Play-by-play: I saw it on the radio

Posted on November 3, 2011

This is the the Panasonic Panapet AM radio that I listened to all the San Francisco Giants games on when I was a kid.

 

Calling baseball on the radio was all I ever wanted to do. I was going to be the next Al Michaels, Lon Simmons or Hank Greenwald. I wanted to be the voice of the San Francisco Giants.

That all changed in high school. After a season of working the PA for our basketball team, I realized my high-pitched, cracking voice would never float across the Candlestick wind. Lucky for me, I found photography. Although my voice has changed since high school, I’m still not calling the games on the radio. Instead I like to have fun with the voice tags I leave on the image files in my Canon Mark IV for my picture editor. This past World Series, one of the best in recent memory, was a great opportunity for me to have a little fun combining play-by-play with my pictures.

I have been doing voice tags for several years, but have had more fun recently trying to explain all the details of the play in a clear voice so my editor Jessica Foster at Major League Baseball Photos will have an easier time writing a caption. At this years World Series in St. Louis and Arlington I really go into it, so I thought I would share some of my images, along with the sound files of my voice tags.

When I went back and listened to my voice, with the crowd noise in the background, I felt like I was at the ballpark again. If you click on the forward arrows to listen to the files I hope you will feel like you are there too.

Great play by the Rangers in Game 2

Craig pinch-hit single in Game 2

Napoli is meat at the dish in Game 3

Albert goes deep in Game 3

Albert goes deep AGAIN in Game 3

Albert hits his third homer in Game 3

Murphy makes great catch in Game 5

Freese is Superman in Game 6

Lynn goes nuts in Game 7

Well there you have it. A few highlights from the 2011 World Series through my eyes AND my voice. I hope you enjoyed the broadcast. Now stay tuned for Giants Clubhouse…