Major League Baseball continues to attain high attendance figures over the last several weeks as the summer begins and rule changes become part of the norm. Weekend attendance for the league averaged over 35,000 people and was the third consecutive weekend with at least 1.5 million fans. As the league continues to market its superstars and promulgate the astonishing plays on the field, fans unable to make it to the ballpark consume broadcasts from afar.
Many baseball broadcasts pride themselves on being conversational and establishing a rapport with the audience, a deviation from the broadcast vernacular form years past. Attracting and retaining the interest of younger generations requires broadcasters to be cognizant of cultural trends and find ways to modernize the game to appeal to all viewers. With the advent of alternate broadcasts – including Sunday Night Baseball with KayRod – considering the viewer is arguably more essential than ever before in order to compete for the mindshare of the audience.
Over the weekend, 610 SportsRadio KCSP morning show host Bob Fescoe listened to a variety of different baseball broadcasts from around the league. No matter what outlet he consumed, Fescoe noticed conversations centered around trivial, mundane topics leading him to grow somewhat agitated.
“Every broadcast I listened to yesterday had some of the most ridiculous stuff that I’ve ever heard in it,” Fescoe said. “For one thing, most baseball broadcasts and broadcasters act like the athletes that we’re watching on the field are not people – like they’re not human beings – and if they do something that’s genuinely human-related, we all lose our minds.”
In relation to that, a clip of Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw having a catch with his son in the Dodger Stadium outfield made the rounds on several broadcasts yesterday. Fescoe noticed how commentators were framing it as Kershaw pausing his long toss and sprinting drills to spend time with his son and acting like it was a big deal. Fescoe believes the clip garnered the sentiment of Kershaw being regarded as herculean or otherworldly when, in reality, it is something any ordinary human being interested in baseball would do.
From there, Fescoe spoke about his experience listening to Minnesota Twins radio color commentator Dan Gladden discuss the evolution of the sport. When one batter was at the plate during a potential hit-and-run scenario during the Twins 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, he made a remark about the vicissitudes in player demeanor in the modern game.
“I don’t know who was at bat; he says, ‘He’s the kind of guy that if you asked to hit and run, he won’t get mad at you,’” Fescoe recalled. “Wait a second; hang on a second here. A batter’s in the box; he gets a sign from his boss to do something. Is that a peek inside the mind of baseball players though that maybe managers are afraid to do certain things because a guy may get mad at him?”
Suzyn Waldman has been the color commentator for New York Yankees radio broadcasts with John Sterling since 2005, and she was the next broadcaster Fescoe turned his attention to yesterday. While listening to the Yankees do battle with the Rangers, Fescoe heard Waldman talking about Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo’s tagging speed. He began to wonder if statistics were available pertaining to the fielding metrics and assumed some broadcasts are simply beginning to make some things up.
To close out the day, he transitioned over to the Texas Rangers television broadcast, which was showing B-roll of the Empire State Building at the time.
“The announcer says, ‘That’s the Empire State Building. It used to be an iconic building,’ to which his color analyst goes, ‘It still is,’” Fescoe said. “What do you mean ‘used to be an iconic building’?”
Fescoe feels the nature of baseball broadcasts is starting to move away from the traditional aspects of the game and contain more palaver discourse regarding cavalier topics. There are certain established and credible broadcast booths around the league that can effortlessly weave entertainment and esoteric discussion into the course of a broadcast. Yet there are moments when it just simply does not work.
“Just listen to a baseball broadcast and you will hear some ridiculous nonsense,” Fescoe concluded, “and then when somebody does something human like Clayton Kershaw having a catch with his son and being a dad, we all lose our minds.”
