World Series TV Review

With live baseball action on hold, here are some comments on the Fox TV coverage:

Joe Buck and Tim McCarver have been doing this for a long time and there was a time they were first rate. But no longer. The nicest adjective I can think of to describe their performance is soporofic. Buck's enthusiam for the game used to come through loud and clear, now he seems to be going through the motions. McCarver used to be interesting. Now he seems to struggle to stay awake and offers the same banal observations over and over again. They also have shown themselves to be true blue company men. When the game continued the other night despite the British Open conditions, they were critical, but not of Fox TV which pays their considerable salaries and which surely had a major role in the cynical decision to play the game.

There has been justifiable criticism of the umpiring. One of the more controversial plays involved Evan Longoria seeming to tag out Jimmy Rollins at third base but Rollins was called safe. Fox showed a replay that seemed to show Longoria touching Rollins. Joe Buck proclaimed that Rollins was clearly out based on this and there seems to be a consensus now that Jimmy was tagged. But the replay was not definitive. Yes it appeared there was a tag but the replay angle could have been deceiving. I'm not saying that Rollins was safe, only that the replay was not decisive, yet Buck acted as if it was.

The practice of interviewing managers and coaches in the dugout during the games, not exclusive to Fox, is contrived and pointless, even insipid. Meatball questions are served up and the answers are as predictable as night following day. Why not have the on field reporter walk to the mound and interview the pitcher between batters? The practice of wiring a player with a microphone during the game is another contrivance. The broadcast should stick to what it does best - showing great video and letting the action speak for itself.