Game 5 Turned Into a Virtual Prison for Audience

The symbolism hung in the air, like a Ben Weber breaking ball, as Fox’s easily distracted cameras took a break from the World Series action Thursday evening and focused for a few moments on Alcatraz Island.

The Rock. Hard time. Breaking rocks in the hot sun.

The old federal prison, which once housed some of America’s most dangerous criminals, most closely resembles:

How most of the country east of Las Vegas views this all-California World Series between the San Francisco Giants (a.k.a., Barry Bonds and the guys who don’t like him) and the Anaheim Angels (a.k.a. Snow White and David Eckstein and Some Other Dwarfs).

b) The Giants’ clubhouse in the best of times.

c) Where the Angels find themselves in this Series after their 16-4 flogging in Game 5.

According to our “Virtual Manager” online poll, 99% of those still watching after the sixth inning vote for all of the above.

What if they held a World Series and nobody cared? The Angels, making their first World Series appearance in their 42-year history, and the Giants, still chasing their first world championship since moving to San Francisco, figured they were stepping into uncharted territory, but they never suspected it would look quite this way.

National television ratings are down. Neutral fans are turning off and tuning out. Sports Illustrated and the Sporting News, the nation’s two most venerable sports weeklies, decided to go with something else on the covers of their latest editions. With America’s Game deep in the middle of its Fall Classic, SI went with an Asian import, Yao Ming. The Sporting News, once regarded as the baseball bible, opted for Terrell Owens, although the editors did take time to note, in small type above the masthead, “The World Series: What a start!”

Given the heads-up, curious readers could flip inside to chew on TSN’s exhaustive 5 1/2-page World Series coverage. Hey, the Angels and Giants ought to be happy.

That’s a half a page more than This Week in NASCAR got.

Too bad, because before Thursday, the Angels and Giants had more than upheld their end. Three one-run games through Game 4. Mammoth home runs by Bonds. Resilient rallies by the Angels. It was one long, taut contest of tug-of-war -- Fox doing whatever it could to drive the audience away, the players and managers doing whatever they could to bring the audience back.

Then came Game 5, when the Angel pitching staff hit the rocks. It was a blowout by the sixth inning, with the Giants scoring so many runs that J.T. Snow had to snatch Dusty Baker’s son Darren and pull him away from home plate, out of harm’s way, to avoid being trampled by an onrushing David Bell.

Fox showed several fine replays of Snow riding to the rescue to grab young Darren and clinch the seventh Gold Glove of his career.

But Fox is fascinated with children. Its’ cartoon sound effects, big colorful graphics and hyperactive camera cuts are tailor-made for the Darren Baker demographic. It even devoted part of its pregame show to this news bulletin: Major league players and managers have kids! Sometimes they even bring them to games!

And sometimes, Dad gets too engrossed in the game to watch every step the little tyke takes, which is why the first baseman occasionally has to baby-sit.

Speaking of kids misbehaving, hey, how about that Giants’ clubhouse? As the game got out of hand, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver began detailing the unrest among the Giants. They talked of how the team’s two biggest stars, Bonds and Jeff Kent, hate each other -- complete with footage from their June dugout spat. They talked about Baker’s unhappiness with his unsettled contract negotiations and what might be next for him after the World Series, win or lose.

McCarver: “Do I think Dusty Baker will be back? No. I think Dusty Baker will become the next manager of the Seattle Mariners.”

Buck: “I agree.”

Kent is also a free agent after this season. Bonds is no walk in the park, but after Thursday night, you can understand why the No. 3 and 4 hitters in the Giants’ lineup might not get along. After hitting a pair of two-run home runs, after breaking out of his miserable World Series slump, after producing the most significant performance of his career, Kent refused Fox’s request for a postgame interview.

Break up the Giants?

If the Angels fail this weekend, count on the Giants to take care of matters themselves very soon.