Every morning I turn on the TV to see what the weather is going to be like for the day. The weather forecast always includes the Doppler radar sweep of the region that displays rain or other types of precipitation.
Last week I had a conversation with Jed Drake, ESPN’s Senior Vice President and Executive Producer, Event Production, and he told me that their Ball Tracker technology — which the network is using during tonight’s Home Run Derby telecast — was indeed implementing the same type of Doppler sweep that we see on weather broadcasts.
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“We have wanted for many years to know the distance the ball traveled at the moment that it does impact wherever it might,” Drake said. “With this system we will not only be able to tell everybody the distance it travels, but we’ll be able to show the arc as well. It’s a system that was made for this event.”
The accuracy of the new Ball Tracker with Doppler will be within a foot or so the exact distance of the ball. The on-screen look of the technology will seem a great deal like the graphic that follows the fight of a golf ball. However, it is the Doppler element of the tracking that allows for the accuracy of the flight path of the ball.
Drake even stated that, with the Doppler technology, they could even predict home runs before they happened.
Next year, maybe they can add a Google Earth element to the tracking. What do you think Jed?
The broadcast team for the Home Run Derby remains the same as last year — with Chris Berman, Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips and Erin Andrews handling the duties.
As for the game itself, Morgan, who will join Jon Miller for the All-Star Game broadcast on ESPN Radio, weighed in on his feelings about who controls the intensity of the game.
“This is not about who gets home field advantage in the World Series because most of the guys playing won’t be in the World Series,” Morgan said. “The All-Star Game is about pride in your league and I have to say, over the past two or three years, I have been very encouraged by the level of intensity that the players have shown. Clearly there is a pride in winning the All Star Game and the players know that.”
Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.
