Monday, October 27, 2008

Another Good Idea

This one isn't mine, it's from reader Crowhop:

I want the umpires to be miked and the telecasts to replay the conversations (after extensive editing, of course) between the batters, catchers, managers, coaches, everyone. I think that would make the 'inside' of baseball come through better for TV. This is something I have wanted for years and I think others would love the idea too. It's probably not feasible and the umpires union would crap a brick before they would want their guys exposed even more, but damn, that would be good TV, no?
I seem to remember that the NBA did this with refs a bit in the 80s. Or at least I think they did. I have an NBA highlights video (VHS, baby!) starring Marv Albert and Frank Layden, and several of the clips have Tree Rollins and other greats jawing with refs. It was fantastic, and I think that such a thing in the world of baseball would be equally fantastic. Though, as Crowhop suspects, I believe the umpires would be dead set against it.

2 comments:

RoyceTheBaseballHack said...

This would be incredible. Not only banter at the plate, but what the umps bark at pitchers when they go up to the mound and tell them to get on with things. It would add a new level to watching baseball. And, honestly, they wouldn't have to mic the umps - those parabolic microphones you see taped to the dugout railings are plenty powerful enough to pick up all of that. TBS, ESPN, et al., probably have thousands of hours of that audio from them they can't play. We just have to make friends with some sound tech and have them mail the DAT's to you anonymously.

Jeff J. Snider said...

Yeah, you see this on NFL Films all the time, where they pick up conversations on the sidelines and on the field. Directional mics can do pretty much anything. I'm sure the umpires union would have something to say about it anyway, but they don't need to mic anyone up.