Watch: Reds become carolers for holiday season
CINCINNATI -- February at the Reds Spring Training complex in Goodyear, Ariz., isn’t exactly a time for holiday magic. But somehow, some way, Jami Itiavkase coaxed some players into becoming Christmas carolers.
A holiday miracle, indeed. Let’s just say that Santa will skip this building when it comes time to hand out Grammy Awards. But “The 12 Days of Redsmas” proved to be a hit for its humor and the effort of some neophyte singers.
“That was the opposite of singing, I think,” Reds manager David Bell said on the video.
Itiavkase, the Reds’ director of productions, has players come to her space with a green screen every year in the beginning of camp to make all of the scoreboard video elements for the regular season. That includes interviews, player introductions, production elements, promotional commercials and more.
This year, however, Itiavkase had one more request up her sleeve.
“In Spring Training, we’ve never really had the players sing. That was a fun challenge to push them out of their comfort zone a little bit,” said Itiavkase, who has spent 14 years with the club. “We have some players who are always trying to work on reading scripts and being better on camera in general. But this was different than anything I had ever done.”
A revised version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” was written by the club’s marketing and creative services department, and ballpark organist John Schutte recorded the music in the card to bring it all together.
Word spread quickly at camp as players learned they would need to channel their inner Michael Buble.
“Do you want me to sing this?” outfielder Jesse Winker said.
Some performed better than others. First baseman Joey Votto gave it his all -- and then some.
“On the first day of Redsmas, Reds baseball gave to me!” Votto belted with confidence.
“Joey, he just totally embraced it and went with it,” Itiavkase said. “I didn’t even have to give him any direction. He was Joey. Other players, I would sing the lines for them and they’d repeat it. It was fun to rock their confidence level a little bit just to see what we could get out of it.”
If a player struggled, no problem. Itiavkase used the bloopers, too.
“I had to show some of the outtakes," she said. "That’s the whole fun of it."
Itiavkase has been shooting videos during Spring Training since 2010 and has seen the range of talent in front of her camera.
“We have a good group of guys,” Itiavkase said. “For the most part, they really try to do the crazy things we ask of them.”