How FOX Ruined Baseball

Ok, so the FOX network is not responsible for yesterday's rain postponing game 4 of the World Series. Yet, a little rain delaying a game is the least of Major League Baseball's problems given FOX's decade-long stranglehold on the playoffs. I feel old saying it, but I know I'm going to have begin a few sentences with the phrase, "Back in my day."

Back in my day - and by this I mean the time that I was 10 or 11 years old - you'd watch a baseball game and it was just that - a baseball game. You'd have one announcer who was a good storyteller and he may or may not be accompanied by an ex-player who would share some clubhouse memories. Of course, after the player's strike of 1994 which ended the season without playoffs in August, fans weren't quick to come back. When FOX began broadcasting games in 1997, part of their mission seemed to be making the game more "hip." But, here's the thing: baseball's not hip - it's just baseball, and no matter how flashy you try and make it, it will never be more than that.

That didn't stop FOX from putting flashy guitar music at the intro while having players pose with mean looks on their faces for over-produced, over-narrated intros. Furthermore, the cool storytelling announcer was not enough. No, the announcer had to be as boisterous and arrogant as the players. And one would just not do - he would need one if not two former players by his side to say what kind of pitch had just been thrown, while freeze-framing a player's swing to draw idiotic lines pointing out its direction. Now the accompanying "analyst" was actually introduced by ESPN (probably in the eighties), however ESPN's analyst of choice was at least a Hall of Famer (Joe Morgan), while FOX's was an obnoxious frat boy remembered solely for once inadvertently dropping his pants after sliding into second base (Steve Lyons).

Four years ago, the network introduced an animated talking baseball with a high-pitched voice who would roll across the screen and describe just what a "slider" is. Thankfully, this did not last long. FOX, however, has not abandoned its trademark on-field hidden cameras and coaches wearing microphones, which make for self-congratulatory and rather meaningless replays. Announcer: "Let's see what that looked like from the ground - oh, wait, we can't see anything because there's dirt on the lens." Or worse, replaying a conversation at the mound which has been recorded but makes absolutely no sense because baseball players talk fast and are rarely articulate. Now they're interviewing managers while the game is going on - which seems like a downright distraction to me. And last, whoever decided that "fan cam" was a good idea - scrolling the crowd for bored look middle-aged men or overly-enthusiastic kids, all to the tune of George Thorogood or James Brown - should really be called in for questioning.

For all of FOX's attempts to bring in new technology to a baseball broadcast, none of it has added to my enjoyment. When individuals from my parents' and grandparents' generation recall their baseball memories of year's past, it almost always includes nostalgia for the radio announcer. FOX's use of lame on-field cameras, pointless in-game audio and obnoxious "young" announcers has merely created a greater detachment between the players and the fans. After the strike of 1994, this detachment is what organizations were worried about the most. That detachment has always been there, but classic storytelling announcers seemed to bridge that gap with ease. FOX's over-indulgent use of technology renders players simply characters who may not even really exist - kind of like that ridiculous new show Justice.

Note: I should add - back in my day, when a game was delayed due to rain, they would show you a blooper special with players dropping balls, running into each other and doing odd things with gum. Last night however, they ran a marathon of new episodes of The War at Home. Can this game be saved?