Question and Answer with Nathan Baliva

[Chris]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/DJAXXFAN/nathan.jpg

 

Nathan Baliva, the voice of the Peoria Chiefs, has graciously agreed to answer questions from posters on NSBB. If you would like to send a comment to Nathan, or if you would like to ask Nathan a question, feel free to post it here. I will allow the questions/comments to be posted until June 10 at midnight. Once Nathan has had an opportunity to answer them, his responses will be posted. This is a great opportunity to get first hand information from a direct source in Peoria!

 

In regards to questions about Eric, I request that references to Corey Patterson be limited. There are some acceptable ones, such as what it's like to be in the same organization and what it was like growing up, but hopefully we can emphasize Eric the ballplayer and not Eric, the younger brother of Corey. Thank you for your understanding and thank you to Nathan for taking time for us here at NSBB!

Edited August 15, 2005 by Chris

[TXCubsFan]

Thanks, DJAXX, for arranging the Q&A with Nathan.

 

Nathan, EPatt has been tearing the cover off the ball and has good control of the strike zone. What reason do you think EPatt hasn't been promoted to Daytona? Is there a particular part of his game that he needs to develop at Peoria?

[BigbadB]

Hi Nathan,

 

It's great to see the Cubs back in Peoria. I went to a lot of games at Meinen Field the last time the Cubs were in Peoria. What do you think of the new stadium? Is it more of a hitter or pitcher friendly park?

[Outshined_One]

Hey Nathan, thanks so much for doing this for us here at NSBB!

 

Sean Gallagher has received much deserved press in the minor league circles of baseball. However, it's pretty rare to hear much about other guys in the Peoria rotation. What kind of future do guys like Grant Johnson, Chris Shaver, Matt Weber, Jesse Estrada, et al. have down the line if things go well for them?

[Chris]

Hey Nathan, thanks so much for joining us here at NSBB!

 

I wanted to ask a few questions in regards to broadcasting:

 

1) Who is your favorite broadcaster (Other than yourself :wink:) ?

 

2) If you had to pick one call that you've made, what would you cite as the best call that you have ever made and what were the circumstances of it?

 

3) If you had to pick your favorite call that another broadcaster made, which one would it be?

 

Thanks again!

[Laura]

Thanks so much for answering questions!

 

How did the Peoria franchise change from Cardinals to Cubs affect you? What changes have you noticed since the switch?

 

What's the most memorable game you've broadcast?

 

Thanks!

[ctcf]

Is there a player who is the most exciting to watch?

[Tim]

You've watched the Cardinal's prospects the past few years. Who have you seen on the way up for them that we should look out for as Cubs fans?

[treebird]

At the beginning of the season, a different person lead the on-field, between inning activities at Chiefs games than the one who's there now. Where'd he go?

[burnt out cubbie fan]

Thanks for doing the Q&A. Sean Gallagher started out on an unbelievable streak at the beginning of the year but has slowed down somewhat as the season has progressed. Do you know if this is due to him tiring a bit as the season progressed, going through the teams a second or third time, working on new pitches or changing something else, or some other factor? Also, have you noticed any adjustments that he has made so far this year? Edited July 11, 2005 by burnt out cubbie fan

[Jon]

Nathan,

 

Luis Montanez has already spent 4 full seasons in A ball. As someone new to the organization, is there anything about Luis that signals to you that he's feeling the pressure of his past struggles after being picked so high in the draft or do his daily performances make him look like most 23-year-olds who are just starting to figure it out?

 

Thanks for your time.

[Flames24Rulz]

Nathan,

 

What was/is it like to be both an announcer of the Cardinals Single A affiliate and now the announcer of the Cubs Single A affiliate? Who was your favorite team growing up in the majors and who is your favorite team now?

 

Thanks :)

[rocket]

The answer to the 2nd part of the question is useless if the answer to the 1st question doesn't fit, but here goes.

 

1- How long have you been announcing for the Chiefs?

2- Were you the announcer when Pujols was a Chief? And if yes, what were your impressions of him at that time? Did you expect him to become the game's best hitter?

[Mark_R]

Nathan, thanks for your time chatting with us!

 

How is the progress of Grant Johnson coming along at this point? I think there's a lot more to his progress than what he's actually producing on the mound ie side sessions, etc.

[chicubs]

1) Is there any difference between the way the Cubs and Cards handled the team?

 

2) Do you ever feel pressured to keep in your negative thoughts about the team after incidents like last year with the big-league team and Stoney?

[treebird]

Do you know the name of Drew Larsen's walk-up song? It's really awesome, but it has no words and I have no idea how to identify it.

[Laura]

Is there a visibility problem at O'Brien? Seems like the pitchers can't see the signs recently.

 

What's your worst roadtrip story? :o

[sherwood921]

Thanks for visiting us and answering our questions...I really appreciate it!

 

As a youngster did you want to grow up to be a broadcaster? Were you one of those kids who would turn off the volume and do your own play by play?

 

 

How did you get involved with broadcasting baseball? If you played it, do you ever find yourself telling stories about your playing days?

[Chris]

Just a quick reminder that the Q & A with Nathan will lock tonight at midnight!

[CaliforniaRaisin]

A Cardinals question: How has Rick Ankiel has looked hitting? Do you think he'll make it back to the big leagues as a hitter?

[Chris]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to present your questions and comments to Nathan! Nathan's answers will be posted as soon as I receive them!

[Chris]

Greetings all! Enclosed are Nathan's replies to your questions and comments. Nathan's replies have been put in bold text. I would like to issue a disclaimer that some of Nathan's comments were written before Lus Montanez was called up. Please take that into consideration when reading his replies.

 

Thank you to Nathan for doing an outstanding job with this session! I believe that you will be very impressed with the time that Nathan took to answer your questions and comments. Let's all be sure to thank Nathan for this session and for being a part of our NSBB community!

 

 

 

From TXCubsFan :

 

Thanks, DJAXX, for arranging the Q&A with Nathan.

 

Nathan, EPatt has been tearing the cover off the ball and has good control of the strike zone. What reason do you think EPatt hasn't been promoted to Daytona? Is there a particular part of his game that he needs to develop at Peoria?

 

TXCubsFan-

 

I think the reason Patterson is still with us (and Gallagher and Montanez for that matter) has more to do with organizational philosophy than anything else. The Cubs seem to like to have a guy stay at one level all year if they can. Look at last season with Dopirak, Walker and Collins all probably deserved to move up to Daytona and Sing and Pie easily could have gone up to West Tenn. But they didn’t, and I think Oneri and his staff are doing the same with our players this year. They want to keep this team intact here and hope they can catch fire and make a run at the playoffs. We can’t be a post-season team without Patterson, Montanez, Harvey and/or Gallagher, that’s for sure.

 

As for developing, the two weaknesses I see most from Eric are getting jumps against left-handed pitchers from first base as he has been picked off/caught stealing by LHP five times this season. The other is while he average is great and his walks are #1 on the team, his strikeouts are high for a top of the lineup guy.

 

 

From BigbadB:

 

Hi Nathan,

 

It's great to see the Cubs back in Peoria. I went to a lot of games at

Meinen Field the last time the Cubs were in Peoria. What do you think of the new stadium? Is it more of a hitter or pitcher friendly park?

 

BigBadB-

 

I love O’Brien Field. I was an intern here in 2002 so I have been at every home game and was in on the ground floor planning so to speak. There isn’t a bad spot at all to watch the games. I have had the chance this year with an intern who does a few innings to watch games from the seating bowl and our decks and it is phenomenal. It really depends on the wind but I think this is a pitchers park. The ball can jump to left down the line (into the palm trees) but it takes a monster shot to get the ball out to CF, RCF or RF. And as Sam Fuld will tell you, balls just die to CF and RCF allowing a good defensive centerfielder to track down almost everything.

 

 

From Outshined_One:

 

Hey Nathan, thanks so much for doing this for us here at NSBB!

 

Sean Gallagher has received much deserved press in the minor league circles of baseball. However, it's pretty rare to hear much about other guys in the Peoria rotation. What kind of future do guys like Grant Johnson, Chris Shaver, Matt Weber, Jesse Estrada, et al. have down the line if things go well for them?

 

 

Outshined_One-

 

My pleasure, I’m glad to get the invite. This staff has been remarkable in the fact that, knock on wood, none have missed a start due to injury. In fact, the only rotation slot missed was by Weber because of Rich Hill’s appearance last Friday.

 

I really enjoy watching Matt Weber pitch. He isn’t afraid to throw strikes, doesn’t walk guys much and he trusts his defense enough to stay in the zone and let the batter put the ball in play. He isn’t a strikeout guy (really none are except Gallagher). He reminds a lot of people of Maddux in the aspect that he is around 88-90 and his control is his strength. He needs to keep the HR total lower though.

 

I think Chris Shaver could have a good future as well. His control has been a lot better in his last few starts but his HR total has gone up dramatically since June 1. The key for Shaver is to keep the ball low and to be sharp with his off-speed pitches. Surprisingly, left-handers hit Shaver better than right-handers do.

 

Estrada is in his 1st season and has held up very well. He is pushing the 100 inning mark and batters put the ball in play against him. He leads the team in hits allowed, but doesn’t allow many walks. The last few starts for Estrada he has really concentrated on moving the ball around and locating his fastball on the corners and lower in the zone.

 

Johnson has been kind of an enigma so far. He looked great twice, was hit hard twice and then had bad luck (2 errors behind him leading to 6 unearned runs) in his July 9 start. When he is on, it has more to do with the sharpness of his off-speed pitches.

 

 

From DJAXXFAN:

 

Hey Nathan, thanks so much for joining us here at NSBB!

 

I wanted to ask a few questions in regards to broadcasting:

 

1) Who is your favorite broadcaster (Other than yourself ) ?

 

2) If you had to pick one call that you've made, what would you cite as the best call that you have ever made and what were the circumstances of it?

 

3) If you had to pick your favorite call that another broadcaster made,

which one would it be?

 

DJAXXFAN-

 

Well I have to say that Jack Buck is my all-time favorite announcer and I am also a fan of Joe Buck’s radio work which unfortunately he doesn’t do anymore. Living in Milwaukee for four years during college I also listened to Bob Uecker a lot and really liked his work as well.

 

As for my own call, one that really sticks out came last season at home. We trailed Burlington 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 9th inning. We loaded the bases with two outs and our manager pinch hit Terry Evans who was our regular RF getting a night off. He connected for a long, no-doubt about it, walk-off pinch-hit grand slam and it took me about two hours to catch my breath!

 

I really liked Joe Buck’s simple call last year from Game 4 of the ALCS when Ortiz homered in extras and he said Sheffield back to the wall, and we will see you later tonight. He didn’t get in the way of a great moment and trample it to death the way some broadcasters do.

 

 

From Serena:

 

Thanks so much for answering questions!

 

How did the Peoria franchise change from Cardinals to Cubs affect you? What changes have you noticed since the switch?

 

What's the most memorable game you've broadcast?

 

Is there a visibility problem at O'Brien? Seems like the pitchers can't see the signs recently.

 

What's your worst roadtrip story?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Serena-

 

Thanks for having me. The change in affiliation didn’t affect my work at all except for having to learn all new players and personnel. Usually you get 5-8 guys back from the year before so on the first week you can go to them and chat about the offseason, get news on other guys from the previous year’s team and you have an “in” right away. That didn’t happen this year so it was weird meeting 25 new guys in one day.

 

Since the switch, I would say the Cubs rovers and management have been a little easier to work with and more willing to participate in interviews. In two years, I was never granted an interview with Bruce Manno the Cardinals Minor League Director though I did talk a few times on air to his top assistant. Oneri is always willing to talk and even joined me on the All-Star game. I have also found it easier to find out about player movement from the Cubs as the last few years our Manager was very bad in giving out such information.

 

Most memorable game would have to be this year’s All-Star Game just from a work and pride point of view. We all put so much work into it and it went so well plus the feed was up on MILB.com and I had great guests from our league president to Oneri Fleita to Pete Vonachen plus some of my co-workers and other MWL broadcasters which it is always a pleasure to work with. As for regular season games I would say the top two were the no-hitter this year at Cedar Rapids and the game when we clinch a playoff spot on the next to last day of the regular season last year.

 

I don’t think there is a visibility problem at OBF. As for pitchers not seeing signs, with all the new relievers we have been getting recently that’s probably why there are more trips to the mound than usual.

 

Worst roadtrip story: Fortunately, knock on wood, we haven’t had anything too bad. Our bus did break down in Wisconsin last year and we had to rely on staff members from the Timber Rattlers to drive us four at a time in their own cars to and from the stadium for two days. Eventually they drove up a new bus for us and had to tow the original bus back to Peoria. Other than that, things have been pretty good here except for the occasional nasty traffic jam rolling through Chicago!

 

 

From CT Cubs Fan:

 

Is there a player who is the most exciting to watch?

 

CT Cubs Fan-

 

I’d say there are a few that I really like watching. When Harvey is swinging the bat well and in a zone as he was in late April and at the HR derby he is a lot of fun to watch. You never know how far he will hit the ball. Same goes for BP when he put on a show.

 

Patterson is great to watch. He just seems to get on base everyday and the way he runs the bases is phenomenal.

 

I love the way Sam Fuld plays defense. He covers a ton of ground in the outfield and when he sets himself up to throw a runner out on a Sac Fly he completely launches himself toward the destination in a unique manner.

 

 

From Tim:

 

You've watched the Cardinal's prospects the past few years. Who have you seen on the way up for them that we should look out for as Cubs fans?

 

 

Tim-

 

Thanks for the question. A couple that I have seen play in Peoria are already in St. Louis and contributing. Yadier Molina and Brad Thompson stood out in Peoria and are helping the Cardinals now. Danny Haren was here in 2002 and was promoted up after just half a season and is now holding his own in Oakland. Daric Barton was probably the best prospect I have seen and while he would have struggled to move to the outfield in my opinion and wouldn’t have played 1st or C for St. Louis, I think he will make a big impact in Oakland. Others to keep an eye on are IF Travis Hanson (.290/12/53 at AA now), OF Cody Haerther who was just promoted to AA and can flat out hit, SS Brendan Ryan who led the MWL in hitting last year and was a FSL All-Star this year, RHP Chris Lambert who is at AA and was at the Futures Game, AA RHP Jordan Pals and SS John Nelson who is at AAA but has been hampered by injuries the last two years.

 

 

From Treebeard:

 

At the beginning of the season, a different person lead the on-field,

between inning activities at Chiefs games than the one who's there now.

Where'd he go?

 

Do you know the name of Drew Larsen's walk-up song? It's really awesome, but it has no words and I have no idea how to identify it.

 

Treebeard-

 

Thanks for the questions. Ross Baker was our original on-field emcee to start the season but he left us in June to move to the Ozarks and help a friend open a bar/night club.

 

I do not know the name of Larsen’s walk-up song. He has since changed it from what was a techno song so I’m not sure if you mean the new one or the techno but I will ask him about both.

 

 

From burnt out cubbie fan:

 

Thanks for doing the Q&A. Sean Gallagher started out on an unbelievable

streak at the beginning of the year but has slowed down somewhat as the

season has progressed. Do you know if this is due to him tiring a bit as the season progressed, going through the teams a second or third time, working on new pitches or changing something else, or some other factor? Also, have you noticed any adjustments that he has made so far this year?

 

 

Burnt out cubbie fan-

 

My pleasure, thanks for the questions. Sean was in a zone to start the season, there is really no way to explain it. It was unbelievable and fun to watch, but also unfair to expect those results all season. It’s the same as when a hitter is batting .400 or on a long hit streak, eventually they will come back to earth. I don’t think Sean has tired, I think its more of teams making adjustments when they see him a 2nd or 3rd time. Our pitchers are always working on new things at this level. Sean has the best curveball in the league in my opinion and has a nice fastball to set it up at 90-91. Plus he isn’t afraid on the mound. He will pitch backwards and start guys out with breaking balls and then come with the fastball. And he moves it around up and down and in and out. The main adjustment I have seen from Sean is trying to keep his pitch counts low. Early in the year it seemed he wanted the strikeout more and would pile them up with 8 or 10 per start but his pitch counts would hit 70-80 by the 5th inning. The last few times he has worked on getting ground ball outs and now he can get through the 5th closer to 50 pitches which allows him to be able to go deeper.

 

 

From JonMDavis:

 

Nathan,

 

Luis Montanez has already spent 4 full seasons in A ball. As someone new to the organization, is there anything about Luis that signals to you that he's feeling the pressure of his past struggles after being picked so high in the draft or do his daily performances make him look like most 23-year-olds who are just starting to figure it out?

 

 

JonMDavis-

 

I don’t see anything at all that signals Luis is feeling any pressure. This kid (and he is still a kid), is one of the truest professionals and class acts I have been around in baseball. He looks natural in the outfield to me. He leads out team in outfield assists, hasn’t made an error all year, gets great jumps on balls, covers a lot of ground and has made some great diving catches to save the Chiefs big innings this season. At the plate he just gets hits every night. He drives the ball hard, uses all fields, comes up with clutch hits, takes walks and doesn’t K a lot. Any player on our team will tell you, as they have told me over and over again than Montanez is the best pure hitter in this league. So to answer your question I would go with the latter, he is a 23-year old who is now getting it all figured out.

 

 

From Flames24Rulz:

 

Nathan,

 

What was/is it like to be both an announcer of the Cardinals Single A

affiliate and now the announcer of the Cubs Single A affiliate? Who was your favorite team growing up in the majors and who is your favorite team now?

 

Thanks

 

 

Flames24Rulz-

 

Thanks for the questions. I’ll start by answering the second question first so that my answer to the first question makes more sense. My favorite team growing up, my favorite team now and my favorite team will always be the St. Louis Cardinals. As many of you guys do with the Cubs, I live and die by the Cardinals and I still get down to Busch as much as this schedule will allow me.

 

So to answer your first question, it was great to be an announcer for the Cardinals. It was a perfect situation for me getting to watch the future up close and getting to know those guys. But, I love broadcasting baseball and being around the minors so to me the affiliate doesn’t really matter, it was just an added bonus for two seasons out of the gate for me.

 

I actually consider myself very privileged to have worked with what I consider to be the two best franchises in the Midwest and the best rivalry in all of MLB. They can have the Yankees-Red Sox, people around here don’t care about that. People in the Midwest want Cards-Cubs. It is evident at our games where this year you still get a lot of red and last year there was a lot of blue. When we announce scored now, Cubs fans boo a Cardinals win and Cards fans boo a Cubs win and it is great that our fans are that into it!

 

 

From Rocket Sauce:

 

The answer to the 2nd part of the question is useless if the answer to the 1st question doesn't fit, but here goes.

 

1- How long have you been announcing for the Chiefs?

2- Were you the announcer when Pujols was a Chief? And if yes, what were your impressions of him at that time? Did you expect him to become the game's best hitter?

 

Rocket Sauce-

 

I was still an undergrad at Marquette in 2000 when Albert played in Peoria. My first year with the Chiefs was 2002 as a media intern and my first season as a Broadcaster was 2003.

 

 

From Mark_R:

 

Nathan, thanks for your time chatting with us!

 

How is the progress of Grant Johnson coming along at this point? I think there's a lot more to his progress than what he's actually producing on the mound ie side sessions, etc.

 

Mark R-

 

I believe Grant progress is right where they expected/want it to be. He is learning how to pitch now, as do all young hurlers in A ball. Pitching at this level, as you know is a lot different than high school or even college ball. The demands, the travel, the expectations can be a lot to deal with. He fits in real well on this team and in the staff. He works hard with our trainer, strength coach and pitching coach. All of our pitchers are on a strict regimen of working out, running, throwing, etc between starts. Johnson has made a lot of progress in his endurance and stamina since he got here and was on a strict 50 pitch count. He has worked six innings twice and looks more comfortable after a few weeks with Tom Pratt and these catchers now. His mound presence has really impressed me.

 

 

From chicubs:

 

1) Is there any difference between the way the Cubs and Cards handled the team?

 

2) Do you ever feel pressured to keep in your negative thoughts about the team after incidents like last year with the big-league team and Stoney?

 

Chicubs:

 

I talked about it a bit earlier in the difference between working with the two. As for philosophies and the way they handle teams, the Cubs seem to be a little more patient with the offense and starting pitching. We have had four starters (Weber, Gallagher, Shaver and Estrada) here all year. They moved Gwaltney up to make room for Johnson and our bullpen has had considerable changes. But they are really patient with Patterson, Harvey, Fuld, and Montanez all of whom could have arguably gone up over some of the guys that have gone up. But from what I understand the Cubs want to give them a full season to see what they can accomplish. I think as long as Eric has a chance to lead the league Avg, Harvey in HR and Montanez in doubles that they will be content to leave them her.

 

As for relationships between me and the coaches/players I really have never given it any thought. They know how hard I work, how much I respect my job and how much I respect them and vice versa. The players and coaches are harder on themselves at any professional level than I could be or than fans could be. They know when they are playing bad, they don’t need me to tell them. All I do is describe it. I’m not a player, I’m not a coach I don’t know specifically what they are going through so its unfair to be overly harsh/negative. The only bad words you will hear me say about a player is if they aren’t displaying the required effort and are hurting the team by not trying.

 

 

From sherwood921:

 

Thanks for visiting us and answering our questions...I really appreciate it!

 

As a youngster did you want to grow up to be a broadcaster? Were you one of those kids who would turn off the volume and do your own play by play?

 

How did you get involved with broadcasting baseball? If you played it, do you ever find yourself telling stories about your playing days?

 

Sherwood921-

 

Thanks for stopping by to ask a question. I pretty much knew I wanted to talk about sports at some level from a very young age. I knew I couldn’t hit a curve ball, and I wasn’t ever going to be 6 feet tall so I wasn’t going to make it anywhere as a player. I played up until high school so I don’t have a lot of “playing days” material to talk about. I did however play on a team with LA Dodgers outfielder Jayson Werth with his dad (who also played in the Majors) as our coach. I got involved in broadcasting high school baseball games for our school TV station at Chatham Glenwood High School in Chatham, IL. Jayson led the team to a state title my senior year and I already knew at that point what I wanted to do. The only choice for me was basketball or baseball. I spent four years at Marquette doing radio broadcasts of basketball, soccer and volleyball.

 

I did broadcast into a tape recorder but I would do it at games live: high school games, American legion in the summer where I just made up rosters if I didn’t know the players, Springfield Capitals Independent games, etc.

 

I got more involved in broadcasting baseball during my graduate work at the University of Florida. I worked with their broadcasters on the student station and again did it into a tape recorder on my own as well. Then I got an internship here that had nothing to do with broadcasting but taught me about minor league baseball on the marketing and media sides.

 

 

CaliforniaRaisin101

 

A Cardinals question: How has Rick Ankiel has looked hitting? Do you think he'll make it back to the big leagues as a hitter?

 

CaliforniaRaisin101-

 

We played the Swing right before the All-Star break and I was impressed by Rick. Obviously he has a cannon for an arm in right field and he hit every throw against us perfectly in infield and during the game. He hit cut-off men, he had one OF assist, no wildness from the OF at all. He also hit three homers against us, one of which I think might still be in orbit. I do think that as long as they are patient (and they can afford to be) with him and as long as he keeps putting in the work that he is now that he will make it. I got to chat with him a bit back in 2002 when he was here rehabbing and in June and he has a great attitude about it and everything I hear from the guys on the Swing and in their office that I know says that he is dedicated to making it and puts forth extra effort every day. He has a lot of fans in Peoria rooting for him. He got a great hand when he was here in June, both before and after his home runs.

[Jon]

Thanks, Nathan! It's a great read and very informative.

[treebird]

Thanks a bunch, Nathan and DJAXX!

 

I do not know the name of Larsen’s walk-up song. He has since changed it from what was a techno song so I’m not sure if you mean the new one or the techno but I will ask him about both.

 

In reference to this, I was really disappointed when I was at the game last Saturday, because Larsen's song had been changed. I was referring to the original techno song, so if you should happen to see this, that's the one I was curious about.

 

Thanks again!

[Outshined_One]

Thanks a ton for this guys! I look forward to more of these in the future. :D