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World Series Game 3: Yankees 5, Padres 4

Fox Solid But Unspectacular
As Yanks Take 3-0 Series Lead

Stirring Game's Drama Interrupted By Constant Fan Closeups

Fox's Game 2 Gets A-; Pregame Show Earns B+

Fox Gets A For Game 1;
C- For Pregame Show

Review Of AQB's Reviews
Of MLB Playoff Coverage

By David Kozo

October baseball doesn’t get much more intense than the New York Yankees’ 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres in Game 3 of the World Series Tuesday, but Fox missed its chance to make the telecast itself a classic.

Director Bill Webb’s constant use of the fan closeup - which is to Fox baseball coverage now what shots of players’ wives used to be to ABC and NBC in the 70s and 80s - managed to suck most of the drama out of the late innings.

Often Webb would go to two or three closeups in a row before returning to the action in mid-pitch. So instead of a shot of, say, how close the third baseman is to the line or who the on-deck hitter is, the fan at home is left to comment on the silly variations on the rally cap worn by the Padre faithful.

The idea behind the closeup, just as it was for the erstwhile shots of players’ families, is to humanize the drama for the non-baseball fan who is tuning into the series on national television. But rather than dumb-down the broadcast, Fox could've had its announcers explain the finer points of strategy a bit more than they normally would. [Click to read reviews of Game 2, Game 2's pregame show, Game 1 or Game 1's pregame show.]

The closeups weren’t excessive until the late innings. In fact, in the first half of the game, with New York's David Cone and San Diego's Sterling Hitchcock breezing along, the broadcast was fairly straightforward and without all the bells and whistles.

In the early innings, Tim McCarver noted how Hitchcock hadn’t given up a hit in the postseason his first time through his opponent’s batting order. Sure enough, Hitchcock did the same Tuesday night.

An audio highlight was Tony Gwynn telling his batting coach in the first inning that Cone didn’t have “giddyup” on his fastball. Gwynn would get a big hit off Cone later in the game.

Some late-inning highlights included McCarver saying New York third baseman Scott Brosius should key on a fastball at 3-2 from Hitchcock in the seventh inning. The next pitch was deposited for Brosius’s first homer, giving the Yanks a 5-3 lead.

Then the late storyline became Bochy’s unwise decisions to let Randy Myers start the 8th inning and pinch-run John Vander Wal, which left Andy Sheets to make the final out of the game.

The brief pregame show hit on all the major storylines early, including Joe Torre’s move to start rookie Shane Spencer in left field, and also how the Yankee lineup, without the designated hitter in the National League park, probably wouldn’t be as lethal.

Play-by-play man Joe Buck was solid as were analysts McCarver and Bob Brenly but Fox's production, especially in the late innings, brought the telecast down a notch or two.

Good lines: 1) Buck on the painted outfield grass at Qualcomm Stadium: “They always say this game isn’t played on paper; well tonight it’s being played on paint.” 2) McCarver on a shot of a fan dressed in a Santa suit: “Early or late.” 3) Brenly on Hitchcock’s tiny lead off first base: “He could fall down and be on the base.”

Best shots: 1) Padres manager Bochy with his head in his hands after Brosius’ second home run, which was the game winner. 2) Ken Caminiti with his bat in his mouth after striking out against David Cone.

Nice graphics: Early in the game a full-screen graphic entitled “Problems Solved” detailed all of the Yankees’ minor weaknesses coming into the series and how they were overcoming them.

Glitch: Fox rarely showed the on-deck hitter, including in the top of the seventh inning with New York pitcher Cone’s spot coming up, a fairly obvious time to do so.

Fox gadgets: The Super Shot camera was used several times during the evening, but it was never that much more illuminating than the regular slo-motion replay.

Meaningless stat: McCarver explaining how the Yanks, with their gaudy 114-48 regular-season record, were 33-11 against left-handed starters.

Oops: Audible swear word from the mouth of Padres’ Steve Finley in center field after Brosius’ second home run cleared the wall.

Blatant plug: Continuous shots of the Qualcomm Stadium sign. The company just happens to be a big sponsor of the World Series telecasts.

Random bit of info: McCarver noting that Cone’s C271 model bat was designed by Lou Brock.

Grade: B. Lose the closeups.

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To read George's review of Game 2's pregame show, click here.
To read George's review of Game 1, click here.
To read George's review of Game 1's pregame show, click here.
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