You want your broadcast to be filled with information and not just the garden variety things you find in the team’s game notes. I’m talking about information other than what a certain player is hitting over his/her last 12 games and factoids other than where he/she went to college or high school. The stories are there, but where do you get them? How do you present them?
I’ve got some ideas for you and they really won’t require you to do a whole lot of leg work.
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Read
Chances are pretty good that if you need a story about a player, there has been one written at some point. Whether it be in a local newspaper, a national publication or in an online article. Google is your friend. Now the only thing I’ll caution you on is to double check and make sure that the information in the first story you found is accurate information. Simply check the next article (making sure it’s from a different source) to see if the story in the first article matches or is similar to the second.
If you are a regular reader of publications or online sites, you may even have a good “recall” or memory of something you heard or saw in the past. This gives you a leg up, because more than likely you’ll remember the source and just need to go back and refresh your memory on the subject.
When you get to the major league level, teams will provide “clips” of articles that are written about the team.
As an example, with the White Sox an article was written about one of the pitchers and his work out regimen during the off season. It has improved his performance and was very interesting in detailing the process the pitcher used and who he worked out with. After reading the article, I interviewed the player for my pregame show. Using the framework of what I read, began to ask him questions about it and surprisingly he had more information for me than was in the original piece.
He told me afterwards that it was information that he had forgotten about until I asked him a few follow ups on the subject. Not only did I use the interview in my pregame, I now am armed (no pun intended) with information for the broadcast when he next pitches.
Coaches, Managers, Front Office Execs
People that are usually around players most often are the coaches and managers of these teams. Sometimes a front office executives will have information, but this is a little more tricky to get unless you’ve built trust (see one of my previous columns) and will use only what they say is ok to use on your broadcast.
Generally I like to use these people for additional information, after I’ve already interviewed a player. I’ll tell the manager, “Player A told me today that you suggested he change his approach…what do you remember about that conversation…” or something to that effect. This way he’s not betraying a players’ trust by telling you more information, because you’ve already gone to the player and its on the record.
Most of the time what you’ll see happen is after knowing a manager or a coach for a while, I may walk into his/her office before approaching the player and say “hey, I’m talking to player B for pregame today is there anything you think I should ask him?”. That manager may tell you ask him about “this” but don’t tell him that you asked me first. I’m good with that. The player thinks you did a lot of extra research on him (and you sort of did) and you’re not hanging the manager out to dry. All good things.
Opposing broadcasters
When you’re trying to get ready for a broadcast, you should have some information about the other team. Again, things you won’t find in their game notes. You usually have one, sometimes two great sources of information, usually within a 5 second walk. The opposing broadcasters.
The information share between broadcasters helps both of you out tremendously. While you don’t want the home team call to be filled with a ton of information about the visiting team it is nice to have some info.
Know who the team’s closer is and what he’s done recently. The numbers might not always tell the story. He could be dealing with an injury or a personal issue. That information enhances your broadcast and shows your audience that you did your homework.
Remember this is an information “share” so you need to reciprocate with good intel on your team as well. Again, you’re not giving away things that anyone told you in confidence, but there may be a story about one of your players that directly relates to one of theirs. Maybe they were high school or college teammates? Perhaps you asked one player about the other and some funny information came to light, that’s perfect to share and help out your fellow announcers.
Now when you go to their booth, have some questions ready on specific players you’ve researched. Don’t just walk in there and say… “hey tell me about your team…”. Ask about the pitcher. What does he throw? What’s his best pitch? What type of velocity will we see. Has he incorporated a new pitch or change his delivery. These are things to walk in there and ask about. They should do the same in return.
Above all, remember not to share sensitive information that you have been asked not to speak about. That opens up a whole new can of worms you don’t want to deal with.
Information is everywhere these days thanks to the World Wide Web, but don’t just settle for the ride on the superhighway of information. Dig deeper. Do the work. Your broadcast will be better as a result.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
