Did someone do a gonadectomy on Fox Sports since last week?
Don't ask why, but I was watching the last few minutes of This Week In Baseball when they took a retrospective gander at the 1970 All-Star game and the incomparable Pete Rose. Endlessly replaying the famous crash at the plate with Ray Fosse that won the game, they ran countless teammates and opponents paying homage to his competitiveness and all-out play.
They never once mentioned that the play effectively ended Fosse's career. Or even hurt him. The show was a total whitewash of what was a fairly controversial play.
Then the Mets-Giants game, with Kenny Albert and Eric Karros at the mics. At least there'd be truth to power on this broadcast, I mentioned to a wife who, were she a ceramic dish, would have evinced equal interest.
It took just two batters for Karros to demonstrate that he would apply the same apologist philosophy to his broadcast as I'd seen on the MLB-produced propaganda piece that preceded it.
The Mets led off the game against Randy Johnson with a pair of singles and in each case, the runner stole second on Giant backstop Bengie Molina. On the second play, a decent throw would have nailed Alex Cora, but it faded high and right for 13th consecutive victimization of Molina in two games and one inning. Clearly, the Mets have determined that Molina's gun is shooting blanks -- for whatever reason -- and are exploiting it.
Karros, however, would have none of that. He twisted himself into an double-jointed pretzel to defend Molina, opining instead that the Mets were stealing off the pitcher. Albert didn't add or subtract from this monologue, I assume because the illogic was so stunning that he decided simply to disassociate himself from it.
Next, Carlos Beltran stroked a fly ball to center that Fred Lewis's glove successfully eluded for a double. Instead of first and second with one out, the Mets had a man on second with none out and two runs in thanks to beneficent defense on the San Francisco side. Nary a word from the broadcast team, lest it ruffle feathers.
But Karros wasn't done. Later he mentioned that the Giants were floating above the .500 mark purely on their pitching and needed to "be more consistent at the plate."
The Giants are plenty consistent at the plate. They have no hitting. The problem isn't that their big boppers have yet to get untracked; their problem is that they're genetically bopless. Their best hitter is...nobody. Maybe Pablo Sandoval, a rookie third baseman inhabiting Cecil Fielder's body, will finish the season as their most potent bat. He has all of three dingers to this point. Cleanup hitter Bengie Molina has yet to walk this year. Prize free agent signing Aaron Rowand is an average-hitting second baseman, which would be fine were he not a center fielder.
This isn't the players' fault. GM Brian Sabean has assembled a roster that has no chance of supporting Lincecum, Cain, Johnson, et. al. But Eric Karros, whom I'd never previously noted to be an apologist, wasn't prepared to tell you any of that. He seems to have lost at least one and possibly both of his testicles.
Isn't Fox Sports supposed to be the edgy network? The no-hold-barred sports channel? The folks who reflect the "he sucks" approach of the average fan? Someone had better tell those responsible for their baseball coverage, because it's more white bread than June Cleaver.
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