Thursday marked a windy day in Kansas City for the Royals’ opener against the Cleveland Guardians, and that wound up affecting the Bally Sports Kansas City camera feed. And that (along with some water spray from the fountain in front) led to a lot of Twitter commentary:
Camera crew…not in midseason form.
[Or, mebbe I'm drunk. Or both.] pic.twitter.com/uJ21FxGSlF
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 7, 2022
To be fair it’s windy, 47, and they’re behind a waterfall 😂😂😂
— Hand In Glove ⚾️🏳️🌈💘 (@GloveCast) April 7, 2022
Watching the @CleGuardians v. @Royals game an man it must be windy in #KC. The camera is shaking like crazy. #OpeningDay #Fortheland #TogetherRoyal
— Tommy (@tommy_cubillas) April 7, 2022
is the Bally’s CF camera in the Guardians-Royals game on a float in the fountain?
— Al Copenhagen (@AlRCopenhagen) April 7, 2022
Oof this camera work for the royals game is severely shaky. #Royals
— Dustin Newton (@Dt_fan2) April 7, 2022
The centerfield camera for the Royals is doing its best Hunger Games impression and I'm legit getting nauseous
— Jack McLoone (@jfmclooney) April 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/PastorAdamGBC/status/1512192059062558724
The wind itself prompted a further series of tweets:
Happy #OpeningDay @Royals! Windy and much cooler today. Highs will struggle to warm near 50 degrees. A few sprinkles or very light showers are possible as well. Otherwise winds will gust up near 40 mph at times. #StormTrack5 pic.twitter.com/y5o8t5DCmR
— Alena Lee (@alenaleewx) April 7, 2022
Wind update from the K cc @glezak @Royals #OpeningDay pic.twitter.com/znmXBDLUPD
— Will Gregory (@wgPR) April 7, 2022
I'm not sure anyone is going to be able to hit a home run to left field at the @Royals opener. The wind is insane. @SalvadorPerez15, this isn't a dare. 😀
— Blake Fry (@Blake_E_Fry) April 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/AnswerDave/status/1512085060266053644
It’s interesting to see wind lead to this much commentary on a game broadcast, and it’s certainly not an every-day occurrence. But it’s definitely tough to try and keep cameras steady in intense wind. Some of the highlights from this game do look a little steadier, so perhaps they figured out some mitigation measures, or perhaps the wind eased off:
Here comes ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶u̶n̶ a run.#OpeningDay // #TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/I6ULKStb4z
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 7, 2022
Bobby has arrived! @MLB Hit No. 1 is a big one!#OpeningDay // #TogetherRoyal pic.twitter.com/jtEdB7Cz2o
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 7, 2022
The Royals wound up defeating the Guardians 3-1. Starter Zack Greinke pitched 5.2 innings in his return to the Royals, allowing five hits and one run, while hot prospect Bobby Witt Jr. got his first MLB hit (the double seen immediately above). Kansas City also got doubles from Hunter Dozier and Nicky Lopez (the clip seen above ahead of Witt’s).
But much of the discussion around this game wasn’t about the game at all, but rather about the wind and how it affected the broadcast. And that’s unusual to see. We’ll see if wind is as much of a factor when the teams play again Saturday.
[Rob Friedman on Twitter]
