. Now.
Posted 21 Feb 2010 at 8:48 pm ¶Ditto Kelly. I can hardly wait to get home from work Wednesday & watch my ST recording.
Posted 22 Feb 2010 at 11:18 am ¶You folks who get NESN are so lucky. My options for watching are cross country skiing from the Olympics or reruns of Dirty Jobs.
Posted 22 Feb 2010 at 4:51 pm ¶Well, that was disappointing. I wish the workouts were televised instead of talking heads with glimpses of the players.
Posted 25 Feb 2010 at 10:59 am ¶