TV Reviews : ‘Grand Slam’ Special Barely Makes It to First Base

Like a lot of baseball teams, “Grand Slam,” a syndicated special airing Saturday at 5 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. on KHJ-TV Channel 9, is packed with talent but ill-managed. A “bases-loaded celebration of baseball,” the two-hour show looks at the arts of pitching, hitting and defense through the eyes of several top players--with an emphasis on not-too-old old-timers, including Pete Rose.

The problem isn’t with the lineup but with how they’re used--mainly as talking heads answering questions put to them by interviewer-host Dick Schaap. The emphasis is on heroes, homers and the homely cliches of the game.

Predictability of themes plus predictability of format doesn’t add up to a winner. Still, the show has its moments. In fact, it has plenty--as when we see the George Brett “pine tar” incident or a rare scene of Babe Ruth doing a radio show. But the jittery framework within which they’re set is hard to take. As is Schaap. After asking a couple of ballplayers who their heroes were, Schaap turns to us with this bit of wisdom: “Everybody has idols. Even the idols have idols.” Right, Dick.

Produced and directed by James Moskovitz, “Grand Slam” takes a long time to get around the bases in its 120 minutes, and the macho attitude only shows one side of the game (“Ain’t nothin’ like a grand slam/To make you feel like a real man . . .” goes the theme song). But for baseball fans who don’t mind its approach, “Grand Slam” may prove a decent enough, if not really grand, way to fill in the time until the next televised game starts.