Labar: Behind the Scenes at MLB Network’s Quick Pitch

By Abby Labar
Sportmoney Columnist

About 70 shows in and over halfway through the MLB season, I felt now was the perfect time to take you guys along for the ride with me on a day in the life and behind the scenes inner workings of my job. 

For those of you who are new here, I host MLB Network’s Quick Pitch, a nightly highlight show that shares news and updates, and brings baseball fans up to speed on the day's action. One of the longest running shows on MLB Network, this thing is a well oiled machine. I joined the show following the likes of my idols such as Heidi Watney, Kelly Nash, Siera Santos, among many others. To say this is a rewarding job is an understatement, and I’ve been grateful to have been given the reins to add my own little personal flavor to a show that’s held to such a high standard. 

I’ve appreciated all of the positive feedback and new fans who have followed my social pages and shared kind words of enjoyment, but ultimately this is a huge team effort and I’m excited to be able to dive in and share the details of it all to give credit where credit is truly due. 

My day normally begins around 10am because the show airs pretty late. What people normally do in their jobs after 5pm is what I’m getting done between the hours of 11am and 3pm: chores, gym, meetings, etc. – you know, the adult stuff. I’ll pick an hour or two each day to either watch some of our other MLB Network programs or listen to SiriusXM MLB Network Radio to stay up to date and hear others' thoughts and perspectives on MLB. With so many games a day, it’s truly impossible to watch them all so I absorb the information where I can before going into the studios. 

Around 4pm I receive a “show rundown” from my producer. Each show has a coordinating producer, a producer, a director, a researcher, an edit team and a graphics team all on the initial email explaining what the logistics of the night look like. It takes an army. Some of this includes logistics regarding what time we go on air as well as which games and programming are being aired on our network before the show. Then my producer, with help and suggestions from other team members, come up with the three main storylines that headline the day's slate of games. Wednesday for example, our three main storylines going into the day were:

• The top of the AL East is pretty much a lock, so in the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays series there are several players on display who are expected to be trade targets for contending teams at the deadline next week.

  • Fun way to showcase this storyline – we pretend that I am a “Trade Deadline Vendor” walking through the stands selling concessions at Rogers Centre saying “Hot players, get your hot available players!”

• Mets are dominating the Subway Series and can sweep the series for just the second time since it began in 1997

  • Creative twist, use subway and train verbiage to have fun with it, such as “Can the Yankees derail the Mets?”

• Braves held a players-only team meeting to discuss offensive struggles as of late and how they need to turn things around to make a postseason push

As you will notice above, there are usually notes that support the night’s topics with ways we can get creative in introducing these stories. With so many shows and so many games, this is how we get together as a team to add our personal touch and keep things light, entertaining and exciting. 

My call time is usually 7pm, so I take the train from Manhattan to Secaucus, NJ, where our studios are. My first order of business is to get my computer hooked up to a program where I can look at the rundown more in-depth (i.e. timing, where each highlight will be in the show, where I plan to be on camera and off camera etc.). 

Then I check in with our incredible MLB Network research department. Each day we get an “MLB Network Research Packet” that this department works extremely hard on. I couldn’t do my job without them. The research packet includes in-depth details, stats, rankings, “on this day,” game previews, starters, injuries, you name it – just so many key pieces of information right at our fingertips. I work my way through the research packet and start writing my scripts for the above topics. 

At 8pm the entire crew gets together for our pre-show meeting, where we go through the rundown again, toss around any new ideas or adjust old ones so that we know everyone is on the same page and working in unison. Between 8:30pm and 10pm, I’m usually finalizing scripts, eating dinner and getting a little down time. We have an area in MLB Network called the “bullpen.” There are couches and a TON of TVs that are airing all of the MLB games. 

Most of the other show hosts and analysts are coming and going and hanging out in this area, so that hour of downtime is spent talking and watching games, hanging with them, asking them questions, and observing the occasional heated conversation that our hosts and analysts get into in regard to differing opinions about the games before they even go on air. So yes, what you see is actually what you get with these guys. They are passionate and it’s a great time working with them, learning and witnessing their love for the game off air too. 

10pm rolls around and it’s hair and makeup time. What happens in that room changes regularly. Sometimes a coworker comes in and we chat about baseball, sometimes I’m zoned in on the game or show that’s on our air, other times I’m writing this column, playing catch up on personal things or re-reading the research packet to make sure I’m still staying up to date. 

While I’m getting pampered, my director, graphics, set content crew and producers are working hard making sure the studio is well prepared and we have all the right elements ready for the show. Most importantly, our research department is closely following every game, entering postgame details and stats into the scripts as each one finalizes.  

Then showtime rolls around. Sometimes we can get into the studio early and tape certain segments around 11pm, other times we go full steam ahead and we’re live starting around 12am, 12:30am or 1am, depending on the day. Regardless, the routine in studio is all pretty standard. 

My scripts are on a teleprompter, my stage manager makes sure I have all of the props that I need for that night’s fun bits, and audio mics me up so I can talk to everyone in the control room. My director communicates with me the most in my ear – he’s directing me on which stage to stand on, what position to be in and when to start and stop talking. The studio crew is constantly moving and adjusting on the fly as we get communication from the control room. When the red light comes on, it really is incredible to see the product that comes out of so many moving parts. 

So there you have it, the ins and outs of Quick Pitch. An hour-long show that takes several hours of preparation and one show host that is backed by an army of experts and creative minds. Pretty special, huh?