The Cleveland Indians Video Coaching Department was recently featured during an in game broadcast versus the New York Yankees. ESPN Analysts Steve Phillips and Orel Hershiser gave a break down of the history of Video Coaching and how it has played a major role in the transformation of the game. Steve Phillips spoke of the different applications and ways that players use video. He also complimented the Indians Video Coaching Department (which is led by the inaugural PBVCA President, Bob Chester) on being one of the most progressive departments in baseball.

PBVCA.com recently caught up with Mark Topping, Video Coordinator for the Kansas City Royals, as well as Communications Chair for the PBVCA. Topping shared with us his work history and thoughts the future of video in major league baseaball.

PBVCA: Mark, tell us a little about your background. You’ve been all over the country, how did you get your start with the Royals?

Topping: I went to Buffalo State College in Buffalo, NY as a Broadcasting major. Worked my way up from smaller television markets to larger ones (Springfield, MO; Toledo, OH; Kansas City, MO; San Diego, CA), eventually landing at the Fox affiliate in San Diego. Got sick of the daily grind of TV news and moved back to Kansas City in 2001.

While shooting football games for a local sports station, a co-worker told me the Royals were looking for a video guy. I had no idea that this meant doing video coaching, etc. Thought it was probably something to do with production or game entertainment. Sent in a resume and got hired 3 days before opening day in 2003. Been doing this ever since.

PBVCA: In your 6 seasons with the Royals, what changes in technology have you seen?

Topping: The technology has changed a lot since 2003. The video room in KC had nothing more than a few old VCRs and monitors. Each player had his own tape, which I would pop into the VCR when it was their turn to hit or pitch.

By 2004, we started using a computerized system where we captured each clip onto a hard drive, but the video quality and efficiency wasn’t quite what we were looking for. By 2007, we upgraded our video system to BATS which was a major improvement. Now we can look up any of our player video (or opposing teams’ video) and data within a matter of seconds.

PBVCA: Have players used video differently? Have you seen any trends or applications of video change in the past couple of years?

Topping: Players are spending more time analyzing their opponents, using both video and data, compared with just a couple years ago when most of our video was used for mechanical analysis. One trend that comes to mind is the use of the portable hard drive. Most of our players and coaches now have their own hard drive, which I update every week or two with the latest video of both the Royals and our upcoming opponents. And, of course, video iPods have become a popular tool. (See Cullen McRae’s video on the Florida Marlins use of the Video iPod.)

PBVCA: The video room in KC had a make-over. Can you describe the changes. What is your favorite addition to the room?

Topping: We had a brand new video room built prior to the 2007 season. The changes were like night and day. Our old video room was a shoe-box with barely enough space for two or three players at a time. The new video room is much bigger. We have 5 video viewing laptops, 6 plasma TVs, along with several satellites and monitors in our video racks. There is plenty of space, including comfortable leather chairs and a sofa for the players to use while watching video.

My favorite addition to the room is our video switch controller. This is built into a few of the computers in the room, letting you route any source into any destination in the video room and even the clubhouse. It adds all kinds of versatility and makes my job a lot easier.

Check out Topping’s new pad in the image gallery below.

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PBVCA: Can you give us some quick thoughts on your favorite road restaurants, ballparks, hotels, club houses, and city.

Topping:

• Restaurant: Da Mimmo’s Restaurant in Baltimore’s Little Italy neighborhood. Famous for their veal chop, this is an old-school Italian restaurant in one of my favorite neighborhoods in the American League. I go there every time we go to Charm City.
• Ballpark: Has to be Fenway Park. So historic and colorful. But Camden Yards is a close second.
• Hotel: The Renaissance Vinoy Hotel in St. Petersburg, with the Westin St. Louis high on my list too.
• Clubhouse: Tropicana Field, and Angel Stadium is number two.
• Favorite road city: Tie between Baltimore and Toronto.

PBVCA: Mark, thanks for your time. We look forward to catching up with you in the future.

Have you ever wondered what the members of the Professional Baseball Video Coordinators Association do during spring training? Stay tuned as we bring you updates from Florida and Arizona.

2007 PBVCA Winter Meetings

Check out all the pictures from the 2007 Meetings.

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The Professional Baseball Video Coordinators Association (PBVCA) presented the 2007 Pioneer Award to Hall of Fame inductee Tony Gwynn at the 2007 PBVCA Meetings — held in conjunction with the Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville.

Mr. Gwynn, who was the keynote speaker at this year’s PBVCA Meetings, received the award at 3 PM on Wednesday, December 5 in the Lincoln E meeting room at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. His remarks to the Video Coordinators followed the award presentation.

This is the first time PBVCA has selected a recipient for the Pioneer Award. Mr. Gwynn, Head Baseball Coach at San Diego State, was selected due to his groundbreaking use of video, for both mechanical analysis and scouting his opponents, throughout his Major League Baseball career.

“On behalf of PBVCA, this is a well-deserved honor for a man who has basically led the way in using video in baseball,” said PBVCA President and Tampa Bay Devil Rays Video Coordinator Chris Fernandez. “Because of Mr. Gwynn’s foresight years ago, we as video coordinators are in the position where we are today and are very grateful to him because of that.”

Formed in December 2004, PBVCA is comprised of Video Coordinators from throughout Major League Baseball. Our objective is to elevate standards among all Video Coordinators, facilitate the exchange of information and technical advancements in the field of video coaching, and raise awareness of the role that Video Coordinators play within professional baseball.

Nick English has been named Video Coordinator for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  He replaces Casey Deskins who recently became the pitching coach for the Golf Coast League Dodgers.  Nick was an intern with the Dodgers Baseball Operations department for the past two seasons and has a law degree from USC.

2006 PBVCA Winter Meetings

The Professional Baseball Video Coordinators Association, PBVCA, concluded its third annual meetings at the Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando. This year’s conference included eighteen Video Coordinators, eight video technology vendors, and four guest speakers from throughout Major League Baseball.

PBVCA members held workshops on integrating the latest technology into the daily video room workflow. This was highlighted by a Video iPod tutorial presented by the Colorado Rockies. The tutorial showed Video Coordinators effective ways to copy player highlight videos to their iPods and options for sharing Major League, Minor League and Scouting video with front office staff via their iPods.

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Guest speakers included Dr. Charles Maher, Cleveland Indians Team Psychologist and Director of Psychological Services; Tim Belcher, Former Major League Pitcher and current Cleveland Indians Special Assistant to the General Manager; Dan Feinstein, Tampa Bay Devil Rays Director of Baseball Operations; and Joe Inzerillo, MLB Advanced Media Senior VP of Multimedia and Distribution.

Dr. Maher lectured on the Psychological Foundations for using video for performance development and enhancement in professional baseball. He covered the learning styles of professional baseball players and watching video with a purpose.

Tim Belcher expressed what players require, need and want with regard to video and how Video Coordinators can best deliver their services. As a former major leaguer who used video as a primary preparation tool, he went on to explain that “video analysis is a player’s greatest asset when attempting to find and fix flaws in his game… seeing is believing!”

Dan Feinstein, a former Video Coordinator with the Oakland Athletics, gave us a front-office perspective on video usage. He explained how the front-office uses video and specific ways this can be effectively delivered to them.

Joe Inzerillo, also a former Video Coordinator with both the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls, gave us a report on the status of MLB Advanced Media. He helps decide how MLB video content will be shared between the league and each team. Mr. Inzerillo also discussed the latest technology in video coaching and how MLB Advanced Media will increase it’s coverage of Minor League Baseball and various international leagues.

PBVCA presented the Carl Hamilton Award of Excellence to the 2006 Co-Video Coordinators of the Year, Mike Hamilton and Brian Jones of the Colorado Rockies. In addition, members decided to continue meeting at the site of the Baseball Winter Meetings. The 2007 conference will be in Nashville.