World Series Game 1
Fox's Pregame Show Disappoints
By George Stahl
Fox surprisingly did a poor job with its pregame show. I have been impressed with the network’s pregame show throughout the regular season and playoffs; however, Saturday night’s version was far from its best.
It opened with Steve Lyons saying how the underdog Padres could win the World Series, which was a fine way to start the show, except Lyons appeared a little nervous and stumbled over a couple of his points.
The biggest disappointment, by far, was the segment called “Who are these guys?,” which tried to identify the Padres to the many baseball fans who are probably unfamiliar with the West Coast idea. A great idea that was extremely appropriate given the Padres underdog status.
The problem was Fox only interviewed one Padre - Tony Gwynn, easily the most recognizable and most known Padre. The only other person quoted was Yankees manager Joe Torre - not even Padres manager Bruce Bochy! The piece never mentioned the other Padres or their achievements. The segment could have introduced the Padres to millions of baseball fans unfamiliar with them. Instead, it disappointed immensely.
Fox did show the player introductions (don’t they announce the nonstarters anymore?), although Fox seemed to have problems capturing audibly the crowd’s reactions to the introductions.
Things that make you go hmm...: Fox missed the moment of the silence for Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio, who is hospitalized with pneumonia but expected to be all right. Did this have anything to do with Steinbrenner’s ongoing dispute with Major League Baseball? Steinbrenner had wanted “baseball’s greatest living ballplayer” to throw out the opening pitch, while baseball wanted Sammy Sosa. DiMaggio’s illness made Sosa the obvious choice.
Steinbrenner also wanted former Metropolitan Opera baritone Robert Merrill, a Yankee Stadium regular, to sing the national anthem. Baseball wanted Tony Bennett. In the end, they compromised by having Bennett sing "America the Beautiful," leaving the anthem to Merrill.
Pregame show grade:
C-. I’ve seen better from Fox. Much better.
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