GARRETT WAIT
Sports Editor
“Good afternoon baseball fans and a big Southern California welcome. I’m Bill Schindler.”
Most students may not recognize it immediately, but for the past two seasons, that has been the phrase that welcomed Yahoo! subscribers to the palm-lined confines of Eddy D. Field Stadium.
The swooping baritone cadence of Pepperdine junior Bill Schindler has been quickly ingrained as something to be expected on weekend afternoons in the spring. On many lazy baseball days, Schindler’s voice has been what many Pepperdine baseball fans have come to count on for their Waves’ baseball fix.
He’s a natural, a radio savant with a voice that is both soothing and explosive at the same time. Some would think Schindler has been on the air for years, but that assumption would be dead wrong. He had zero experience on the mic, but he had an itch to get in the booth and try it out.
“When I came here, I wanted to do baseball, and I ended up doing P.A. for the baseball team and ended up that summer doing radio in the Alaskan Summer League my freshman year,” Schindler said.
But broadcasting wasn’t always the junior’s dream. When he was younger, he had some less grandiose ideas of what he wanted to do with his life.
“Before I wanted to do radio or sports broadcasting I wanted to do two things,” he said. “One, I wanted to be a veterinarian, and the other, I wanted to make ice cream.”
His broadcasting career probably wouldn’t have had any legs if his parents hadn’t discouraged him from certain things and encouraged him to try out his skills in the radio booth when he was younger.
“I’d come up with different things and my mom kept saying ‘You’re not going to be good at that,’” Schindler said. Finally, I came upon sportscasting and my parents said ‘You could probably do that.’ It was something I knew a lot about so I decided to give it a shot.”
He had some help once he got to Pepperdine as well. Dr. Don Shores, professor of broadcasting, and former NBC executive and current adjunct professor Don Ohlmeyer took Schindler under their wings and gave him opportunities for which he said he is extremely grateful. He also gained some wisdom from a Hall of Fame ballplayer.
“I remember Brooks Robinson, the longtime third baseman for the Orioles said, ‘When you wake up in the morning, if the first thing you think about in the morning is baseball, then you’re a baseball player,’” Schindler said.
“And I realized that when I get up in the morning the first thing I think of is broadcasting, and I think about it dozens of times during the day, and it’s the last thing I think of when I go to bed at night too,” he added.
Despite being a natural in the booth, he noted that the first few times on the microphone were nerve-racking. Especially during sporting events he didn’t know.
“There were restless nights, especially with basketball,” Schindler said. “I got the women’s basketball job, and I knew nothing about basketball at the time. It was a scary thought to do it by myself. I didn’t really sleep the night before the first game.”
By himself. That’s right, Schindler is a one man play-by-play-plus-color team. He hasn’t had a partner in the booth yet during his career at Pepperdine, meaning he has to make the entire game interesting without any outside help. But he wouldn’t mind a partner in the booth if Pepperdine decides to give him one.
“Doing a game by yourself is definitely harder than doing one with a person doing color who knows his stuff,” he said. “This year I think I’ve settled into an area where I’ve gotten comfortable by myself, and I think I’d like to continue by myself for the rest of the season. But next year if somebody capable wants to give it a shot, I’m definitely open to it.”
Schindler’s main influences growing up were two Major League broadcasters from whom he learned many of the tricks of the trade.
“I grew up in western Maryland, about 150 miles west of Baltimore, and my family and I were big Orioles fans,” he said. “We went to lots of games when I was young. I listened to (former Orioles broadcasters) Jon Miller and Chuck Thompson all the time. Jon Miller’s still the best to me. Chuck Thompson just passed away recently; he had an amazing voice. Those guys were great to learn from. I’d fall asleep at night listening to them, and there’s just nothing like that.”
He may have learned from the best, but Schindler’s signature home-run call is something he came up with himself during his first gig doing play-by-play in Alaska.
“I’ve tried to come up with a signature home run call,” Schindler said. “Since I started off in Alaska, the home run call has become ‘Out into the wilderness.’ But since we’re in Malibu, I’ve debated changing it to ‘Out into paradise.’ But so far I’ve just stuck with the original.”
But it’s not all fun and games. Schindler is still just a regular student at Pepperdine. However, his schedule keeps him busier than most.
“It’s a lot to juggle with classes too,” he said. “Like February I had basketball and baseball and basically I hadn’t had any Thanksgiving, Christmas or Spring Break.”
His schedule could get even busier later this year. He was contacted by producers of the Game Show Network’s “Poker Royale” who let him know that he was a finalist to become the new announcer, taking over for former Saturday Night Live star Kevin Nealon.
Most of his future plans revolve around sports, however, and that’s what he wants to do for the rest of his life.
“I’d love to be on Monday Night Football, I’d love to do the Super Bowl, I’d love to do the World Series, I’d love to be the voice on a major NBA broadcast,” he said. “But the goal for me in the near future is to go over to Beijing in 2008 and do some broadcasting for the Olympics.”
Yes, he has big dreams for when his career at Pepperdine is over, but for now, he’s content right where he is.
“It’s the best job in the world,” Schindler said. “When I close my eyes and picture heaven, that’s pretty much it. Pepperdine’s great, but I’ve got bigger goals outside of here. Each night though, when the lights go off, I can’t wait to get to the ballpark the next day.”
An office with a view — what more could one want?
03-31-2005
