USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand reports Fox is "testing two tweaks for its upcoming MLB coverage: cable cams flying across the field of play and umps wearing cameras." Fox "wanted to use cable cams during last year's playoffs, but player objections turned airspace over diamonds into no-fly zones" (USA TODAY, 3/25). In Detroit, Steve Schrader notes Fox tested the umpire cameras during Thursday's Tigers-Nationals game "on Fox Sports Detroit, and the grade is: incomplete." The mini-camera, mounted on plate umpire Joe West's mask, "lasted less than a half-inning before it was on the fritz," and it "didn't return till the top of the seventh." But "if the bugs are worked out, look for it to return before the season's over, because the shots FSD was able to show were pretty cool" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/25).
HE SAID/HE SAID: In N.Y., Bob Raissman reports Sirius XM host Chris Russo broadcast live Monday from Port Charlotte, Fla., for the Yankees-Rays game as part of a Spring Training tour, and Russo claims Yankees manager Joe Girardi "stiffed him" for an interview. Russo said that Yankees Dir of Media Relations Jason Zillo "had told his producer, Bill Zimmerman, over the weekend that Girardi would appear for an interview on Monday's show." Russo and his crew travelled from Tampa to Port Charlotte "with every expectation of getting an interview with Girardi sometime during Monday's five-hour program," but those expectations "drastically changed when Russo arrived at the ballpark." Russo: "They tell me he has to get paid. His agent (Steve Mandell) said Joe is the Yankees manager and he's not talking for free." However, a Yankees official said that Mandell was "actually in the middle of negotiating a deal for Girardi to appear on" Sirius XM's MLB Channel during the upcoming season. The source added there "were no guarantees made" about who would go on the show (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/25).
XX MARKS THE SPOT: In California, John Maffei reports XX Sports Radio 1090 "will carry all 162 Padres games again with Ted Leitner, Andy Masur and Jerry Coleman calling the action." The pregame show for home games "has been trimmed to two hours" with Darren Smith hosting the first hour and Jack Cronin the second. John Kentera "hosts a one-hour postgame show." Kentera and Cronin also will "host a one-hour pregame show for road games, with Kentera handling the postgame show" (NORTH COUNTY TIMES, 3/25).
BACK IN THE GAME: In St. Louis, Dan Caesar reports former FS Midwest Cardinals analyst Jack Clark this season will work for KTRS-AM, a station "in which the team has 50 percent ownership." The move comes after Clark last year was dropped by FS Midwest and WXOS-FM "after he ripped the club following its collapse last season." While FS Midwest never acknowledged that Clark was "ousted because of his biting comments," it was clear that FS Midwest Senior VP & GM Jack Donovan "wasn't happy having to deal with controversies surrounding Clark." Clark Thursday said that he "had no grudges toward" FS Midwest (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 3/25).
