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Monday Game Thread: Cedar Rapids Kernels on FSN!

Seth Stohs

By Seth Stohs
in Twins Minor League Talk

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mikecgrimes Draft Eligible

mikecgrimes

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Posted
Posted

I watched 5 innings the positives of the broadcast. We got to see the game. We got a great review of the entire minor league system. If they went to full screen on every Buxton at bat I would not complain. If the name of the batter was either displayed in graphic or commentary 75% of the time (Cubs fans deserved a chance to enjoy the game if they pay for a full sports package or happen to live in Minnesota) I would have no complaint. If they never failed to mention to name a batter (again either in commentary or graphics) who got a hit I would have no complaint. If they wanted to simply focus on Buxton and nobody else and they made that clear in advance I would have no problem with it. If I'm a Cubs fan then I didn't get what I was promised period, as a Twins fan it was something different from what was promised. Maybe they were planning on sending more of a major league crew until they had to change plans because of the double header. Maybe they ran into unexpected last minute problems, but overall this was awful by college or minor league broadcasting standards.

 

I'm fine with not sending a HD camera down but it does happen to be 2013. As someone who is thinking about canceling cable at least until college hockey season starts back up stuff like this needs to be done well to justify the investment I make.

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silverslugger College Ball

silverslugger

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Observations from the game today: I was at the game and sitting front row right behind the Kernels dugout. I used to live in CR but have now lived in Des Moines for the past 5 years. Sure wish this affiliation would've started much sooner. The Kernels do televise some of their home games on a local cable outlet, I've watched bits and pieces of another one against Kane County about three weeks ago. The presentation is brutal compared to what we're used to from the MLB feeds. There were cameras today behind home plate, in center field, and up both baselines.

 

Players: Buxton is in a league by himself talent-wise, nuff said. I think Polanco could be a heck of a 2b for us in about 3 or 4 years. So, what to do with Rosario? Does Polanco play SS well enough to stick? Melotakis was dealing today, very nice. Was this his best start of the season so far? I always read the boxes for the minor league affiliates on Milb, but haven't see any other Kernels games other than the aforementioned. Dalton Hicks is a REALLY big boy, listed at 6'5 and 250. I'd say Adam Brett Walker is our third most likely position player behind Buck and Polanco to make the show.

 

Finally, the Kernels built a new park about 10 years ago and it's a very nice upgrade. Not a bad seat in the house. You can really get up close and personal compared to the average seat at a MLB game. Plenty of good/standard ballpark food to be had at the park as well. Tickets at the gate anywhere from $8 to $12 bucks. In short, go if you have a chance. You won't regret it.

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silverslugger College Ball

silverslugger

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Kane County observations.

 

Rock Shoulders, what a name! He'll have to really impress to live up to that name. The Kane County pitcher looked good toward the beginning, Pierce Johnson. The program said he was a 1st round pick last year and listed him at 6'3". My brother and I were both surprised thinking he was one of the smaller players between the two teams. Melotakis certainly looked larger on the mound. Dan Vogelbach, the #3 batter for Kane County can certainly rake. However, he's listed at 6'0" and 250 and already slotted as the DH. That's certainly not a future in the National League. Finally, Albert Almora was the Kane County centerfielder and another 2012 1st rounder according to the program. He was a nice player with some tools and some pop in his bat but still didn't look anything like the talent Buxton shows. Of course, I'm not prejudiced at all:p

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Riverbrian Cooperstown

Riverbrian

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I gotta think you will more than make up the difference in viewership.

 

people will watch when you have some of the top prospects in the organization- and in all of baseball- with the chance to just do their own showcasing.

 

I don't want to hijack this thread any further so for that... i apologize.

 

The production of the broadcast was lacking and if they want to do it again... They will learn from the mistakes and try to correct them. We are in full agreement.

 

However... To me its just not the point.

 

In response to your statements above about viewership. My response is nope.

 

Its a real simple rule of thumb... If enough people would watch Minor League Baseball on TV it would be on TV. There is a lot of crap on TV because people watch that crap on TV. If they didnt watch it... it wouldn't be on TV.

 

Dressing up a minor league game for a major league market isn't going to bring enough viewers to make up the difference. Memphis Redbirds baseball and Oscar Tavares is not broadcast in baseball crazy St. Louis. Why not... Ratings!!!

 

It doesn't matter how crazy you and I are for Byron Buxton. We are not representative of most people. We are both freaks... Almost all of us on Twins Daily are freaks... We can't have the conversations about Twins baseball we want to have with our neighbors because our neighbors don't know who Byron Buxton is.

 

My point is this... For us Psycho Twins Fans... This broadcast was a gift... Complaining about the wrapping paper is missing the point.

 

Someone came up with this idea... maybe it was a FSN local programming idea or maybe the Twins organization put some muscle behind it or combination of... but someone came up with this idea and convinced a bunch of guys in suits at Fox Sports to do it. Guys in suits who know that the audience isn't there and they said OK anyway.

 

It was out of the box thinking.... It was a rare gift and I'd be surprised and tickled to see something like it again.

 

It was obvious that the purpose of the broadcast was to educate. It was not your typical format.

 

I'm just thankful and I enjoyed it and I'm watching it again because I know it was very rare.

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Riverbrian Cooperstown

Riverbrian

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Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't they already recording video of the game for the team to use? Maybe it's just two cameras, but that's plenty for a minor league game. Your "producer" just has to switch between the two feeds, I guess. Add in the local radio play-by-play and you've got yourself a broadcast, just have to feed it back to FSN. Do it on a delay and it's even easier, you don't need a live satellite link.

 

Again, I am not suggesting they do this with every game (unless they want to do it for MiLB.tv) but just do it more frequently.

 

I don't know anything about the Cedar Rapids facilities and broadcast equipment but expense and quality is only part of the equation. Audience and the money made from advertising makes the world go round.

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Steven Buhr Prep Ball

Steven Buhr

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I don't think people generally realize how stacked the Kane County roster is. This, from the Kernels Media Notes:

 

Baseball America’s 2013 Prospect Handbook listed 8 members of the current Kane County roster as a Top 30 prospect in the Cubs organization: OF Albert Almora (#2), RHP Pierce Johnson(#6), IF Dan Vogelbach(#7), IF Jeimer Candelario (#8), RHP Dillon Maples (#18), IF Marco Hernandez (#20), IF Gioskar Amaya (#21), RHP Lendy Castillo (#28). Vogelbach is listed as the Best Power Hitter in the organization. Almora is listed as the Best Defensive Outfielder.

 

The Kernels worked Maples (#18) for 7 walks in just two innings in Sunday's game and they beat Johnson (#6) Monday.

 

By the way, note that Shoulders is nowhere on the BA top 30 list for the Cubs and he has 12 HRs and a .851 OPS.

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