I’ve often wondered what was the last moment in baseball that was not captured on video, ditto for other sports. If a game isn’t televised anywhere (which I don’t think ever happens anymore), would there be video taken for the team’s use?
Sure, all games are videoed for scouting and instructional purposes.
Your question is a fascinating one. I bet it’s no less recent than the 80s.
By amazing coincidence, I am reading a book by former major league pitcher Skip Lockwood. A kind of a memoir with a chunk of psychology thrown in.
On page 92 Lockwood is describing his first day with the Kansas City A’s, the team that originally signed him. It’s 1964. He mentions a coach who he will only identify as “Babe.” Babe, Lockwood says, had just two responsibilities: “throw batting practice and record the game on tape.”
Lockwood then says that Babe was no longer recording because several days earlier “he stepped on the recording device.” Not clear whether this means no one was recording or whether the team just decided he’d better not be the one to do so.
Anyway, if Lockwood can be believed*, games were being filmed on at least a semi-regular basis as early as 1964. I guess it’s possible that Charlie Finley was way ahead of his time and that KC was the only team doing it, but that doesn’t sound like the action of a notorious skinflint like charlie O.
*I don’t have any reason to doubt it, but there are a couple of things in the book that are clearly wrong. He’s got a reference to a minor league team in Birmingham, Iowa, and I don’t know whether he means Birmingham, Alabama or Burlington, Iowa, but it’s pretty obviously not what’s in the text. He also says that he was the first free agent the Boston Red Sox ever signed, back in 1980, and this is of course incorrect as well, as the Red Sox were very very active in the free agent market from the beginning: off the top of my head, I remember them signing Bill Campbell and Mike Torrez before Lockwood came along. All of which is to say that Lockwood’s memory isn’t 100% reliable, and neither were his fact checkers, so who knows.
I remember Lockwood from his Mets days, when I was a tad following the Big Red Machine. The greatest lineup of the day just couldn’t seem to touch a nothing-special reliever who got lit up by almost everyone else.
Odd that he’d make so many textual errors, considering that he went on to get a graduate degree from MIT.
Well…the Reds have been playing some pretty good baseball as of late, sweeping the Tigers in two, the Cubs in four, and took two out of three against the Braves. Now they face division leading Milwaukee.
At a bare minimum, it’ll showcase young v old.
Do NOT watch the video of the Angels’ Jake Jewell’s ankle injury. It was Theismannesque.
I was watching the game and didn’t realize how bad that was. They only showed one replay. He didn’t even get hit by anyone else, his foot just sort of got caught as he was sliding. Poor kid.
What happened at the Nats vs Phillies game just now? Vince Velasquez made a great throw on a comebacker off the mound with his left hand (he’s a rightie) and then immediately fell to the ground in severe pain. This doesn’t look good at all.
Michael Lorenzen is a fucking stud with the bat in his hands. Reds put up an 8-spot on the Brewers in the 7th to take a 10-3 lead!
I am telling you, the Reds have some good young talent. It’s just not quite ready yet.
He got hit by a hard line drive. Nothing broken after x-rays. That was an amazing throw.
Wow. That was…quite a play. Impressed as much as anything else with his presence of mind to a) go after the ball and b) shuck off the glove.
Here’s the link you boogers are neglecting to include.
What a remarkable “wrong” handed throw. If I tried that the ball would have dribbled harmlessly into foul territory.
From Sports Illustrated’s online account of the Red Sox’ 11-0 win over the Yankees last night:
“Heath Hembree and Hector Velazquez closed it out with a hitless inning each. Velazquez gave up a groundball single to Gleyber Torres in the ninth for New York’s second hit.”
And now we’ll go to commercial while we bring in a relief editor.