Mostly, I Watch the Little Blue Dots

Answering a Frequently Asked Question: How do you follow game action?

I probably follow baseball games differently than you do. First of all, I dislike missing even a single pitch, even of a game happening the second week in April. So I do my best to arrange my schedule so I can be as locked in on game action as I possibly can, a difficult feat for 162-game season. This year, I imported the Guards schedule into my Google calendar so I could have game times right in front of me while making plans or scheduling meetings. A handy little trick that probably allowed me to catch more action this season while also not sheepishly asking my friend if we can change our meetup time slightly in order to accommodate my baseball habit.

In case you’re not as familiar with how a baseball broadcast works, about 30 minutes before first pitch there’s a warm-up show and for about 30 minutes after the game there’s a wrap-up show. Why, yes, I also like to listen to both of these elements of a game as well. While I am confident that the tv broadcasters are wonderful human beings who are good at their jobs, I am a diehard radio baseball consumer, something made effortlessly easy by having the Hall of Famer Tom “Hammy” Hamilton (aka Our Baseball Dad) on the airwaves since the 1991 season. He, along with Jim “Rosey” Rosenhaus, are my season-long narrators — a dynamic duo if there ever was one.

On the warmup show, Rosey will interview a player or a coach or a front office member before going through the lineups and starting pitchers. Sandwiched in there (about 20 minutes before first pitch), Hammy and Guards manager Stephen Vogt chat on the Manager’s Show — often insightful banter about the team’s performance the game before and looking ahead to that day’s contest. Then once the game begins, Hammy calls innings 1-3, Rosey innings 4-5, and then back to Hammy for innings 6-9 plus any extra innings, if necessary. Hammy then also hosts the wrap up show as well.

The average game is 2 hrs 40 minutes + 1 hour of pre/postgame, just to give you an idea of the time commitment. Over a 162-game season, that’s about 432 game hours plus 162 pre/postgame hours for a total of 594 hours listening to Tom Hamilton and Jim Rosenhaus. No wonder I feel like they are such an embedded part of my life.

On game days, then, I have an ideal routine, especially once the full joy of summer is upon us. I like to be putting on my shoes to walk out the door for a stroll through my neighborhood for the warmup show and maybe the first couple of innings of game action, just listening to Hammy and Rosey as I go. Then once I get back home, I will keep the radio broadcast on while I make dinner or get a few other things done, eventually transitioning to watching the broadcast (with the radio feed instead of the tv feed). Usually I get to this point around the 4th or 5th inning. At this point, I will also set up my iPad so I can follow GameDay while also watching the broadcast and listening to Hammy and Rosey.

If you’re wondering why I take this extra step to set up the iPad when I’ve already got the tv and radio broadcasts going, it has a lot to do with the blue dots on the base paths in the box right above the running list of pitch-by-pitch. Those blue dots represent runners on bases — and when they move, it means the players are moving. There’s slight animation when a ball is put in play as well, so I can tell if it’s a foul or a pop up or even a home run based on what is being animated in that box.

That box is the second best thing to watching the game unfold live at the ballpark.

It’s ahead of the radio broadcast and ahead of the TV feed. It’s real-time — and, to be honest, I spend more time watching the dots than I do the video. If anything, I sometimes use the video as my own personal replay. It can be really exciting to know someone just hit one out mere moments before Hammy makes the call on the airwaves. I live for the blue dot and the words in play (no out) or, even better, in play run(s) to appear on GameDay when my Guards are at-bat — just as much as I live for the moment when I can see all the Guards defenders moving off the field when the last in play (out) or strikeout is recorded when the opposition is batting.

The other thing that’s great about GameDay? It’s portable. With live score updates available on my phone’s home screen, even if I’m in one of those rare situations where I have to miss part of a game because of an evening meeting or something, I can still keep an eye on the action.

Don’t tell my boss.

Just kidding. I work for myself. I already know I do this and, frankly, I approve.

Wink!

When I attend games in-person, I do sometimes still listen to the radio broadcast, even though it’s delayed about 3 or 4 pitches. I know this delay drives some folks crazy but it never really bothers me. Mostly because the reason I love the radio broadcast team has to do with their storytelling capabilities. Hammy and Rosey both have tons of backstories about both the Guards players as well as their opponents. Plus, the two of them have fantastic chemistry and play so well off each other. Another day I may share a bit about my 1CLEbaseballfan Twitter account, but for the moment I’ll give the community I’ve built on that platform a lot of credit to the sector of the fanbase who loves our radio team as much as I do. There are so many of us who appreciate the wisdom and humor our broadcasters can bring into both the high’s and the low’s of the season.

To be candid, some of my sense of urgency around listening to Hammy as often as possible is because I know that our Baseball Dad will someday want to retire or even just cut way back on his broadcasting availability — he’s 71-years-old and so it’s unknown how much longer he’ll want to stay in the booth. I frankly don’t want to think about the day he retires — after all, Hammy has been the narrator of my summer for 36 years. That means only ten years of my life has Hammy not been part of my existence.

Tom Hamilton just may be the most important person in my life who I’ve never met.

I will say more in a future post — but for the time being, it’s worth noting that my fandom for Cleveland Guardians Baseball is deeply rooted in my love of Hammy’s broadcasting capabilities. He not only brings game action to life, he brings the players and their stories to life, too.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I do sometimes go back and listen to key game moments I may have missed either because I was at the ballpark or otherwise not able to be tuned in to the radio broadcast when something dramatic unfolded. Thanks you, MLB Radio, for making that possible.

Baseball is a storytelling sport and I know I feel that way because of all the decades I’ve been able to listen to Tom Hamilton do his thing. Had I been born in another baseball town, who knows how my attitude or approach might be different. But because I was born a Cleveland fan (and will die a Cleveland fan), I lucked my way into a lifetime of Tom Hamilton — and I know I am a better human for it.

Now that I’ve shared a bit about my approach to following game action, go ahead and tell me about your rituals! Comments are open below.