When Major League Baseball produces its official 2024 World Series video, will it include the assault of Mookie Betts by two Yankee fans seated behind the right field wall in foul territory?
I don’t see why.
After all, much of the media (social and otherwise) treated the nationally televised affair more as a comedic moment perpetrated by Yankee season ticket holders, than as the criminal act of two suddenly famous fools who should have been in jail Tuesday night for forcibly breaking up the Dodgers. baseball’s right fielder and the glove in which he was housed.
Fox Sports’ Joe Davis and John Smoltz, the network’s leading baseball voices, set the tone. They were the first to project a laissez-faire vibe to the millions of viewers watching the show. Maybe they’re already conditioned to the bunch of drunken “adults” who turn stadiums into huge saloons where you also get to watch professional baseball play.
Davis did play-by-play of the ill-fated first inning incident in Game 4. Then, with the replay, it was expected that Davis or Smoltz would express an opinion on the antics of the fans assaulting Betts, which resulted to Gleyber Torres’ call due to fan interference.
“Betts has this ball in his glove and this fan is literally trying to take his glove off,” Davis said. “[He] he takes the ball out of there [the glove]. ‘A’ for effort.
Davis’s ambiguous “A” (or was it sarcastic) for the effort message was confusing. This left the impression that he was not shocked by the ball snatch interference. Or maybe it’s not in the business of delivering compelling versions of a World Series TV broadcast. Yet in Game 5, Davis called Betts’ interference an “unfortunate” incident while reporting how MLB/Yankees gave banned fans tickets to a pediatric cancer patient and his family.
Then there was “The Pat McAfee Show,” the home office for altered states of mind. McAfee, who was less than convincing, told his ESPN audience and guest, baseball columnist Jeff Passan, “…We’re not on the side of the drunken Yankees fans here.”
Ty Schmit, one of McAfee’s cast members, gave viewers a reason to believe their fearless leader wasn’t completely telling the truth. Schmit: “Fans don’t do that [interfere] … [but] if you are in this situation and you are devastating your area, then do what you have to do and live with the consequences. Which could include, as Schmit pointed out, “heroes’ farewells.”
Passan tried to push back. Tests indicated he was not preaching to the choir. He said the offending Yankee fans “deserve all the criticism and they were kicked out of the game.”
And considering how some in the media have portrayed them as lovable losers, their antics could be replayed in this highlight video from the World Series. If only to tell another sign of the times in which we live.
NOT DEAD YET
I guess the Mets’ fascinating comeback on the way to the NL East title didn’t provide any lessons for Steve Gelbs, SNY’s Mets reporter.
In his other role as host of the Jets’ pre- and post-game shows, Gelbs opened the postgame, following the Gang Green’s 25-22 loss to New England last Sunday, by saying: “The Jets season that began with Super Bowl expectations ended on October 27. »
Like some of his colleagues who ended the Mets’ season in May, Gelbs fearlessly buried the Jets well before mathematical elimination.
Although Jets executives don’t like his views, Gelbs has nothing to worry about. If he is wrong, no one will hold him to account. They’ll probably forget that Gelbs held the Jets’ funeral with nine games remaining. Thursday night/Friday morning, his tone was anything but funereal after the Jets’ victory over Houston 21-13.
“They did it,” Gelbs said on the postgame show. “Jets snap five-game losing streak.” Did he forget to put the nail in their coffin less than a week ago?
By the way, if the Jets season is already over, why even bother watching SNY’s Jets pre- or post-game shows?
BEHIND THE SCENES? YES
Aaron Boone and his players were so overcome with emotion and grief that the manager didn’t arrive in the interview room until 12:41 a.m.
The YES Game 5 postgame show was underway, while the Dodgers were still celebrating outside on the Yankee Stadium turf and inside the visitors’ clubhouse. All the noise seemed to stop when Boone, looking down, covering his eyes and stopping, finally said:
“The ending is cruel. I’m heartbroken.
For the Yankees, it was the emotional moment of the season. This gave viewers a clear picture of what distraught Boone was experiencing – the closest look.
That’s not the only way YES is using its World Series team to bring late night and early morning viewers inside the games.
Like Saturday, after Carlos Rodon allowed three homers and failed to get past the fourth inning of Game 2, John Flaherty presented a possible cause of the pitcher’s problems.
While watching the Fox show, Flaherty saw Rodon constantly looking at his fingers. Flaherty thought Rodon was bothered by blisters.
MANAGE A REVIEW
When it comes to accusing Aaron Boone of being a player’s manager, Christopher (Mad Dog) Russo has plenty of company.
“Boone is too comfortable with his players,” Dog said on his SiriusXM show Tuesday.
Yet it seems that those who agree with Dog’s view of Boone are forgetting that the Yankees high command wanted a “softer” manager to replace Joe Girardi’s tight-fisted personality.
BAD NEWS ABOUT BOB
According to published reports (first reported by The Athletic), Bob (Rapping Roberto) Costas has decided to retire from baseball play-by-play. There is no way to spread this bad news.
Only in the dysfunctional world of sports television or sports entertainment can a decades-old talent who is still 1) A historian of the game 2) Fearless, opinionated and engaging, 3) An entertaining stylist and 4) A awareness of the game, “deciding” to move away.
This doesn’t make much sense.
AROUND THE DIAL
Derek Jeter played a prominent role in Fox’s World Series pre- and post-game shows. The Captain’s dry sense of humor combined with his storytelling ability makes for a compelling watch. And Jeter doesn’t feel compelled to ramble. …Fox resisted the temptation to add a third voice, likely a current high-profile player or manager, to its World Series booth. In the past, Foxies would add a voice for their marquee value. The results have been mixed. … Working on the World Series on Fox, Joe Davis and John Smoltz weren’t bad. They were solid but on the vanilla side. The fact that they didn’t have a strong reaction to fans attacking Betts suggests they might need some instinctive control. …ESPN Radio had great results using a three-person booth (Jessica Mendoza, Jon Sciambi, Eduardo Perez) for the World Series. The three have worked together before. Calling Yankees-Dodgers, they were mechanically efficient and entertaining. And they never forgot that they were working on a radio show. … During a visit to Mad Dog Russo’s SXM party, Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked what he thought about playoff games being broadcast on ratings-challenged FS1? “No rapping about FS1, but in all honesty, I don’t think there’s a commissioner of professional sports who wouldn’t admit to you that if you have the choice, you’d still rather have the reach of a broadcast network “,” said Manfred. Hey, if the commish goes public on FS1, imagine what Manfred says behind closed doors about the Foxies putting his product behind the scenes on TV? … If his health is good, don’t rule out the possibility that “retiree” John (Pa Pinstripe) Sterling returns to the Yankees radio booth in some way. Or maybe he does sports radio shows.
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GUY OF THE WEEK: JEFF VINIK
To take care of business. The outgoing owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning took a portion of his profits and handed out $60,000 bonuses to team employees for a job well done.
DWEEB OF THE WEEK: TYRIQUE STEVENSON
For messing up priorities. What a mistake for the Bears defensive back late in the Washington game, spending time taunting fans during the live game.
DOUBLE TALK
What Aaron Boone said: “He [a Juan Soro at-bat] is a combination of the ensuing battle, but with a theatrical element.
What Aaron Boone meant: “I hope we can ‘afford’ a lot more of these bats.”
