Crafting the Call -- Opening Day edition
In Episode 7, Jesse and I discuss Opening Day philosophies and analyze some memorable moments
Crafting the Call is a YouTube series that I developed along with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. Each week, we examine different aspects of baseball play-by-play announcing, offering our perspective as working professionals for fans, and advice for fellow broadcasters.
Ahhh, Opening Day.
Glorious, fabulous, inspiring Opening Day.
Opening Day signals that Spring is here, flowers are blooming, that we’ll spend more time out of the house, enjoying the outdoors, attending baseball games, and the soundtrack of summer is a baseball game in the background.
For Episode 7 of Crafting the Call, Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and I gave some of our favorite memories of Opening Day before we were professionals and our philosophies for the tone we like to set with our first broadcast of the season.
We also analyzed the following memorable moments from Opening Day:
Harry Doyle telling us you can tell a lot about a season based on the first batter.
Jack Brickhouse’s high pitch scream after Larry Bittner’s walkoff homer for the Cubs in 1978.
Chris Berman’s classic over-the-top enthusiasm for the first inning in the first game for the Florida Marlins in 1993.
Dave Cohen and Jim Kaat’s efficient recap after the final out of a snowy opener in Joe Torre’s debut with the Yankees in 1996.
Bob Carpenter describes Willie McGee’s walkoff homer for the Cardinals in 1997 and an old friend can’t contain his enthusiasm.
Vin Scully adds perspective as Kevin Elster steals the show for the Dodgers in the first game ever at the Giants new ballpark in 2000.
Matt Shepard leans into the “white out” for the Tigers opener in 2021 when Miguel Cabrera slides into second base on a home run.
New episodes of Crafting the Call appear every Tuesday. Here’s a link to all the episodes. If you like this episode, do us a favor and click the subscribe button. That will help more people find it.
Here’s a breakdown of previous episodes:
Episode 1 – How to call an inside-the-park home run
Episode 2 – Vin Scully’s perfect words to describe Koufax’s perfect game
Episode 3 – Eck vs Gibson, four legends with four different calls
Episode 4 – How calling a Triple Play can be treacherous
Episode 5 — Harry Caray without the shtick
Episode 6 — Clocking a broadcaster’s fastball