Foo - Red Sox/Rays on TBS only

I'm seriously pissed off that the Red Sox/Rays series is being shown only on TBS. I canceled my cable earlier this year since I watch very little TV. Really, baseball consisted of 90% of what I watched. I thought at least the playoffs would be on regular TV (as they usually have been in the past), but I the Division Series were on TBS. I listened to the games on the radio, thinking that when the ALCS came around, I could at least watch it on TV then. Someone told me that both League Championship Series would be on Fox (which I hate, but it's better than nothing), but I found out this morning that the ALCS is on TBS also! Aaargh! :mad:

Is cable TV really so universal that they can put these games on a channel where not everyone can see them? I'm really disappointed about this.

I'm not going to go over to a friends place, or to a bar, because these games don't end till like 1 in the morning and I don't want to be out that late.

That's another thing... Why the hell do these games start so late? Both Tampa and Boston are in the Eastern time zone, so there's no reason why games can start at a reasonable time. ESPN says that game 1 of the ALCS is scheduled to start at 8:37 PM. That's crazy. I feel especially bad for the kids who have been following their teams all year, whose parents won't let them stay up late enough to see the end of the game. Why does MLB shut off its future fan base like this?

Is cable TV really so universal that they can put these games on a channel where not everyone can see them? I'm really disappointed about this.


No, but apparently the networks didn't bid high enough to show the games...

that is one channel too many

No, but apparently the networks didn't bid high enough to show the games...

Which is a shame, by the way, because TBS baseball broadcasts blow ass. The guys talking are boring and the production is a quack job. During the Sox and Rays games they showed a beautiful shot of chicago. It was lovely really...a nice long view down the DAN RYAN EXPRESSWAY towards GARY INDIANA...G, thanks...you know if you turn that camera around you might just see one of the prettiest and most recognizable skylines in the world :twitchy:

you can come over my house and watch the game and stay for a sleepover....i'll make popcorn and smores too!!

It would sure seem that some local station would pick it up for you in Boston... That is a shame.

Being relatively new to the east coast, I have to say I hate the late nights for these night games too... On the west coast, if a game goes after 10:00 it is running late.

I think that Major League baseball and/or the players did it to themselves... Baseball is a game that requires real fans to endure the hours of little activity, paying attention to the strategy involved, punctuated by instants of activity.

To develop (and keep) fans for a sport like this, you need to relate with the fans. Who in baseball today really relates to the fans? Can a kid even get an autograph today?

Is there anyone like Dave Henderson that loves playing so much that fans can see it on his face when he takes the field?

Is there anyone like Kirby Puckett who I once saw play catch with someone in the upper deck at the Oakland Coliseum during warm-up?

Is there anyone who will sign more than 1 or 2 autographs as they leave the field?

Why doesn't some star ball player decide that he loves the game enough that he wants every fan to have his autograph that wants it, and that he doesn't care if so many people have his autograph that it is worthless?

Who was the last player that played for either the love of the game or the fans instead of money?

A friend gave me a Manny Ramirez autographed 2004 World Series ball shortly after the series. In order to get it, she had to sign up weeks in advance to stand in line. She paid for the autograph, and bought the ball. After all of that, the signing was canceled, so she got a certified signed ball, and never got to meet Manny. That was the one and only year she was mildly interested in baseball. She went with me to my first (and only so far) game at Fenway, and enjoyed the fever pitch of that magical season. Between the snub of the signing, and the trades the next season (which also turns off casual fans) she has showed no interest since. She didn't explain the lack of interest, but the result speaks for itself. How can a sport with the nature of baseball and where the players are this isolated form the fans survive?

Well, all of that to say that with the dwindling fan base, they can't get the ratings high enough for the major networks to be interested in the games except for possibly the World Series during prime time... And it won't be long before even the World Series would be relegated to a Turner station (or is it already?)

It would sure seem that some local station would pick it up for you in Boston... That is a shame.

This sort of thing has happened in the past, and I just sort of assumed it would happen again this year, but no.




Who was the last player that played for either the love of the game or the fans instead of money?

Honestly, the last time this happened was probably sometime in the 19th century. I go to work for the love of my pay check, and it's the same for the players. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that though... It's a job. We all have to have one. Even if you love your job, would you do it for free?

That said, I'm sure there are many (most?) players who genuinely do love baseball and derive a lot of pleasure out of it besides the financial aspect of it. You'd have to love it to put in the amount of work it takes to get to that level.




Well, all of that to say that with the dwindling fan base, they can't get the ratings high enough for the major networks to be interested in the games except for possibly the World Series during prime time... And it won't be long before even the World Series would be relegated to a Turner station (or is it already?)

I don't know about TV ratings, but MLB has been setting attendance records nearly every year. (I think this year is the first in a while where the total attendance didn't increase.) I think MLB is doing okay as far as fan base goes.

The TBS team was horrendous for the Sox/Angels game if it makes you feel better. On and on and on about the Angels' lack of clutch hitting, never a word about their crappy fielding and baserunning, only on how they're a team that 'knows how to do the little things', even though they demonstrably did not!

Who does TBS have calling the games?

I don't know about TV ratings, but MLB has been setting attendance records nearly every year. (I think this year is the first in a while where the total attendance didn't increase.) I think MLB is doing okay as far as fan base goes.

I think attendance at a ballpark is a completely different thing than watching a game on TV or listening to it on the radio. At the ballpark it is more of an event.

I think you can tell how big a fan someone is by whether they would watch on tv as opposed to going to the ballpark. Sure, there will be some people that don't like crowds, and will avoid the park, but I think in general a non-fan would rather go to the ballpark than watch a game on tv.

Sorry you don't have cable. But for the rest of us, thank Jeebus. I HATE Fox's baseball coverage. I'd rather stab myself in the eye than listen to Buck and McCarver and Jeanie Velazco's insipid pregame commentary, and those stupid sound effects, and the ultra tight shots where you can tell what brand of chaw the pitcher's got in his lip but you have no idea where the shortstop has set up, and the gratuitous shots of cricket fan Hugh Laurie in the stands because he has a show on Fox, and, and, and shall I go on?

Our local newspaper this morning said both LCS games will be on the Fox broadcast channel. It wouldn't be the first time the local paper got it wrong, though.

Sorry you don't have cable. But for the rest of us, thank Jeebus. I HATE Fox's baseball coverage. I'd rather stab myself in the eye than listen to Buck and McCarver and Jeanie Velazco's insipid pregame commentary, and those stupid sound effects, and the ultra tight shots where you can tell what brand of chaw the pitcher's got in his lip but you have no idea where the shortstop has set up, and the gratuitous shots of cricket fan Hugh Laurie in the stands because he has a show on Fox, and, and, and shall I go on?

All good points.

TBS has Chip Caray, who doesn't intone sonorously as bad as Buck but he probably wants to, and Buck Martinez, who well he seems like he took one too many passed balls to the noggin.

Well, I have to admit I'm spoiled by Jon Miller on KNBR. I'm trying to see if he's doing either of the series for ESPN Radio (WAMG-AM 890 for you Bosox fans), but can't seem to tell from ESPN's webpage.

Sorry you don't have cable. But for the rest of us, thank Jeebus. I HATE Fox's baseball coverage. I'd rather stab myself in the eye than listen to Buck and McCarver and Jeanie Velazco's insipid pregame commentary, and those stupid sound effects, and the ultra tight shots where you can tell what brand of chaw the pitcher's got in his lip but you have no idea where the shortstop has set up, and the gratuitous shots of cricket fan Hugh Laurie in the stands because he has a show on Fox, and, and, and shall I go on?

I'm with you on the Fox hate. Who the hell wants to watch JEanie Zealsco and Kevin Kennedy for 40 minutes before the game?? Just start the damn games already!

Tim McCarver totally lost his mind many years ago. I'm baffled why they still let him call games.

Do they still do that stupid "scooter" cartoon baseball that explains what the pitches are? That stuff is just embarrassing.