ON THE DL

The Big All-Star Recap, Featuring Strikeouts, Wall Grabs, First Pitches, Fox Plugs & Misunderstood Philanthropy

We discuss the MLB All Star Game, in four parts -- the game, the President, the telecast and the sponsorships.

First, we talk about the game, which if you ask me, was Ryan Howard’s for the taking. Two on and one run down in the eighth inning and the St. Louis product had hero written all over him. With one swing he could have been the All Star MVP. But he struck out, something we see far too much of in this town (to be fair, Howard is actually quite clutch for the Phillies). Tough to watch, but not unexpected.

Carl Crawford was named MVP because of his leaping catch that saved a home run. You could make a case that Curtis Granderson could have been the MVP as well. But in all, it was a crisp game, once it got started, and was actually far more entertaining than the Home Run Derby the night before. Color us wrong.

Political Safari:

President Barack Obama threw out the first pitch last night and the talk around the Twitterverse for two innings was why Fox didn’t show where the pitch landed. Was it in the dirt? Was it a strike? Why did Fox give us

the worst possible camera angle on the pitch? Was there a conspiracy afoot? Twitter exploded with scenarios, one of which blamed Fox for missing the pitch because they didn’t want to give Obama credit for anything, had he thrown a good pitch. Another theory blamed the White House, claiming a lack of transparency had he not gotten the pitch to the plate.

Eventually, a better angle was shown while Obama joined Joe Buck and Tim McCarver in the booth for the bottom of the second. But in real time, that was an eternity to wait to see the First Pitch.

We also speculate on why President Obama was booed in the stadium. It wasn’t a majority, but by the sound of it, and by reports from those in the stadium, the boos were noticeable. Was it because he’s a Chicago guy? Was it because he went to the mound in White Sox gear? Or was it because he’s not Republican? The video shown before the game featured a strong ovation (some said standing) for George W. Bush from those in the seats. Then Obama got booed.

We thought St. Louis was a good baseball town. We thought their midwestern values and folksy way of life was of a higher standard than other cities. Aren’t they better fans than those in Philadelphia?

This would not have happened in Philadelphia. This city would not have booed a President who started his term less than half a year ago just because we voted for the other guy.

Nick brings up the fact that Flyers fans booed Sarah Palin when she dropped the first puck, but that was DURING the election. And there’s a case to be made that the boos were more out of disapproval that Ed Snider brought her there, when Philly was clearly in Obama’s pocket, than her actual appearance.

Regardless, Obama is a sitting President, and while it is fair to bring up the Palin situation, there really is no comparison. And there is no excuse for booing the man.

Inside The Press Box:

Speaking of Obama, man alive did Joe Buck throw him under the bus. Either during ESPN’s telecast of the Derby, or during an interview leading up to the All-Star game, Buck specifically said they only get Obama for one half inning and he hopes it was long because he wanted as much time as possible. He stated that he would not blindside the President by asking him to stay through a break without clearing it first. AND THEN HE DID JUST THAT. He totally blindsided the President. Pardon the pun, Joe, but that was Bush League.

That said, Buck, ubiquitous media conglomerate that he has become, gets a bad wrap. I know he said last year that he doesn’t really like baseball anymore. And I know he’s the ‘top guy’ for everything in sports now for Fox. But he’s really not bad at calling a baseball game. Say what you want about his football calls, but Joe Buck knows how to call a baseball game. And who better than Buck to call a game in St. Louis?

Unfortunately Buck was one of the only things Fox did right with their coverage last night. Ken Rosenthal, while an excellent reporter, is useless on a telecast. Add to the fact that he talks with such...calm...collected...deliberate tones and you just want to shake him. You just want to grab him and shake him!

Which leads us to McCarver. Nothing more can be said that others haven’t already said. He’s the master of the obvious. And maybe that’s what the average sports fan likes. Our only critique of McCarver from last night -- that we took the time to discuss for you at least -- was regarding his comments lauding Ryan Zimmerman for donating money to his school, the University of Virginia.

McCarver tried to spin it like Zimmerman’s gesture was some sort of charity work. With all the charitable things to choose from -- and a

pregame show that was surrounded by great ‘all-stars’ in the community -- McCarver chose to celebrate a player who donated money to his college -- and of all colleges, UVA, a school that probably isn’t hurting for cash if compared to, say, almost any other school in the country.

McCarver’s tried to make Zimmerman look like a great philanthropist when in this case, he was nothing more than a booster. The fact that McCarver didn’t realize that shows just how out of touch he’s become.

For the overall coverage, Fox did okay -- far better than ESPN for the HR Derby -- but still came back from breaks too late made a few graphics errors (Zobrist at short instead of Bartlett). The most egregious thing Fox did last night was provide us with...BOOGER CAM! Why show the faces of the players we’ll be watching in the game when you can show what’s up their noses! Did they have some extra Digger money left over so they gave us the grounds-eye view?

Culture Pop:

We did an over/under on Twitter for the number of Fox promos during the game. The line was set at 22. Everyone but one person took the over. By my count, there were only six Fox promos from first to last pitch. And that included the freaky bald dude from Fringe with the extreme closeup.

An emailer asked us about over-saturation in marketing and why networks continually throw their shows in our faces during sporting events (Frank TV anyone). We think that most people are just dumb enough not to realize they are getting smacked over the head with promotions. We’d like to think those listening to our show, and those in sports media in general, are smart enough to pick up on things networks try to shove in our faces. But what if the rest of America -- those who can be controlled by lead-ins and lead-outs and overlapping shows by three minutes to keep the audience -- don’t realize they are being controlled by marketing? Keep in mind that, as sad as it sounds, much of America is indeed NOT smarter than a fifth grader.

Housekeeping:

We bring up Nick’s year-long fantasy league to give some picks for the Open Championship. Who do you have (he needs one more name)? Also, we plug tomorrow’s long-awaited interview with Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch. Should be a good show.

Thanks as always.