TV’s Good Ol’ Days, Sort of

We yearn for the good ol’ days. We yearn for the days television gave us uncluttered postseason baseball coverage.

There was a time of no virtual signage, no sponsored virtual manager questions, no sponsored in-game summaries, no sponsored in-game box scores, no sponsored fan-cam, no Fox whoosh sound effects, no Fox promos and a reasonable number of replays.

Those were the days of Vin Scully’s prose and Al Michaels’ understated, appealing style.

Well, on Wednesday night we got a reminder of the way it was. During Game 4 of the World Series, there was a special media showing at the ESPN Zone at Downtown Disney in Anaheim of Game 4 of the 1986 American League championship series between the Angels and Boston Red Sox.

Game 5 is the one everyone remembers, the one in which Dave Henderson homered off Donnie Moore when the Angels were one out away from their first World Series.

But Game 4 was also a classic. The Angels tied after trailing, 3-0, going into the bottom of the ninth. Then they won, 4-3, on Bobby Grich’s single off reliever Calvin Schiraldi in the 11th. The victory gave the Angels a 3-1 lead in the series.

ABC televised the game, and Michaels and Jim Palmer were the announcers.

And yes, the coverage was much less cluttered. But we missed the continual graphic at the top of the screen that supplies the score, the inning, the ball-and-strike count and the speed of the pitch. We missed some of the sounds of the game that are now picked up by Fox’s strategically placed microphones.

Fox’s live telecast of the Game 4 in San Francisco was on at the same time. The picture was sharper, the images of the players bigger and the graphics simpler, smaller and less obtrusive than the large periodic graphics put up during the 1986 telecast.

The replay packages on the live telecast were more sophisticated. There were sometimes five or six angles. ABC, in 1986, could never have shown the close-up of Kenny Lofton’s fifth-inning bunt rolling foul and then catching a piece of the line before Troy Glaus could pick it up.

Fox, these days, may overdo shots of stars in the stands, but ABC overdid shots of Boston starter Roger Clemens’ wife in the stands, particularly when he began to struggle in the ninth inning.

Yes, we yearn for the good ol’ days of baseball on television. But when you see what it was really like and compare it to today’s high-tech telecasts, it makes one realize that maybe the good ol’ days were not quite as good as we remember.

Critics’ Target

It’s fashionable this time of year to bash Fox’s Tim McCarver. This is his 18th season as a network baseball commentator and his 13th World Series, but he continues to draw criticism from around the country.

Maybe only Howard Cosell has been on the receiving end of so many barbs.

Sure, McCarver isn’t perfect. He can make a point, then beat it to death. But does he really deserve the bashing he receives? He comes into games well prepared, has an abundance of knowledge, isn’t afraid to express an opinion and makes good points.

For example, when Jeff Kent flied out to Tim Salmon in shallow right field Wednesday night and Lofton scored easily from third, McCarver pointed out that Salmon was too far under the ball when he caught it to make a good throw. And Salmon’s throw was awful.

But still there will be those who will turn down the volume on their TV and listen on radio.

Those people will find the television coverage a few seconds behind the radio coverage. That’s because the TV signal has to travel 32,000 miles to a communication satellite and then back again before reaching your home.

Sidelined

NBC’s versatile Tom Hammond, who is recovering from recent heart surgery, will miss Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup but still will be a part of the five-hour telecast, via taped pieces from his home in Lexington, Ky.

Producer David Michaels said, “He’s in great shape for somebody who’s been through so much.”

Although Bob Costas, working his first Breeders’ Cup, will be sitting in Hammond’s co-host chair next to Charlsie Cantey, Costas will not be assuming the duties that Hammond usually has. Costas is not the horseracing expert that Hammond is.

Others on the telecast will have expanded roles.

Said Cantey, “People keep asking me the same question, ‘Who will replace Tom Hammond?’ I’ve only had one answer. Nobody. It’s not possible.”

Huge Turnout

Jim Pells may not have been recognizable to the general public, but his stature in the sports-television business was evident at his funeral at Elden Memorial Park in Northridge earlier this week. There was an overflow turnout of around 400 that included some of the biggest names in L.A. sports.

Pells, 50, a producer for Fox Sports Net and a statistician for a number of local announcing teams, had heart surgery on Oct. 15, the same day Hammond had heart surgery in Lexington. Pells died of complications following the surgery.

His pall bearers included Tom Lasorda and Reggie Smith. Speakers at the funeral included Smith, Larry Kahn and Bob Miller. Ron Cey, Tommy Hawkins, Al Downing, Dodger executive Derrick Hall, Paul Sunderland, Stu Lantz, Bill Macdonald and Chris Marlowe were just a few of the others who attended the service.

Fox Sports Net has set up a scholarship fund for Pells’ young sons, Drew and J.T., at the Bank of America on Rinaldi Street in Northridge. Details: Jessie Candon (818) 379-6401.

Short Waves

Tonight’s Laker exhibition game against Sacramento at Staples Center will be televised by ESPN and Fox Sports Net. ESPN will be trying out some of the new bells and whistles it will use during the regular season.... The Lakers’ season opener Tuesday night against San Antonio, which will include the championship ring ceremony, will be televised only on TNT. The opening night exclusivity was part of TNT’s new television contract with the NBA.

Marge Hearn will be on hand to accept her late husband’s ring Tuesday night.... The Lakers announced Thursday that Chick Hearn would be honored in a ceremony Nov. 24, before a game against Milwaukee.

The Lakers’ opener will be the second game of a TNT doubleheader. During halftime of the first game, Philadelphia-Orlando, TNT will show a live performance by Santana and pop singer Michelle Branch singing their hit single, “The Game of Love,” at Staples Center.... The TNT coverage that night will include a number of “Love It Live” spots, including one featuring the Rolling Stones.

The process of selecting the Laker Girls is the topic of a one-hour show, “Showtime Dreams,” on Fox Sports Net Sunday at 5 p.m. It will also be on Fox Sports Net 2 Monday at 8 p.m.... Jim Rome’s final edition of “The Last Word” for Fox Sports Net will be Nov. 1. He is leaving television for the time being to devote his time to his national radio show.

ESPN got a 4.1 cable rating for Notre Dame-Air Force on Saturday, the network’s highest rating for a regular-season college football game since 1999. ESPN is averaging a 2.0 for college football this season, a 6% increase over last year.

In Closing

The Clippers’ season opener, Wednesday night against Cleveland at Staples Center, will not be televised. The Clippers, seeking a Laker-type deal, are not making headway with Fox Sports Net. The problem is, the Clippers aren’t selling championships, they’re selling expectations.