Out in Right Field

 

Brunswick beat Greens Farms Academy today, 3-0, in baseball. 

Michael Yeager hit a two-run home run in the first inning and that was all that the Bruins would need. Starting pitcher Boston Flannery was dominant, striking out 12 as he mowed through the Dragons en route to a four-hit shutout.

The Bruins tacked on a run in the fifth as Yeager reached base and worked his way around before scoring on an error.

Brunswick is 5-2 on the season.

I called the game from my "booth." That is, in this case, out in right field. As I was asked tonight why I'm working from there, let me explain.

When I came aboard to do Brunswick sports, I worked mostly with audio only on what I called "WGCH 2." The online channel was a precursor to Robcasting but it never became what I wanted it to be. I wanted it to have a permanent home on the wgch.com page or somewhere else. Instead, it was located at this super annoying location that I had to give to people every time I went live.

For Brunswick, it was a way to decide if they liked what I was doing. Fortunately, they did.

Ah, but my baseball "press box." That's the topic here. Well, I initially chose to stand down the third base line, not far off the field from the third base coach's box. I had a pretty good view of the field for a broadcast that was audio-only. The downside was that parents and fans could also stand right near me.

If you don't know, I'm a little shy/uncomfortable when it comes to having people nearby as I broadcast a game. I just like appearing uncomfortable though I do get over it eventually.

People are actually really kind when they stand near me but there are often those types that want to engage, especially while I'm on the air.

So this location worked and I would string power cables from the outlets behind home plate to my "booth."

Eventually, we ramped up with LocalLive and needed space where we could safely set up a camera and give me room to call the game. The third base area was too fraught with dangers, most notably having the camera get hit by a ball.

Of course, behind home plate is desirable but that wasn't a perfect location either. For one thing, the Bruins occupy the area on the third base side of home outside of their dugout. The road time can use the first base side. Plus the view isn't ideal.

That being said, we adjusted to where I did use the home plate perspective for roughly 1.5 seasons. But, as I feared, the other team wanted the space as did fans and scouts. It got crowded. I also felt like I was too easy to be heard by umpires, players, and coaches. I never want to have any kind of impact on the game itself.

If I'm asked to return to doing games from this perspective, of course, I'll do it.

But it was probably in 2018 when Joe Early and I spied the right field corner for a couple of reasons. First and most importantly was the scoreboard was located there. There's a power outlet on the base of the scoreboard to give life to the LocalLive camera as well as my computer if needed.

But it was also a bit more remote. If I want to set up a table and chair, I can. If I want to set up one of my pods or a tent, I can. Plus I'm generally not bothered there. Conversely, it's a long walk from my car for the equipment but nothing is perfect.

I adjust. That's what I do. So the view, to me, isn't bad at all. Sure, it's some 300 feet away from home plate so the perspective is distant but it works for me.

If they ever build a press box for baseball at Brunswick, I'll be all in. But, for now, the right field corner works just fine.

This is what we do. If the options are go to the right field corner or don't call the game I'll go to right field.

I'll be at Greenwich on Friday (yes, really!) and I'll set up wherever they let me. The bigger challenge there is that they don't have power so I'll need a fully charged computer!

This is the gig. It's part of the challenge.

It's why I love it.

To quote Tom Hanks in A League of Their Own: "If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great."

For me, it was pretty great today.

That's why I'm in right field.

Because it works.