TBS MLB Playoff Coverage, Analysts Get Mixed Reviews
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Ripken Receives Mixed Reviews
For Studio Analyst Work |
TBS began its exclusive TV coverage of all four MLB division series with three games yesterday, and the net did "a competent, if not spectacular job," according to Ed Sherman of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Studio analyst Frank Thomas was "a bit soft-spoken at times, and like most current players who moonlight as analysts, he wasn't going to offend anybody." When asked whether Red Sox P Josh Beckett or Angels P John Lackey was tougher to hit, Thomas "wouldn't commit, knowing he will face them next year." However, Thomas was "on spot with his predictions." Sherman writes Cal Ripken Jr. "was much improved off his Monday night studio performance" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/4). In L.A., Christine Daniels writes under the header, "Frankly, TBS Whiffs by Using Thomas." Thomas "looked and sounded ... nervous," and he "had nothing to say or was unwilling to say anything meaningful for fear of offending someone he'll be playing against next season." Thomas had studio host Ernie Johnson "sounding like a lawyer interrogating a hostile witness -- or a dentist struggling to find some entertainment value in pulling teeth." Ripken "isn't a bad choice." He "analyzes a baseball game the same way he played one -- in methodical, workmanlike fashion. He isn't flashy, but he gets the job done." Ted Robinson and Steve Stone, who called last night's Angels-Red Sox game, "don't get overly excited about much ... [which is] appropriate for the clinical manner by which Beckett dissected the Angels' batting order" (L.A. TIMES, 10/4). In Baltimore, Ray Frager writes while Ripken "wasn't Charles Barkley, at least he wasn't Frank Thomas." While Ripken "wasn't as seamless on the air as when he used to turn double plays ... he looked pretty comfortable. ... He could grow into a baseball bantering partner for Johnson." Thomas looked "as if he had gotten a fastball while expecting a curve. ... You could almost feel Johnson longing for the mumbling of Shaquille O'Neal" (Baltimore SUN, 10/4).
MONDAY NIGHT: The CHICAGO TRIBUNE's Sherman wrote TBS "didn't get off to a great start Monday with its coverage" of the Padres-Rockies one-game playoff. Ripken "seemed at a loss for words when host Ernie Johnson threw him a question. Given his tepid opinions, Ripken is not going to be another Charles Barkley." However, the net "made a terrific choice to hire [Stone], underutilized since his Cubs days" (CHICAGOSPORTS.com 10/3). In Denver, Kevin Simpson writes of Monday's Orsillo and Simpson team: "Monday's broadcast didn't sound biased so much as it sounded like two guys who know way more about the Phillies than they do about Colorado. And in fairness, why not? The Braves play in Philadelphia's division and Boston resides in roughly the same media orbit" (DENVER POST, 10/4)
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Granderson To Serve As Studio Analyst
For Friday's AL Games On TBS |
NOTES: Time Warner Cable in Southern California "scrambled to enable the regional system to activate TBS HD," announcing yesterday afternoon that it added the channel in time for the region to watch Angels-Red Sox (MULTICHANNEL.com, 10/4)....The "unusual starting time" of 3:00pm ET for Rockies-Phillies "meant the hitters would be in shadows during most of the game. Phillies CF Aaron Rowand: "Network baseball stinks. I'll have to have a talk with the president of TBS" (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 10/4)....NESN's Red Sox pregame show from 5:30- 6:30pm ET yesterday earned a 3.1 rating, the best postseason pre-game rating in the net's history. The postgame show from 9:15-10:15pm got a 4.0, the second best postseason post-game rating in NESN history behind only Game Four of the '04 World Series (THE DAILY)....Tigers CF Curtis Granderson will work as a TBS studio analyst for Friday's AL games, and will also be an ESPN2 commentator October 15-19 from Bristol (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 10/4)....The Marlins' radio announcer Roxy Bernstein will not return next year. Bernstein said that he decided to resign "because the Marlins wanted him to give up his other job as a radio announcer for college basketball at his alma mater," the Univ. of California, although Marlins VP/Communications P.J. Loyello said that the team "never asked Bernstein to choose," but rather the team "decided not to renew his contract" (PALM BEACH POST, 10/4).
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