When your team isn’t playing well, it’s tough on everyone. The organization feels it, so do the players. Of course the fans get frustrated and yes, it can even affects the broadcast. Nobody likes it when their team loses. But let’s face it, in baseball, the best teams are going to lose around 60 games a season. But it’s those 90-100 loss seasons that really take their toll. It makes the season seem longer. It feels like September, but it’s only July.
I’ve experienced these early ‘dog days’ as a broadcaster on more than one occasion. The team I was covering was double digit games back in the standings with no improvement in sight. We weren’t even halfway through the season yet. It will test your metal as a broadcaster, to be able to keep it together and most importantly keep your audience involved and engaged.
I reached out via email to a couple of friends in the industry to get their take. Unfortunately, their teams are not performing that well to this point of the season. I wanted to find out from them a few different things.
Were they trying new things on the air while their team was struggling?
What do you do, when your main job is to describe what you see, and what you’re seeing isn’t good?
How do you keep your audience entertained when the team isn’t doing it for you?
Jack Corrigan is in his 37th season of calling Major League Baseball games. He recently broadcast his 3000th game with the Colorado Rockies. Corrigan started in Cleveland in 1985 before moving to Denver, to broadcast Rockies games in 2003. As I write this column, the Rockies are 31-42, 15 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. For Corrigan though, the mission is the same, win, lose or draw.
“I don’t think I do anything different based on recent play. Like you, I’ve had my share of tough stretches/seasons between the Indians and the Rockies, but I compartmentalize each game as a new story,” he told me.
“Herb Score (the legendary Indians broadcaster) told me once that even the worst teams still win 50-60 games,” Corrigan added. “So believe that game is going to be one of those wins. And Herb, God bless him, also told me to feel better, even if that game ends up in a loss, because the team is still going to win 50-60 games and your odds have now improved by one game!”
Dave Jageler is in his 17th season with the Nationals, teaming with Charlie Slowes on the radio calls. As I type this sentence, the Nationals are 28-48, a full 20 games behind the Mets in the NL East. Like Corrigan, Jageler says he really isn’t doing much differently as a result of the team’s lack of early success.
“The preparation is the same (both pre-series and day of game) as any other year,” Jageler told me via email. “However, I am reminded of advice Dave Van Horne gave me my first season when the Nationals were struggling and facing a struggling Marlins team. He said he approaches every game like he is the doing the “Game of the Week.” In other words, find some sort of story line that makes that day’s game interesting. And he’s right, because every day the game you are doing is the most important game of the day!”
But Jageler points out there are a few subtle differences in calling games for a team out of the race.
“I don’t focus on the standings or the big picture of what this game means to the team’s chances or status in the race. Instead, I focus on the element of just that series,” said Jageler. “…for example, the team is going for a series win…or trying to avoid the sweep in the series rather than talking about games back in the standings,” he pointed out.
It makes a lot of sense. Tailor the broadcast to your audience. Fans of your team are smart enough to know that things aren’t going well on the field. They don’t want to be beaten over the head with all the negativity. If you are just harping on the team’s performance, you’ll probably lose them as listeners. It’s a challenge for any broadcaster to hold that audience whether the team is winning or not. Jageler understands the need to be honest with his listeners, but there is that fine line you have to be careful not to cross.
“I do manage my commentary on air when it comes to bad play or results slightly. You owe it to your listeners to describe a play fairly and objectively (good or bad). However, where you draw the line is referring back to a bad play constantly or piling on. Our fans are savvy enough to know the state of the team and the state of that game if the score is bad. Piling on will only alienate you in the clubhouse and frankly cause listeners to tune out,” he accurately pointed out.
Having been behind the mic for tough seasons before, the worst thing you can do as a broadcaster is let all the negativity get the best of you. As Jageler points out, not only is that kind of talk a turn off to the fans, it wins you no friends in the clubhouse. That will make a tough job even tougher. These are human beings who are not trying to play badly. You have to be the same person, whether they (the team) win or lose. Players and managers respect you more if you aren’t a ‘front runner’.
“The team, the station, the advertisers all want to keep people listening, so you have to be honest about poor plays, but always give them a reason to keep listening,” Corrigan said. “I think it’s imperative to have stories, interesting facts, a little pop culture to fall back on when things aren’t going well. If the audience feels you’re still having fun with the game and with your partner, they’re more likely to keep listening. A good ‘I didn’t know that’ anecdote goes a long way to getting through difficult times.”
Tough seasons test your creativity as well. The main point is to hang on to that audience as has been pointed out. Let your personality shine. When I was in San Diego, Ted Leitner and Jerry Coleman had such a rapport from all the years they’ve been together it was easy for them. All Ted had to say was, “Hey Jer, what’d you do today?” and the audience knew something riveting was about to happen. Coleman would wax on about his day, which usually contained something quite unintentionally funny. Fans grew to love the ‘segment’ and looked forward to it when the Padres weren’t playing well and even when they were.
Some clubs are struggling by design if you will. Trying to rebuild from the studs in an attempt to build a palace. Draft picks are coveted and prospects are revered before they’ve ever stepped foot onto a big-league diamond. Fans hang on every stat, and promotion. This of course puts more emphasis on the minor league system. But it doesn’t work for all teams.
“We have a sponsored segment regarding our farm system, so that’s always a part of our broadcasts,” Corrigan accurately describes. “I think the announcers for organizations that have a “draft and develop” philosophy are likely to talk about their farm system regardless of how the big club is doing.”
Professional announcers are able to adapt to the situation. But, the audience, whether the team is winning or losing, expect certain things from their play-by-play folks. They want an entertaining, informative and detailed account of what is happening on the field and off of it. The good ones understand this implicitly.
“The bottom line is I try to bring the same energy every day to the job whether it is a postseason game or a July game with no bearing on the standings at all.” Jageler tells me. “If you don’t bring joy to the game and are broadcasting like it is a chore, why would anyone tune in? The team may not be in first place, but I try to be a first-place broadcaster.”
