I know, this is my longest break between posts since I started this, but here's the thing. I started to write very detailed posts about the baseball trading deadline, and also the Man League Universal fantasy football draft (if you're bored and want to check in on guys taking fantasy football entirely too seriously, check out the website: www.manleagueuniversal.com... no joke), but when I was proofreading my first couple of paragraphs of each one I realized how boring that would be to read, so I cut it. I'll post my thoughts on both things at the end of this post, but I experienced something that was seriously career-changing last night.
What could it be? You might ask... well the title of this post should give it away. If you guessed Game Recreation (and pronounced it REE-CREE-AI-CHUN, and not REC-REE-AI-CHUN (I love spelling out enunciation, by the ways)) you are the big winner!! Last night, instead of sitting in the broadcast booth and watching the game like every other night, Jesse (the #1 broadcaster) and I sat in the hallway outside our booth where we couldn't see a single thing. We had one of our lovely colleagues messaging us the game online and telling us what happened, and then it was up to us. We had two mini-bats to recreate the sound of the ball being hit, a ball and glove to re-create any pitch, and crowd noise that we played on a loop through the computer. Confused? Let me give you an example:
The text would come through and say: #4 Billy Hamilton. We knew from starting line-ups that our pitcher was Egan Smith. I'd set up the at-bat like normal, with things like "Hamilton is batting .268 on the year and leads all of professional baseball with 90 steals..." Just then I'd get a message that says: first pitch ball. The pitch may have been a curveball in the dirt, it may have been a change-up that just missed, but it was completely up to my discretion so I would say something like, "First pitch fastball JUST MISSED Hamilton! He had to limbo out of the way to avoid getting beaned!" And so on.
You may be thinking, why exactly would you do this? Well, it's the only time of the year we do it for the Lugnuts, and it's paying tribute to the first broadcasters of the game. Before there were radio booths at each stadium, broadcasters had to announce the game like this... EVERY GAME! They'd get a telegraph in from the stadium (we couldn't find a telegraph in time so we had to use our computers and the internet. I know, lame) and then would broadcast the game just as shown above. It was purely up to our imaginations last night, and it was brilliant. I got to call two home runs, on the Lugnuts' Marcus Knecht's shot I got to say something like, "A TOWERING drive to left field! Theo Bowe just turns and waves to it as it leaves! Home run number 16 for Marcus Knecht..." and so on. The home run that Bowe hit in the inning before I had our right fielder almost making a Kenny Lofton-esque catch in right field to rob it, but it was just out of reach. It was an experience I will never forget, and hope to continue on in the future wherever I broadcast at.
So all of my explaining of the Game Recreation has taken up a LOT of room already, so I'll keep my thoughts brief on the trading deadline and fantasy football. Deadline: I like what the Indians, Rangers, Tigers, Blue Jays, Phillies, and Colorado did. I wasn't impressed with the Cardinals, Yankees, and Reds. Indians get a top-line rotation guy until 2014. I could care less about this year, this sets them up with a solid rotation with guys like Choo, Cabrera, and Santana in their best years (maybe too early for Santana, but I think by 2013 he'll be awesome). The Rangers kept my friend Jared Hoying and sured up their bullpen, making them a contender for back-to-back AL Champs. The Tigers made small adjustments that made their team the clear-cut best in the Central. They'll make the playoffs this year, and the post-non-waiver-deadline (too many hyphens?) deal they made for Delmon Young was great. It's already paying dividends. Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos continues to wheel and deal guys and get much better returns than what he's giving up, and he didn't trade any of the Lugnuts, so I'm pumped for that. Of course I have to mention Colorado, getting three great pitching prospects for one guy is huge, and I wish all the former Indians' farmhands the best. My hope is that this deal turns out like the Beckett-for-Hanley deal, with the Red Sox winning a couple titles and the Marlins getting a superstar. I don't like lack of movement and stupid deals. I felt getting rid of Rasmus in St. Louis was dumb, and especially for Edwin Jackson. Far weaker talent in return, but that's what Toronto seems to do. The Yankees are a team that desperately needed to make a move; the rotation is depending on Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia and A.J. Burnett for goodness sakes! They might make the playoffs but they're not going anywhere against Detroit, Boston, or Texas. And finally the Reds. What are they doing? Their pitching has been subpar, they've got a load of talent, and they play in a bad division (with Milyucky taking advantage of that mediocracy). I'm not saying trade away the farm here, there's no need for that. I just think they could have pulled a deal like the Tigers to get a guy quietly having a good year and then worry about things more in the offseason.
Fantasy Football (holy crap this is getting long (that's what she said)). It's a lot of fun, a TON of people do it, there is money changing hands and most likely coming to me this year, and grown men (and sometimes women) will act like complete idiots for a 16-week span. Not much different from avid fans of actual football teams, unless you're a 49er's fan, and are banned from having any tailgating fun for the 2011-2012 season.
I love baseball, I love sports, and I love anyone who took the time to read all of this! If you have any comments (good or bad) or questions (serious or sarcastic) feel free to contact me through Facebook or email: kylerludlow@me.com
