BL Blogcast: Adam Wainwright’s Show & Tell
DOWNTOWN — The story as you’ve read it often in print and heard it more often on the radio is that St. Louis Cardinals Adam Wainwright was pulled into the video room earlier this season by teammate Chris Carpenter to see where his season was going awry.
It’s the arm angle, of course. Wainwright has felt better ever since.
Wainwright saw in one clip how his arm was up higher — like it used to be when he was a green pitcher — and that the angle was throwing off not just his breaking pitches, but his fastball. His two-seam fastball. The pitch that he used to get ahead, get outs and get on with the game. The “arm slot” phrase is one that is often easier to write than it is too explain. We know last season Matt Clement struggled with his, Mark Mulder changed his and the Cardinals drafted a few players because they were thought to have a classic one. But just how many ways can we say “arm angle” and throw around the 9 o’clocks and 11 o’clocks and sidearms without submitting visual evidence?
As Wainwright finds himself pitching in the role of stopper tonight opposite burgeoning star Matt Cain and against the San Francisco Giants, Bird Land’s new toy offered Wainwright the chance to show instead of tell what pitchers talk about when they talk about arm angle.
But first, he has to explain what’s the deal with the starters’ new upper-lip caterpillars:
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Derrick Goold said he was going to Mizzou for capital-J journalism, but after growing up in the Time Zone Baseball Forgot he was really drawn to MU sitting between two major-league cities. Goold joined the Post-Dispatch in 2001 after working for The Times-Picayune and Rocky Mountain News, covering sports from LSU to NHL and every level of baseball in between. 
Nice micro-journalism, Derrick. Good stuff!!
Is micro-journalism a good thing?
I like these mini video-interviews very much. (Sometimes micro-journalism can have macro-appeal.).
Just one suggestion — the miking could be much improved. Portions of Wainwright’s audio were tough to catch. How about using a lapel mike for the interviewee?
Thanks for your work, Derrick.
It’s really awesome to see video of the players, but it would help if you got a decent mic.
Great stuff there! Keep up the good work.
DG- These video’s are great, and they are truly the next step in blogging!
Just keep on with exactly how your are doing them… Very Informal. I can tell you have a good rapport with Adam and Brendan because they were comfortable talking to you.
As long as you stay informal in these videos, it’s like we the fans are able to communicate with the players and get real responses, something that is not possible with the mass-media outlets.
Thanks again, and please keep these up.
God help us…
The American Mustache Institute and people of Mustached American descent applaud Mr. Wainright for his effort to explore the labia sebucula (Latin for “lip sweater” as it has proven time and time again to provide great athletic and intellectual benefits to athletes, politicians, and Canadian dwarfs.
Thank you Mr. Goold for reporting on this and we hope if the comment attributed in this list to Bernie Miklasz is indeed from him, that he reconsider his ignorance.
Carry on.
Dr. Abraham Jonas Froman
Chief Executive Officer
The American Mustache Institute
http://www.AmericanMustacheInstitute.org
877-STACHE-1
Soon we’ll we see DG doing a documentary on A&E, History Channel, or even,…dare I say,…”Hollywood?” I see Oscar in your future!
Nice job,.. need better sound, and a producer,… I’m available and work for beer and hot dogs, but only on Mondays.
Audio could sure be better on this for the interview source.
Derrick:
Luv your stuff. As a journalist who has also had to dabble in this new video age: put a foam-cover thingy on your mike to keep the wind from whistling through. Mike your subject so we can hear him. And my personal preference would be to skip the questions about facial hair or leave them to the end.
Keep up the great work.
NJ, Thanks. Would do that if I had the equipment. Working with what we’ve got, and, sure, we’re pushing it as far as we can. Putting up some videos now that will show just what that means.