‘Baseball Tonight’ appeals more to eye than brain
August 21, 2007 - 9:00 pm
These are the times that try men’s souls. All six baseball division races are heating up to a fever pitch. No fan could ask for more. Yet ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight,” the one show that could be providing consistent daily insight on the races, is essentially asleep at the switch.
It is locked into its over-the-top daily format of “Web Gems” (outstanding fielding plays) and “Touch ‘Em All” segments (notable and even not-so-notable home runs, which leave the impression that it’s all about “me” and not about team).
Then there’s the accompanying slap, dash and dazzle. An intro of flipping baseball cards. A set that’s florid to a ghastly extent with crimson floor, orange desk, and blues, reds and oranges in the background. Fleeting images of Johnny Bench, Luis Gonzalez and Babe Ruth cross the screen — but interestingly, none of Barry Bonds.
It’s a show that’s so rushed at times you wonder if it has ADHD. The content is fine for high schoolers and college sophomores, but now is the time we need daily insight and analysis on teams in the races.
“Baseball Tonight” is completing its 18th year as the vehicle fans watch to stay on top of what’s happening each day. Its ratings aren’t gangbusters — less than 1.0 — but since it’s on every night, an enormous number of fans do watch at one time or another.
I know the show has to cater to the sophomores for ratings. Hence the overshowing of dingers and outfielders climbing fences. But ever since the excellent Harold Reynolds left the show for MLB.com last year after a questionable sex discrimination charge by an ESPN employee, the analysis content has tumbled.
The show does still have the services of three outstanding commentators — peerless Peter Gammons, likable Tim Kurkjian and Steve Phillips, the former Mets general manager. Buster Olney, a brilliant writer and analyst, appears infrequently, as does Orel Hershiser, the former pitcher who is brainy and insightful.
Jay Levy, the show’s senior coordinating producer, needs to tilt it more toward the analysts as the races come down to the wire. The show needs to go less for the eye (there will always be enough Web Gems) and more for the brain.
And knock off the trivia! Who cares if the Mets’ Jose Reyes became the first non-outfielder since 1900 to have 60 or more stolen bases in three or more consecutive seasons, as anchorman Steve Berthiaume reported Thursday? Wow, you mean Reyes actually broke a non-outfielder’s record who had 60 or more for two straight seasons?
Give us insight instead. Exercise our cerebral cortex.
There were isolated moves in this direction last week.
On Wednesday, Gammons pointed out that the biggest worry the Red Sox face down the stretch is that their most important sluggers — David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew — simply aren’t having outstanding seasons.
On Saturday, Kurkjian launched into a riff on how some teams are stealing a page from A’s general manager Billy Beane’s book of throwing talented kids straight into the playoff races. It was an astute point. He cited the Diamondbacks’ Justin Upton, the Brewers’ Ryan Braun, the Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki and the Tigers’ Cameron Maybin as prime examples.
This is the stuff we want in September, OK?
• PACMAN’S GRILLING — If Pacman Jones of the Tennessee Titans ever shows his face again after his interview with HBO’s “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel,” it will be a mini-miracle. He was that pathetic in defending himself. Besides being suspended from the NFL, Jones is charged with felony coercion and faces up to 12 years in prison for his actions at a strip club here during NBA All-Star Weekend last February.
This edition of “Real Sports” also contains a wrenching segment on dogfighting, which is at the center of a federal indictment that may cost the Falcons’ Michael Vick his NFL career. Commissioner Roger Goodell has to be shaking his head in despair. Reruns of the episode can be seen Thursday, Sunday and Aug. 29.
• SCOOTER’S FAREWELL — Kudos to ESPN Classic for running unedited the late Phil Rizzuto’s 1994 Hall of Fame induction speech last week. For those who listened to his calls of Yankee games for four decades, he was forever unedited. He also was loved.
As a writer to the New York Times said after Rizzuto’s Aug. 13 passing: “O Scooter, Yankee true, beloved bard of the booth. … Pinstripes white and blue carry cries from distant days. … Glory echoes with each game you celebrate.”
Bill Taaffe is a former award-winning TV/radio sports columnist for Sports Illustrated. His “Remote Control” column is published Tuesday. He can be reached at taaffe-reviewjournal@earthlink.net.
BILL TAAFFEMORECOLUMNS