ANOTHER TELEVISION GAFFER!

ANOTHER TELEVISION GAFFER!

(Mark Townsend, Jeff Passan, Kevin Kaduk)

(Baseball Almanac, Frazer Chronicle)

To bring a televised baseball game to us fans is a mighty task, one that few of us understand, and fewer care about how it’s done, as long as we don’t miss anything, it’s good enough for us. Especially during a World Series, as fans we simply want to view the game as it unfolds before our very eyes, the burps, tobacco spiting, the occasional guttural language after a perceived missed call, and the seeming endless adjustment of a batters cup and jock-strap.

I don’t care what Joe Torre thinks, or Jim Leland has to say about a particular play, or what some bearded hulking catcher from the Red Sox said in the locker room. It’s a sidebar to the more important issue…..the game, ssssssssoooooooo, why not let’s get back to the game, and put an end to all the senseless chatter by announcers.

I’ve watched this year’s World Series like so many other millions, kind of like a commercial break fashion, I’ll check into the game to get the score at the commercial of the show that I’m watching during the game time. Granted I miss much of the action, but then again…..since I’m a Detroit Tigers fan, I have a minimal interest.

I’ve watched well over a hundred fifty games this season what with my MBL Extra Inning package, and I watched the Tigers stumble bum their way through the latter part of the regular season, and the first round of the playoffs, before they eliminated by the Red Sox in six games in the American League championship series.  

And now I casually watch the Cardinal Red Sox best 4 of 7 World Series, and I marvel at how industrialized and commercialized the biggest sports ticket on the planet has become. You got Joe Buck who never laced a pair of baseball cleats up, and former catcher Tim McCarver, (a good catcher in his own right) supplying the color commentary.

You then have Fox Sports Network producing and directing the broadcasts of the games, from their television trucks, and television cameras stationed throughout the ball park. There are sound hook-ups, editing, choreographing, delayed action equipment and that fabulous slo-mo equipment that seems to catch a wooden bat bending during a hitters swing, that modern technology is really cool, and they can keep it.

BUCK AND MCCARVER

There’s only so much drama that to be packed into a baseball game, it isn’t rocket science, you simply hit the ball and run like hell. The team that scores the most runs wins, and the games not over until that fact has been established.

I have pondered the umpires strike zone this year and came to the conclusion that the disparity between umpires and the strike zone can be like night and day. One guy calls high pitches but won’t give a pitcher a low strike, the next day a different umpire won’t call high strikes but rings a hitter up on a low pitch.

Probably the very worst of the men in blue is the arbitrator with a wide strike zone, or the guy with the tea-cup sized zone. Hitters can’t adjust, therefore strike out or hit weak dribblers or lazy opposite field fly-outs.

This is not to say that these guys should collectively be replaced, God knows that they have the most difficult job on the field, and with the exception of the ball and strike zone do a really good job. However I come from an era when there was National League umpires and American League umpires, there wasn’t any inter league umpires, so hitters in each league could adjust to the style of the men in blue. I think that it’s watered down the game, umpires working both American League and National League games.

Another thing that drives me crazy is when Joe Buck say’s that a pitch is a cutter, or a screw ball, or some other weird pitch. Come on Joe, let’s face the facts, you don’t have a clue what pitch the pitcher is throwing…..try calling pitches the old simple way, a breaking ball or a fast ball, we don’t need…..as fans…..any more than that.

And Tim McCarver calling for a steal, or a hit and run, or a hitter hitting behind the runner to advance him, granted some hitters do that, but the vast majority are simply at the plate to hit the ball hard someplace, unless a .250 hitter has the bat control to hit the ball behind the runner, or drive the ball to a particular field.

I enjoyed the father of Joe Buck, Jack much more than his off-spring, Jack Buck seemed to have a feel for the game, knew when to commentate, and when to shut his mouth. With little exception I really don’t care for today’s color commentators, they dribble on endlessly and make themselves sound like they haven’t a clue of what’s happening on the field.

Tim McCarver hit .271 during his 21 year career as a catcher in baseball; he was a solid hitter and probably a better catcher, and led the National League with 13 triples in 1966. He’s been in the dug-out, in the clubhouse, played in big games and really should know his stuff…..however, he could tone it down a bit and pull a few Dizzy Dean boners, fans would love that.

Right now baseball is enjoying a hugely successful run of success, but they could work a bit harder on nostalgia, it’s really what baseball is all about. A hot dog, beer and a bag of peanuts…..and time between pitches to converse with the guy sitting in front of you…..now those are the good old days.

The World Series has been around since 1903 when it took a best five of nine to be crowned the world champion. It’s the equalizer, this best 4 out of 7, people just need to be left alone and be entertained by the spectacle that unfolds between the chalk-lines…..best game ever invented by man.

HAVE A NICE DAY!