There is always a lot of hype about playing games on national TV (ESPN, FOX, TBS), and I'm amazed why that is. The national TV networks try their best to show a game that matches up two teams that the network executives feel people across the U.S. would want to see. They also hope that the game ends up being an exciting one so the viewing audience is happy.
On Saturday we will be playing the Angels on FOX at 3:55 p.m. Eastern time (I have no idea where that starting time came from), and on Sunday we'll play the series finale against the Angels on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET. Hopefully both of those games will be just as exciting as the first game of the series, which ended up being a 4-3 loss to Los Angeles -- but still a very good game.
We joke around in the clubhouse about the games being aired in high def and say that we all need to make sure we have our hair cut and be clean shaven, because if that camera zooms in on you, the audience can see everything. The fact that the people can see everything makes you a little self-conscious of what you are doing. Just something simple as scratching your nose could look like you are trying to pick your nose, and it'll be all over the blooper reel or the "not top 10" list.
My family and friends always tell me to wave or say something into the camera to them, but one of the things people don't realize is that I never know when the camera is on me. People will make comments saying, "You were looking right at the camera." Again, for those people, I have no clue when the camera is on, or what camera is on me, for that matter. It is fun, though, to know that at least for about a three-hour span people throughout the country get a chance to watch us play who couldn't make it to the game live.
Curtis Granderson
