NBC's production of Game One of the Orioles-Yankees ALCS
"approached perfection," according to Richard Sandomir of the
N.Y. TIMES. Sandomir: "The camera angles and replays were on the
mark. NBC could have been proud" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/10). USA
TODAY's Rudy Martzke notes NBC "delivered," as the network
"showed clearly the key plays that altered and decided the
dramatic game." On Fox's coverage of Game One of the Cardinals-
Braves NLCS, Martzke notes Fox's play-by-play announcer Joe Buck
earns a "Rookie of the Year" award for setting the pace with
"lower verbiage while detailing the proceedings" (USA TODAY,
10/10). In Baltimore, Milton Kent notes the coverage of Derek
Jeter's controversial home run "earned NBC a measure of
redemption," but NBC "missed some rather important little things
that were a drag on the telecast" (Baltimore SUN, 10/10). In
Boston, Jack Craig writes that NBC's 14 camera telecast "so
dominated that those who paid to watch in the jammed ballpark
were cheated" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/10). In St. Louis, Dan Caesar
notes Buck, who is the Cardinals regular season play-by-play
announcer, did not "allow any of his hometown prejudices to come
through on the air as he often does on local broadcasts." Caesar
also notes analysts Tim McCarver and Bob Brenly were "at their
best" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 10/10).
KID GLOVES: NBC's Jim Gray interviewed 12-year-old Jeff
Maier, shortly after Maier caught Derek Jeter's homerun in front
of the right field wall that tied the game. In Boston, Jack
Craig notes, "Ye gads, what will television do next?" (BOSTON
GLOBE, 10/10). The GLOBE's Dan Shaughnessy calls Gray's
interview "one of the more hideous moments" as he "made no
mention of the illegality of the act and did everything but
recommend the kid for enshrinement in Cooperstown" (BOSTON GLOBE,
10/10). In Toronto, Bob Elliott writes NBC was "quick to make a
hero of Maier" (TORONTO SUN, 10/10). In New York, Richard
Sandomir notes the interview with Maier was taped, as NBC was
away in a commercial. Sandomir notes Gray, "always a tough
interrogator ... turned into a cupcake" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/10).
Maier appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America." Maier: "I can't
take all the credit because the Yankees are a great baseball team
and they really played an excellent game. ... I was just a 12-
year-old going for a ball." Maier, asked how he would feel if
Jeter had been ruled out: "Pretty bad because there are a lot of
people at the Stadium, instead of being congratulated I may have
been stampeded or something" (ABC, 10/10).
BETTER DAYS: Fox Exec Producer Ed Goren, who was Senior
Producer for CBS in '91, on the difference in MLB's "attitude"
toward TV coverage: "The attitude is more of an partnership. In
the CBS days, the attitude was, 'We're the national pastime and
we don't have to do anything for TV'" (Prentis Rogers, ATLANTA
CONSTITUTION, 10/10).
