Once upon a time someone decided to ‘Cross a diamond with a pearl-and turn it on the world”.
They created the tape/a2 position at the Giants. It lasted from 1989 To 2001?.
It might have initially been created as a cost savings for the Giants show . I am not sure. What it ended up being was great hybrid training position.
How it worked was the tape/a2 would arrive and setup all the audio on the field. This included the booth and all the field effects mics. (jobs that two a2s do now, by the way). Once all the audio was faxed you would go to a brief lunch. After that it was off to the tape room to run a replay machine. Then at the top of the ninth you would sprint to the field for the post game interview and strike all the field audio then strike the booth audio. Needless to say it was a very long day.
Here is a running order of those who performed the job.
1) Aaron Skojkov 1989
2) Scott Hazen 1990
3) Lars Pacheco 1991
4) Tom Hunter1992
5) Dave Stagnero ( 3 years?)
6) Deb Robertson 1996
7) Derek Hirsch (1997- 1998)
8) Mike Bird 1999?
9) D'Aulaire Louwerse 2000-2001?
(David Koppett says of this group “Wow... that is an All-Star team. Pretty cool.”)
I am proud to be on that list. (Though it is ironic, I am the only one who continued in audio)( Deb Robertson told me that the 2010 World Series tape room consisted of herself, Tom Hunter, Aaron Stojkov and Scott Hazen-among others.)
Anyway, I was brought in more as a request from Wes Weaver, (the famed mixer for the Giants and A’s broadcasts for many years.) It turns out Wes had gotten tired of training A2s every year. So the tape room had to deal with me.
I drank a quad mocha before the game to help with my concentration but it didn’t help out very much. I was quite tense. So much so that I would hold my breath as I ran a replay!
The tape room is an interesting place. It is like it’s own state (New Hampshire?)in that has a little autonomy. They work together rolling opens and replays (and at least when I did it they would also cover for each other while one machine was playing back a replay another operator would cover the camera that was not being recorded. Now with the non-linear EVS machines this could have changed). But while all this is going on there is a constant banter and stream of jokes. …What everyone else hadthe ability to do was joke and laugh and still know what their machines had recorded. I could not do this for some reason! I am glad I had an opportunity to sit in the tape room. It taught me that there is a camaraderie and a teamwork back there. And yes, tapers work hard too!
Here is a remembrance from D’aulaire:
Dear A2/Tape,
You made me strong, you made me enjoy intimate moments between John Ward,
Tom Hunter, and Scott Hazen sandwiched in dimly-lit small areas, my skills
at over-under blossomed, you gave me tough skin and to defend myself in the
“viper pit”, you allowed me to roll with “The Bruce” for a summer, I learned
never cut to 2 when the ball went up the middle and that made Deb happy, got
to setup the home booth at the Opening of SBC park …horribly, literally ran
into Ken Griffey Jr, played back in real time the first splash HR from
Downey on splash cam, So much in just half the summer then I went away and
you went away….a sad thing, but as I said to the tape room …”It’s all up
here”.
Yours Truly,
D’Aulaire Class of 2000
Here are some stories from Scott Hazen and Deb Robertson..
S.H: NMT’s A3 was setup with a four person front bench. At one time we called it the ‘Hair Club for Men’. There was Jerry Piazza who was in the later stages of baldness, then Jim Armintrout who was entering into the later stages of baldness, then John Ward who was in the thinning stages then myself who was very hairy, so much that they called me ‘Jesus’.
D.R One of our jobs was grabbing the player for the post game interview. I had a streak of going out and grabbing a player either home or visiting for every game. It was getting near the end of the season and Jeff Kuiper wanted me go grab some lower tier player but then Dave Benzer goaded me into going and asking Barry Bonds to do a post game interview. So little did I know that every camera guy was watching me go out to try and get Bonds. And it is documented on tape of me being turned down by Barry, BUT, I saved the day and was able to go get Tom Lampkin and still get an interview so my streak was still alive.
S.H…..My experience with Mike Bird was one of young love…two men exploring their bodies…No Just kidding ! …Actually my mentors John Ward and Jim Armintrout were very influential in my young television life. Teaching me the ropes; that you can have fun and still be very professional. I can think of ‘stoli night’ as one of my favorite,-- yet also nerve-wracking experience in the tape room. Basically everyone imbibed in Stoli screw drivers (with John Ward’s Donald Duck orange juice –I don’t know if that goes back to the roots of being an Oregon Duck or just a fan of Disney products) while we were doing the broadcast and no mistakes were made (that I know of .) (John Ward adds it was fresh squeezed orange juice and ‘Don’t try this at home!’)
Here’s what Jim Armintrout remembers about the famed A2/tape position.
Actually I remember thinking that this was going to be a bad idea and who could possibly learn to be any good at tape if they were constantly running around doing A2 work all the time? And it turned out that (once again) I was wrong and all of the people who came into that position did great at it and moved on to be pros in the field whether they stayed in tape or moved on to another area.
I'm pretty sure it had little to do with the mentors. Maybe it was just the freedom of the environment that we had to try things and fail at them and then try something else and succeed at it that made it work. Hopefully those who have moved on into positions of Production are trying to live by those concepts even now?
Here is one of my stories from the 1997 or 1998 seasons... After every game I had to go down to low 1st and put a headset on Dusty Baker for a post game interview.
Well this one game I had him set up on headset and leaned back against the wall for the interview. Dave Benzer (the camera operator) said, "Derek put that cord behind his shoulder". I stepped to move it, but unfortunately the grounds crew had left a rake there. I stepped on the rake and WHOOSH the handle swishes inches in front of Dusty's face (ala 3 stooges). Just then the director (Jim Lynch) takes the camera, and says "what was that!?"Dave goes, "derek almost broke his leg!" Jim repies," Tell him he can't do that again!"
I almost hit Dusty Baker in the head with a rake ON THE AIR! "
Tom Hunter: My Tape/A2 year was way back in 1992. More often than not during that season the Giants tape room consisted of Kevin Skillings, Jim Armintrout, and John Ward, and to me, a young and impressionable man just beginning his journey in the business, I was quite starry-eyed, not just with the creative and inventive work they performed on a nightly basis, but their ability to make the work fun. Those three in their various ways had a major impact on my success, and it all started with that enjoyable and educational season.
A back story that dovetails into my reminisce is to approximate a story told to my tape brethren that year by the Giants head of stadium operations, Jorge Costas. His tale involved busting a drunken group of college kids at a game. He called that group of miscreants "Walking-talking time-bombs".
Now as the new member that season I was anxious to fit in and earn their approbation, as well as desperate not to make mistakes as to receive well intentioned yet cutting jibes from my superiors. One night that summer of 1992 I was called upon to run a replay of a nicely turned double play from a feature that was run earlier that evening. For you youngsters out there we at the time used reel-to-reel, hand cranked videotape machines for replays. So there I was actually getting to do a replay, which was rare for the Tape/A2 person those days as we had the least used angle in our machine. The key to this particular reply was that the split second that the first baseman caught the ball the feature cut to the next shot, which had nothing to do with the previous one. I knew that and so did Trout and John. Well, of course, even slowly turning by hand, I missed my freeze by a frame or two and up came the next shot. Groans and hoots proceeded to rain upon me, and I was mortified. In my embarrassment and frustration I hand slapped the wall next to me and probably utter a curse. That stopped the cat-calls, but it lead to John commenting, "Boy Tom is a Time-Bomb". With that thought in their heads mixed with the memory of Jorge Costas's story, Trout and John in unison proclaimed, "Yes, he is a Time-Bomb. Let's call him that from now on...Hey Time-Bomb! Take it easy there Time-Bomb....Time-Bomb-Time-Bomb, Time-Bomb!"
It has now 19 years later and the nickname has morphed, but still to this day I am known to one and all, young and old alike, as "Bomber".
Here is a story from Lars:
Below is one of my many memories from the 1991 baseball season when I was the A2/Tape operator on the Giants telecasts. For what it's worth, it has nothing really to do with the job, but rather a chance encounter with Will Clark, the Giants first baseman at the time.
On a typical late afternoon, before a midweek night game at Candlestick Park in 1991, I was down on the field wrapping some microphones following soundbites down at the low first camera position. As was usual for this time of the day, the wind had begun to kick up within the park. It was especially strong down on the field and at times would swirl, picking up dirt, paper, or any other loose particles that had gone uncollected.
As I finished up my duties, and began to make my way back to the Truck, the wind was howling, and blowing in from right field towards home plate. So, dressed in my typical TV production attire at the time, i.e. shorts, sneakers, and a sweatshirt, I skipped in front of the Giants first base dugout, headed towards the backstop stairs. At first, I felt the strong gust of wind at my legs, and then suddenly, something attach itself to the back of my left shoe. As I continued to walk, trying not to draw attention to myself, I noticed that it was a Styrofoam Burger container, the kind that the Big Mac used to come in. With each passing step however, I now realized that the strength of the wind was enough to keep the container pressed to my left foot. No worries, I thought...I would soon be off the field and headed to the warm confines of Tape.
Then I heard it...the loud, obnoxious, high pitched shriek coming from the dugout. "Hey Buddyyy...you dropped you're Cheeseburger! Buddyyy, you dropped you're Cheeseburger!" Ugh...it was Will Clark, the Giants First Baseman yelling at me. He had noticed the Styrofoam container, and was now in full blown A**hole mode. He hit me again..."Buddyyy, Buddyyy, you dropped you're Cheeseburger." I scurried across the dugout, cursing him under my breath, all the while making sure that I didn't give him the satisfaction by acknowledging his taunts! Soon, all I heard behind me was the making of "Buddyyy, hey Buddyyy" as I made my way thru the backstop gate, thinking, what a DICK and hoping that no one was staring at me as I double timed it up the Lower Box steps.
And with that, the moment was gone, only to live forever in the memory banks of John Ward and Tom Hunter. The Giants 1989 NLCS hero was now my Public Enemy Number One!
Lars Pacheco
A2/Tape 1991
And so on…..I will let John Ward, one of the mentors of every tape/a2 close out this debris….
it indeed was camelot. we launched new ideas and also made so many mistakes but all things were possible. it was less of a business, more about the coverage and we had a total blast. also we thought it was art although i have seen some crazy, weird, and downright bad stuff we did back in the day that certainly doesn't hold up! however it was no doubt a one of a kind boot camp/think tank/incubator for some of the finest talent anybody has ever seen, OMG look at that list we must have been doing something right! the best analogy i have is if you have ever watched classic tv like johnny carson or dean martin. sometimes brilliant, sometimes awkward, but always hall of famers doing their best drinking and smoking and letting the audience know you are having a really good time. please try to fit that on our tombstones! finally derek never forget scott hazen's advice: breathe! good times, JW
Here is a final ‘p.s’ from Aaron Stojkov , the first tape/a2:
During my Giantsvision intern season of 1988 along with setting up,
striking, practicing on-camera during batting practice and generally being
an annoyance, I would also help Wes Weaver set-up audio on the field.
(I also remember running to get Wes many hot dogs and sodas, but that's
another story)
It became clear that audio was not an area where many of the interns
seemed to gravitate, so I sort of made an effort to help Wes and the A-2
(Roger Inman?) out more. You also heard lots of crazy stories from Grady
hanging out in the booth "setting up".
That and my good looks are probably why I was asked to fill the
inaugural A-2/Tape role in 1989.
While I eventually became an official A-2 on shows in the Bay Area over
the next few years, the true value of the A-2/tape position was on-headset,
operating equipment, part-of-the-show access to the truck.
You learn so much more about how a broadcast operates, and everyone's
role in it, by being in the truck. And the tape room is unique in that you
have the ability to discuss, critique and "back seat" produce the show. The
lively discussions and debates we we're exposed to in the A-2/tape position
are unique throughout the remote television.
To this day I don't remember being around a more creative group of
people than were on that show & in that tape room. John Ward, Trout, Jerry,
Greg Overton, Don Watt, Hank, etc. taught me a great deal about how to
handle myself in this business. And about the philosophies of why things
were done a certain way...but also wondering why not try it this way? You
realized quickly what a delightful laboratory that tape room was when you
started working on visiting feeds or traveling to other markets.
OK...I probably didn't learn much from Hank:-) (I think Hank is Kevin Skillings? –Derek)
I don't recall chasing down players postgame as an A-2...but I
definitely remember Stoli night, learning how to thread Ampex 1" machines,
cutting low home (Cam 7) to Hi 1st (Cam 3), inserting the last white flash
in the roll-out with just enough time to cue the damn thing for air, and
carrying a milk crate of 816's and audio cables up from the field at
Candlestick on another cold & foggy night.
Fortune definitely has smiled upon me in the TV biz, and I hope in the
many years I spent as a Tape Op after that 1989 season I was able to pass on
some of the lessons I learned in that environment. Because it's guaranteed
that I wouldn't have started up this TV sports "corporate ladder" if fate
hadn't placed Mark Gummere at an internship meeting at SF State, and I
didn't end up around that Candlestick culture.
