Byline: Dan Caesar
ST. LOUIS _ Tuning to Fox Sports Net's coverage of Major League Baseball on Wednesday left viewers with a nasty case of double vision.
But there was no need to rub the eyes or take an aspirin. The audience simply was subjected to another gimmick by national officials at FSN, who apparently think baseball is a video game, a high-tech playground on which it must toss production-related gizmos in order to keep viewers' attention.
The latest foray was the decision to air two live pictures simultaneously, one in a small box superimposed on the main screen. But the smaller one often merely was a distraction, pulling attention away from the primary coverage in much the same way a pop-up ad diverts the eyes on an Internet site.
Fox is doing this on telecasts of 23 teams it covers this month. But based on the shenanigans that aired locally on the Cardinals-Giants telecast, the ploy is miserable.
On the main screen, we saw the Cards' Albert Pujols standing on second base. And there he was too in the small box, as if someone had activated the picture-in-picture device common on many newer TV sets. We saw the Giants' Tsuyoshi Shinjo standing in the outfield and were told he was playing deep.
But the minuscule picture couldn't provide enough perspective, so a wider angle was shown on the large screen_while a smaller version of the same thing remained in the little box. We saw an add-nothing shot from the rear of the catcher's shoulder and a close-up of home plate, partially blocking the worthwhile picture from a center-field camera of the pitcher throwing to the hitter.
It got worse. There was a play in the outfield when San Francisco's Reggie Sanders was chasing the ball, but the small screen covered him on the big screen as he fielded the ball and when he threw it back to the infield.
Wasting talents
It's a shame, because the local crew does an outstanding job when allowed to do what it was hired to do_televise a ballgame, not a carnival.
The night was a loser from the beginning for those who just wanted to watch baseball. Fox Sports Net started by begging viewers to vote in an Internet poll as to which player they wanted to see first in the box. And, as they have all season, the Internet polls appear periodically throughout the game_as if viewers need some kind of interactive hook to hold their interest.
To cap things, race-car driver and native St. Louisan Kenny Wallace spent a good chunk of time touting the Busch Series race in town this weekend. Normally, this would have been tolerable. But on this night, hearing him say he was trying to hide his cup of beer while being interviewed just enhanced the amateur aspect of the telecast.
The box did deliver a couple of nice elements_including Pujols, while shown in the small box, pointing at the pitcher while correctly proclaiming a balk. But with the amount of mining FSN did on nearly every pitch, the pittance of nuggets unearthed compared with the amount of fool's gold was a waste of time.
Mercifully the practice will be curtailed at least locally, FSN spokesman Geoff Goldman said.
'I think you'll be seeing it only occasionally, a few times in games as the situation warrants,' he said.
The technology is a good enhancement when presented properly, as the TBS crew has been doing this season on its Atlanta Braves telecasts. TBS uses it sparingly, only at meaningful times such as to show a runner scoring while the ball is in the outfield.
Pouring it on
Overkill is nothing new for FSN. Several weeks ago, it brought in 'guest commentators,' i.e., so-called celebrities, to sit in the booth during games it was airing regionally.
When FSN pulled this stunt locally, the Cards were playing the Cubs. Instead of an insightful and solid telecast of a game of high interest in St. Louis, announcers Joe Buck and Al Hrabosky were relegated to stepping aside to make room for Illinois men's basketball coach Bill Self and the Rams' Tyoka Jackson, among others.
And another intrusion is on the way. 'Instructional nights,' in which Cal Ripken Jr. will give pointers via tape on how to play the game, will be included in some August telecasts, though Goldman said they won't be as intrusive as other gimmicks.
FSN officials obviously think that baseball fans can't tune in merely to watch a ballgame, that they need a sideshow to be entertained. Perhaps that's the case elsewhere, but not in St. Louis.
Maybe when its contract comes up, FSN should forget about negotiating with the Cards and talk to Ringling Brothers. Or perhaps some day FSN will get the picture_and we don't mean two pictures.
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