Fox Sports will show part of the August 26 Dodgers-Cubs
game in black and white "to commemorate" the 61st
anniversary of the first televised baseball game on August
26, 1939, according to Michael Buteau of BLOOMBERG NEWS.
The game "will feature a different television production
technique for every inning," beginning in black and white
"with only one camera located directly on the ground behind
home plate and another in the upper deck, the same way the
first game was broadcast" featuring Dodgers-Reds from
Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. Additionally, because instant
replay was not developed until the '60's, "viewers won't see
a replay until the fifth inning." As the broadcast
progresses, the announcers "will explain the upcoming
technological changes and provide a historical retrospective
of each era" (BLOOMBERG, 8/11). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's
Michele Greppi writes that each inning will be introduced by
FSN anchor Keith Olbermann from L.A., "who will tell viewers
about the history, music, fashion and perhaps even
broadcast-rights rates of the respective eras." Greppi:
"That means no instant replay or analysis by Tim McCarver
for the first five innings, no 'Fox box' statistics or
microphones on the managers until the eighth inning and no
'catcher-cam' until the ninth. That means there will be no
Internet voting on favorite style of coverage until after
the game is over and the full arsenal of graphics, video,
audio and technological toys ... has been redeployed"
(HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/11). Fox Sports President Ed Goren
said that Olbermann will appear "in period attire" each
inning and Fox will recreate graphics and use footage and
commercials from each era to provide the "look" for each
decade (Steve Zipay, NEWSDAY, 8/11).
SO FAR, SO GOOD: In Chicago, Ed Sherman writes, "As far
as sports television gimmicks go, this one rates several
notches above the football game without announcers, the
bathroom break during the Super Bowl and, of course, the
infamous glowing puck." Goren said that the idea for the
broadcast "came during the furor over the NBA's edict that
coaches be miked" for national games (see THE DAILY, 2/28),
a move that "sparked criticism that television had become
too invasive." Goren: "[Fox Sports Chair] David Hill said
if people think we're lousing up the game, maybe we should
do a game to show them how it was back then" (CHICAGO
TRIBUNE, 8/11). In Milwaukee, Bob Wolfley writes, "Hey,
this sounds like fun. In fact, it seems like such a good
idea, you wonder why no one has tried something like it
before now. Go, Fox Sports" (JOURNAL SENTINEL, 8/11).
