FS Midwest for this year has "killed the idea" of adding some elements to MLB Cardinals games that would "bring viewers closer to the game, such as chatting with players not in the immediate line of fire while play is in progress," according to Dan Caesar of the ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH. Concepts discussed involved "maybe a guy who just homered and was sitting on the bench, a player who had made a big defensive play the previous half inning or a reliever who wouldn’t be used until much later." The idea was to "try to experiment with the innovations" on a couple of Cardinals telecasts this season. If "at least part of the test run worked, perhaps the successful elements could become commonplace in television coverage" of MLB. But other than for the All-Star Game, MLB has "little more than taped in-game interviews with managers during national network telecasts or a chat with a starting pitcher who isn’t playing that day." Fox' Joe Buck said, “When you start asking for things outside the box, it becomes multi-layered trying to get stuff approved. ... It’s something I think could benefit all parties involved, and we’ll see if maybe we can attack ... it in the offseason this next year and maybe gear up for a couple dates next year." He added that talk of "implementing the idea didn’t begin until shortly before spring training began." Buck: "I think we waited too long, that’s probably on me. When I was finally into it, it was something that probably should have been handled in the offseason" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 5/24).
