Loading ...I’m not sure if anyone has been following the Reds Rewind Classics on FSN Ohio. I’ve been watching the game that originally aired on March 2, in 15-30 minute streches. It’s Game 3 of the 1976 NLCS, but it’s different from all the other classics they show on FSN: MLB had video of the game, but no audio. So FSN matched up the video with a collector’s audio tape of Marty and Joe’s call.
According to USA Today, this was a lot of work.
Marrying the audio and video was not as easy as it might seem because the two were recorded at different speeds and the synchronization had to be exact to time up with the crack of the bat. [FSN VP of Programming & Production Tom] Farmer said producer Tim Baker had to make an edit about every 10 seconds.
“It took over 500 edits to make the thing work,” said Farmer, estimating Baker alone spent more than 70 hours on the project. “The longest stretch where we didn’t have to make an edit was 20 seconds.”
That doesn’t surprise me, because it matches up almost perfectly, especially compared to the typical lag in radio play-by-play. They also have on-camera interviews with nearly all the participants, some of them new.
It’s a classic game, with an exciting finish and, of course, at least 8 arguably HOF-caliber players (Morgan, Bench, Schmidt, Perez, Rose, Concepcion, Kaat, Dick Allen). Plus Doug Harvey umping second base, Steve Carlton in the dugout, and Marty, Richie Ashburn, Hal McCoy, and Si Burick up on the press level.
Some other random things of interest:
- Marty and Joe are both in their absolute primes. They’re comfortable, focused, but still unique. It’s odd to think that Joe was 47 (the same age Eric Davis is now) and Marty was only 34.
- Marty says “we” when referring to the Reds. If I’m not mistaken, he is all over it when broadcasting partners who do the same thing now (The old, “Really? We? How many hits did yooou have last night). I could be wrong, but I found that funny. FWIW, I think he’s correct now.
- Jim Kaat worked FAST. The Reds hitters had to step out on him or they’d get quick-pitched. He was also pretty jacked for a 36-year-old guy, especially in those days.
- Both teams uniforms were not only ugly, they were cheap. The fabric, needlework, and fit of the Reds, especially, were sub-JV-quality.
- But: Real stirrups!!!
- And: Mike Schmidt’s mustache!
- Something really odd was going on with the Riverfront turf. Balls were bouncing over guys’ heads left and right. One ball short-hopped Tony Perez at first, bounced up off his chest, and into the stands.
- No three-out “closers.” The Phillies brought in their relief ace Ron Reed with a 3-run lead and two men on in the 7th. He blew the lead, but stayed in for the 8th. He then let him bat for himself with a 1-run lead in the 9th.
- 1976 TV cameras simply could not adapt to the difference between shade and sun. When they changed focus from one area to another, you had about 2 seconds of white-out.
- Defense was terrible. It may have just been that one game, but the Reds were the best defensive team in the NL – and they looked worse than the 2008 Reds in the field.
- There was a LOT more speed. Just about every play at first was a bang-bang play. Ken Griffey, Sr. looked as fast as anyone I’ve seen, other than Vince Coleman.
- Players voted George Foster the Sporting News NL Player of the Year. He had a great year (.306 .364 .530, 29 HR, 121 RBI, 17 SB), but I’m not sure how he beat out Joe Morgan (.320 .444 .576, 27, 111, 60 – and he was winning his 4th consecutive Gold Glove at second).
I’m watching the game as a type this. And my Tivo just cut it off, right before Bench’s tying HR in the 9th. I so wanted to hear Joe screaming. I’ll have to keep an eye out for repeats. Supposedly, MLB TV wants the combo tape, so maybe we’ll see it there sometime soon.
Mine cut off in the same place, the stupid Cavs game ran long, so the Reds game started late..ugh.
I heard Marty talk about saying “we” one time and he quit after a player (I can’t remember who) got on him and asked him how many hits (or innings pitched or something) he had. No more “we” for Marty after that.
It was early in his career, so it probably wasn’t long after this that he quit.
Kudos to FSN for getting the audio to work.
(Kaat) was also pretty jacked for a 36-year-old guy, especially in those days.
From what I’ve heard about the ’70s, he most likely was jacked up.
As for your other observations about game play in those days versus now, I think those are the things many fans (including the Reds’ manager and lead broadcaster) miss about baseball.
I haven’t seen the broadcast you watched, but watched some of ‘The Bronx Is Burning,’ which featured a lot of footage from the Yankees-Dodgers World Series, and they were chopping the ball over infielders heads and stroking it through gaps between defenders. And this was on the dirt at Yankee Stadium. It was so different, and it was a lot of fun to watch.
But at the same time, the players looked completely different. There were a lot of sub-30-inch waistlines wearing those pajama-looking unis, and most of them were so hopped up on goofballs that they were physically incapable of taking a pitch. I think they were putting everything into play so they could start running and working off some of that nervous energy. That’s what some fans still want to see, but that stuff just isn’t as effective when the other teams can routinely score 2 or 3 runs on one swing.
A lot of the “big hits” in that game, until the HRs in the 9th, were bloops and dinks. Geronimo got a triple on a ball that landed just behind Schmidt, bounced over the LF, and rolled nearly to the wall. Schmidt was out near the warning track picking it up.
With that, and the generally mediocre defense (compared to today), I can see why “put it in play” was such a bigger strategy.
I’ve always thought the opposition to “we” was strange. Marty is a Cincinnati Red as much as any player. The player who said that to Marty was full of himself. Without broadcasters, there are fewer fans, without fans, there is no baseball. Us fans are the ones who make professional baseball exist and the money we give to the team pays their salaries. I am as much a part of this team as any player on that field, I and the other millions of fans that go to the games. So are the cameramen, the scoreboard operator, the ushers, the groundscrew, and the interns in the front office. The Cincinnati Reds Baseball Club is an organization that includes everyone, not just the nine men on the field.
I’m sorry I missed this game and hope I can catch it on MLB Network.
I bet it was Morgan or Rose busting Marty’s chops. He probably felt silly, and then thought, “they do make a good point.”
I understand Daedalus’ view, too. I think teams certainly want fans to be that attached to their teams.
They did a real nice on this.
Oh….Foster won Player of the year because he more homers and rbi….rbi is still one of the most common factors of MVP and Player of Year votes, no matter what sabermetricians think of the stat. I do think it’s a skill, and walks were definitely not given as much credit in that day and age.
In a world or lost opportunities, I sent a message to Rob Neyer of espn.com several years ago where I was trying to come up with a way to measure a player’s ability to score runs. Neyer said that he didn’t think it was necessarily a talent.
(my argument was that Ryan Freel and Quilvio Veras had great OBPs, but scored relatively few runs because their lack of power made it harder for them to get to second base on their own, and they had poor stolen base percentages, and were thrown out on bases).
Now…Baseball Prospectus keeps track of “baserunning runs” just like they do other stats that contribute or prevent runs in a game.
I think it’s only a matter of time before sabermetricians begin to appreciate rbi and clutch, too.
Oh, well…reminds me of when I was in college back in 1983, trying to figure out what I would do with my life….I loved baseball stats then and wrote a letter to Seymour Siwoff of the Elias Sports Bureau requesting an opportunity. He was kind enough to write me back and tell me there was no future in that industry (Elias was pretty much family run).
Little did I know there was a guy working in a warehouse in Kansas at the time by the name of Bill James who, by self-publishing books written in his home, was just starting a quest that would turn baseball fanaticism on it’s ear (sabermeticians, rotisserie baseball, and the change in baseball scouting management).
Kudos to Chad and his writing team (most of whom I’ve been acquainted for several years, including Bill and his Reds Listserv) for developing this blog for their passion.
I’m telling you guys….if not already apparent, this is the future of journalism.
Thanks, Steve. (Hopefully I didn’t just block your account trying to reset your password for you).
I’d love to see the RBI Opportunities for the ‘76 Reds. I think BP tracks that, but I let my subscription lapse for the first time since they started charging (2002?), and I’m not sure if it’s worth turning it back on.
Foster batted 4th 64 games and 5th 39. The guys batting ahead of him every day (Rose, Griffey, Morgan) had OBPs of .401, .404, and .444. I’m surprised he didn’t knock in 200 runs. (Morgan knocking in 111 himself took a chunk out of Foster’s chances, though.)