Bob Raissman: Tossing local broadcasters into Fox World Series booth is a non-starter

It is inevitable, if they haven’t already, that a contingent of pinstriped pom-pom wavers (some who reside in the Valley of the Stupid) will accuse Joe Davis, Fox’s World Series play-by-play voice, of favoring the Dodgers.

No matter what evidence they present, they will claim their case is air-tight if only because since 2016 Mr. Davis has been a Dodgers TV play-by-play voice. That being the case, it must automatically translate to Davis schlepping his bias into Fox’s World Series booth, right?

And if you want to extend this familiar theory/accusation, you can charge analyst John Smoltz “guilty” for sitting in close proximity to Davis during Yankees-Dodgers.

This whole “favoritism” thing leads to numerous parties (including some baseball broadcasters looking for a path to the Fall Classic) offering “solutions” to the definition of making a mountain out of a mole hill — an exercise in stupidity.

One “idea” is about having a local voice from each participating team join the Fox national duo for a few innings. This “solution,” which was actually used many moons ago during Series telecasts, is usually framed by someone explaining how “our” local broadcasters know much more about “our” team than a national network’s broadcast team.

The cosmetic nature of this “solution” may have some merit. Nonetheless it’s often the case where a national broadcast team comes into a World Series knowing as much — or more — than a local crew. Stylistically, the presentation is different but the national mouths are often better prepared than the local voices.

And from a business perspective, the Foxies are not paying billions for World Series TV rights to share their booth with broadcasters who have nothing to do with Fox’s baseball brand. For many moons that brand WAS defined by Joe Buck and the late Tim McCarver. Fox is still trying to reach that recognition level with Davis and Smoltz; not Davis, Smoltz and a Local Announcer to be Named Later.

The other idea is Fox offering “alternative” World Series broadcasts featuring the participating teams regular season voices. While this would be a utopia for local broadcasters (think of it Yankee fans could have their own “alternative” telecast featuring Michael Kay and a YES analyst du jour) it makes no sense for Fox.

A multi-game series of alternative telecasts won’t work as well as one-and-done affairs, like the College Football Championship Game. And when you are already investing goo-gobs of cash in a World Series production, why would you spend more to create two “alternative” Series telecasts over a possible seven nights just to satisfy a niche audience?

Fox would also put itself in a position of having to encourage viewership to leave its main channel to go to alternative sites like FS1 and FS2.

So, for those who will inevitably continue to complain about Fox messing up your Yankees World Series experience there’s no way out.

So, cool it. Just learn to “embrace” Davis and Smoltz.

YES’ SERIES LINEUP

For those who do want a local presence, there’s always Suzyn (Ma Pinstripe) Waldman and John (Pa Pinstripe) Sterling on the radio.

In case anyone forgot, Sterling big footed his way into the postseason radio booth, replacing the voices who replaced him when he “retired” in April.

Meanwhile, here’s how YES president of production and programming John J. Filippelli will deploy his Series postgame show operatives.

When the Yankees are in Los Angeles:

Bob Lorenz, Jack Curry, John Flaherty and Michael Kay in YES’ Stamford, Conn., studio. No flying for these fellows.

Meredith Marakovits and Joe Girardi at Chavez Ravine. They get to mingle with the Hollywood types.

And in the Bronx:

Lorenz, Curry, Flaherty in Stamford studio. They’re hoping YES bean counters approved a budget for snacks.

Marakovits, Kay, Paul O’Neill at Yankee Stadium. They get to mingle with the Bleacher Creatures.

BANKS ALL, CARL?

It sounded so familiar. Anyone listening thought Carl Banks had once offered a similar late game soliloquy before. This particular off-the-cuff critique came near the end of the Giants’ 28-3 loss to Philly last Sunday. This is what happens to a radio analyst working for a team that’s been so bad for so long.

Banks used a number of ear catching adjectives, that when mixed together can be rolled into three words: stink, unlistenable, unwatchable. Banks never used those words. Instead, he used the word “unacceptable” multiple times.

And he never alluded to the Giants coach or GM. Perhaps Banks had an inkling that four days later, co-owner John Mara would issue a vote of confidence for Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen.

The way things are going down with the Giants, Banks better find some more negative words to weave into his vocab. A suggestion: Maybe he should consult with the Human Thesaurus, Walt (Clyde) Frazier.

BILL KEEPS WINNING

As a multi-media maven, Bill Belichick is just doing his job.

Yet some of the very “observers” who said he would have “nothing” to say, and predicted he would project his press conference stoicism on TV, are now criticizing the coach-in-waiting for hammering some NFL types, including Jerod Mayo, Nick Sirianni and Woody Johnson.

Belichick can’t win. If he played the mummy role, he 1) Would not have lasted in the TV gigs 2) Would have been criticized for withholding his opinions, aka, stealing money.

All that said, Belichick is turning out to be the most entertaining new analyst of the 2024 season.

AROUND THE DIAL

Hard to make any concrete judgments off his first regular season Knicks radio call on MSG. The best we can say about Tyler Murray is he didn’t mess up. And he maintained his enthusiasm calling the most one-sided of Celtics blowouts while working the Knicks NBA opener with analyst Monica McNutt. The problem both voices had was the audio in the Boston Garden. The crowd sounds were cranked so loud, listeners had problems hearing the Knicks radiocasters. Moving forward sound should be a priority. After all it’s still radio. … Is there a motive involved? Christopher (Mad Dog) Russo recently suggested that considering the direction the Jets wind is blowing, Pat McAfee should put an immediate halt to Aaron Rodgers Tuesday appearances on “TPMS.” Doggie must not realize the value of the train wreck quality Rodgers brings to “TPMS,” win or lose. Then again, maybe this is about Doggie trying to push Rodgers out so he can get the Tuesday spot on the show. Woof-Woof.

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DUDE OF THE WEEK: JUAN SOTO

It’s not easy overachieving when you are already labeled one of the game’s superstars. Nonetheless, the performance by Soto in Game 5 of the ALCS was fit for a future legend.

DWEEB OF THE WEEK: EMMANUEL CLASE

After faltering in ALCS Game 4 the Guardians closer went on Instagram to post all of his baseball accomplishments. Mr. Clase, we all already understood. Nobody is perfect.

DOUBLE TALK

What Juan Soto said: “It’s been one of the most fun years I’ve ever played.”

What Juan Soto meant to say: “It’s always fun when no matter what happens, you are guaranteed more than a few pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.”