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"Pitch" producer talks about why they chose Padres as team in TV series

By jbox

We've mentioned recently that "Pitch", the show about a female Padres pitcher, was just picked up by Fox.  The Hollywood Reporter has an in depth interview with writer/executive producer Dan Fogelman about the series.  There was already a partnership between Fox and MLB but this show took it to the next level as they worked together to create the pilot.

THR asks why they chose the Padres as Ginny's team and while it's a good question it seems a bit insulting coming from them. Especially when they call the Padres a small market team and suggest the Dodgers in their place.  But seriously why not the Dodgers?  The answer is almost as insulting, saying that the Padres basically wouldn't be in a position to turn down a suitor, which is also true.  I'd have hoped for a canned answer that suggested it was due to a cross promotion of the All-Star Game.  Oh well.

'Pitch': How Dan Fogelman Is Swinging for the Fences With Fox Baseball Drama - Hollywood Reporter

The team featured on the show is the Padres. Why not go with a bigger market team, like the Dodgers in L.A.?

Petco is such a beautiful stadium and a great place to be shooting. We wanted to do it locally. The team felt like a team that would be friendly toward us and they've been incredible thus far. MLB had suggested numerous teams and the Padres was one that we thought would be really excited to have us and a good partnership for us. We're a presence, we're shooting on their off-days with hundreds of extras filling the stadium and we're all over their field trying to be respectful. We needed a team that would be open to having that presence there. They've been so welcoming. It just felt like a good fit.

We also learn that while real MLB players will make guest appearances on the show, the chance of using actual Padres is questionable, because the show created its own fictional Padres team, led by catcher Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

On the team itself, it can be a little jarring if you're using current San Diego Padres when we have a Padres team of our own. That can be tricky. But it's very much our plan and hope to be able to use as much as we can.

In the pilot the Padres play the Dodgers and even in a fictionalized baseball universe you'd think it couldn't possibly end up any worse than the team's real Opening Day, but it looks close.  Check out  the trailer:

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