Behind the scenes of ‘the show’: Deconstructing a baseball telecast

In the truck, Withers addresses one of his staffers behind him: “Font 1 if we get a foul ball.”

The monitor labeled Font 1 shows the heat map of umpire Alfonso Marquez’s strike-calling bias waiting to be delivered into living rooms across the Chicago TV market. They’re waiting for a foul ball; it’ll allow for a bit more time between pitches to explain the chart. Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras fouls away the next pitch.

Withers presses the button that allows him to speak into Benetti’s and Stone’s ears: “Here’s that scouting report.”

The scouting report appears on the live broadcast.

Says Benetti on the broadcast to Stone: “Here’s that scouting report you were talking about and it’s a good catch.”

Stone had referenced the wider portion of the strike zone earlier.

“Yeah, with the right-handed batters, you have a little bit more of that encouraging zone on the outside part of the plate,” Stone says.

Withers again pushes the button on his control board to speak directly to Stone and Benetti: “Good stuff, guys.”