Baseball is full of unexpected twists and turns. Players and coaches have to adapt constantly on the field of play. So, too, do broadcasters when things run -- or fly -- amok.
The Milwaukee Brewers’ duo of Jeff Levering and Bill Schroeder did just that during the seventh inning of Saturday’s Spring Training game against the Padres when their printed disclaimer flew out of the press box. With a little help from the camera crew, Levering and Schroeder still got the job done.
The paper carried through the wind and stuck against the netting behind home plate. Levering joked, “Hopefully we don’t need to read that one!” But then the home-plate camera slowly zoomed in on the runaway reference sheet.
“Is that our disclaimer?... Yes! It is!” Levering realized.
“Let’s do it. Can we just read it off the netting?” Schroeder suggested.
And thus, Levering pushed on, with the camera framing the sheet squarely on the broadcast.
This copyrighted telecast is presented by authority of the Milwaukee Brewers and may not be reproduced or re-transmitted in any form, and the accounts and descriptions of this game may not be disseminated without the express written consent of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Just like they drew it up.
While this was far from the first time a sheet of paper has gone flying out of the press box during a baseball game, Schroeder said what everyone was thinking: “What are the odds? Sticking on the net?” -- and with the proper side facing them? Of course, right as Levering began to joke that it might stay there until next Spring Training, the paper blew away to its next destination.
Baseball is back. Opening Day is this week. And with it, so are all the weird, wacky and hard-to-believe things that make it so unique.