Cape League All-Star Game tries new approach

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By Danny Picard
CSNNE.comFollow @dannypicard
Baseball is the only televised sport that doesnt use a master scene.

That all changes on Friday night, when the Cape Cod League All-Star Game comes to Comcast SportsNet New England.

Mike Glenn is co-directing the event, which is sure to give baseball fans a completely different viewpoint from the comforts of their own homes.

Ive been working on this idea for a long time actually, said Glenn. But the aim of it is to give fans watching baseball at home, the experience of being at the game.

Glenn will give fans the master scene which is tough to pull off, given the different angles a single baseball play can have.

Baseball doesnt do that, said Glenn. I mean, there are good reasons for it. Its not a north-south game. Its played out in all directions and will change its direction dramatically several times in the same play.

The traditional method of covering a baseball game is done with a high home camera being used as the main play-by-play camera.

But Glenn is ready to change that on Friday night, when he uses two main play-by-play camerasone above first base, and another above third base. The goal is to create that master scene and show the ball being hit and the play being made at the same time, while seeing the baserunners every move.

I think it just gives a different overall, psychological feeling to our viewers about the game, said Glenn. And I think people who are casual viewers of the game, or those who think they dont like baseball, if they watch a game using this method, theyre going to look at it and go, Wow, I had no idea all that is going on.

It will certainly be a different view of the game from television.

Were looking forward to the new look for Fridays game at Fenway, said Comcast SportsNet New England Vice President of Production & Programming Len Mead. The Cape League has been supportive from the outset and a special exhibition event like this one is a great opportunity to try new things. We honestly dont know how the new camera approach will be received, but we hope our fans will give it a chance and let us know how they feel about it.

I do often say, that I challenge anybody who watches the game that uses this method, I challenge anybody to tell me that they didnt see the game better, said Glenn. Youll not be able to say that.

Danny Picard is on twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard.

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