MLB policy: no cameras allowed on closer coming from the bullpen--Filippelli

• YES Network's John Filippelli was one of founding CEO Leo Hindery's first hires in September 2001 for the 2002 launch. Filippelli is interviewed in late
• 2005 for Sports Business Daily's One on One.
• It seems Selig's feeling of entitlement extends to avoiding scenes of a late inning hero running in from the bullpen:

"Filippelli: "You want to convey to the viewer what’s going on. For a long time, [MLB] was very afraid of what [we] would do.

• I remember getting in an argument in the 1996 World Series.

• I wanted one shot, with a hand-held camera, of the bullpen doors opening.

• I wanted the world to see what [Yankees closer] JOHN WETTELAND saw as he came out into the vast expanse of Yankee Stadium

on a crisp autumn night with a full stadium going wild. I wanted to give some sense of what he was experiencing, of bringing the game to the viewer.

• But that was something that wasn’t done.

• [MLB] didn’t want cameras in the bullpen. ...

But [MLB] -- PAUL BEESTON, to his credit -- relented and let us do it."...

• (Mr. Filippelli is President of YES Network Production and Programming).

*For the record, I've long since detailed that I'm not a fan of the YES Network or anything about it. Having Yankee games on MSG was preferable for many reasons. I found the above reference interesting in an otherwise boring interview by Mr. Filippelli. (sm)

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