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Buck And McCarver: Upon Further Review

Saturday, November 14, 2009 9:36 PM
Written By: Steve Scafa

Taking a look back at the MLB playoffs and the World Series, we see that the same topic that dominates the sports talk show circuit whenever the Yankees are involved dominated again this time around. No, it wasn't Joe Girardi's endless pitching moves nor was it Ryan Howard's 57 strikeouts. It wasn't even whether Alex Rodriguez would still be considered a choke artist for following up his great postseason with a skimpy World Series. Nope. The topic that every fan wanted to discuss was whether or not Tim McCarver and Joe Buck root against the New York Yankees.

Whenever a fan calls one of the aforementioned talk shows and gripes about the coverage, the calm, cool and collected host of the show acts as if we, the fans, hear what we want to hear; don't know what we are talking about; have potatoes in our ears; are considered crazy; and we are always asked to provide proof/evidence of McCarver and Buck's bias.

From this author's viewpoint, I did notice that the inflection in McCarver's voice was obvious when opposing teams made stupid mistakes against the Yankees. Now, did his voice reach a fever pitch because he was upset at the mistake itself or was it the fact that it was committed against the 'Evil Empire?' That is the $64,000 question. I have written on my blog about a couple of times where I thought McCarver showed his bias. Suffice is to say that I could have written about it a lot more.

Buck, I thought, was either very fair to the Yankees or just hid his disdain very well. For the most part, I thought he reached maximum excitement levels for both teams, not seeming to favor either one during his calls. However, we might have gotten a peek into Buck's soul when he described a play made by Mark Teixeira.

When Teixeira made a diving stop of a ground ball that led to a force out, Buck said,"That's what the Yankees bought over the offseason." He added,"They bought a guy who lead the American League in home runs and RBIs ..." Hmmm. Bought? Was this a Freudian slip or did Buck want it to sound just the way it did?

I submit that a Yankees announcer or an announcer that didn't have some kind of ill feeling towards them would have used the word "signed" or the term "signed as a free agent" in the offseason. Not only did Buck say the word 'bought' to begin with but he repeated it!

Ya see, the evidence is right there for the viewing audience to hear and see. The bias may not blatantly come flushing out of the TV, rather, it may come out more like a drip, slow and subtle. We don't even need Horatio Caine's overacting to help us solve this case. It's a shame we fans can't remain calm, cool and collected like our favorite sports talk show host who apparently neither sees no evil nor hears it.

The next time you're asked by one of these hosts to provide some 'evidence' for your beliefs, mention the above example and see what they say. Ask them how they would have handled the Teixeira/Yankees situation. If they don't hang up on you, I would love to hear their answer.

Read more of Steve Scafa at the original "I Had To Turn It Off When" blog.

Tags: yankees buck mccarver
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16 Takes


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Takes

Edvis

they are a couple of Cardinal boys...what do you expect.....I cant stand having to listen to them throughout the baseball season when they have to call a Cubs game on Saturday....just dont think it should be allowed..it's almost as bad as all the former Dallas Cowboys in the booth calling football games on Sunday

Steve

Edvis. Good points. And, yet, when you confront a talk show host with feelings such as yours, they act deaf, dumb and blind.

Dave Dahlin

McCarver is ridiculous and obnoxious. On top of that he thinks people actually care he played catcher for the Cards thirty years ago and somehow tries to work it into the telecast dialogue............puke.

TONYNAVY

I have always felt there was a distinct displeasure in McCarvers voice whenever he had to say something positive about the Yankees, whether it is envy, jealousy or both it does not matter, plus he makes it sound as if his word is final period, hey he was a great player thats it, there are many "more qualified, with actual/real accomplishments in the sport than he around. It was the same thing with the divisional playoffs, that was a real joke. They had blind and blinder, the only thing sparating the two was that one was a former major league player. Fox has to do something about who does their games not only in the playoffs but during the regular season as well

TONYNAVY

I think that McCarver is jealous that he never quite reached the success ratio that most of the current Yankees have in such a shorter time frame (comparatively speaking that is) plus most of todays catchers are ten times better and make ten times more then he ever was and will earn. During the season if he is broadcasting game on fox, I usually turn the voice down and listen to ny broacasters when in NY or just mute him and read lips etc. lol

Steve

Dave. Funny stuff.

Steve

Tony. Wow. You should have written this article. Really, all good points and I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one that hears the bias.The sports radio hosts? Trying to maintain their friendship with him, I guess.

LEO

I'm getting sick of those two calling games! They should try calling hogs and pigs instead..."Soo-wee...soo-wee...here pig-pig-pig!"

Jeff

McCarver was an announcer for the Yankees and was fired by them. He also was an announcer for the Mets and was fired by them as well. I think he's still ticked that he was fired by the Yankees and he should just admit it. He's got issues against the Yankees. Joe Buck goes along with him because he has to work with McCarver. I watched the Yankee post season on Fox with the sound off and the local radio coverage on despite the several second delay between the radio and tv.

Steve

Leo. Dittos to Soo-wee.

Steve

Jeff. Excellent points. Since he was fired by the Yanks, couldn't he hold a grudge against them and couldn't it come out a little bit when he does the games? Apparently, it does come out to everyone else except the sports talk hosts.

Jim

McCarver is obnoxious. He's always saying "in my opinion". Who really cares what his opinion is just call the game plain and simple. He has NO right to second guess these major league managers moves or non moves. If he knows everything WHY is he not a manager. I watch Saturdays Game of the week on Fox BUT with no sound. He is disgusting in his delivery of the game. Like they say if he was a mute noone would know how ignorant he really is.

Steve

Jim. Who knew the mute button would become so popular when watching sports these days?

Racedude6@aol.com

Just get these twin idiots off the telecasts..I watched the TV and listened to the radio broadcasts....never watched one commercial...would never buy one product advertised until these two clowns are replaced...FOX does a good job but this is the worst baseball combo in broadcasting...can McCarver "guess" one more time on what pitch is going to be thrown and maybe get his percentage UP to 25%??...he's the absolute WORST on TV.

Racedude6

McCarver is a clown....he tries to predict pitches all the time and he just embarrasses himself...FOX should take a hard look at all of the people that turn the sound off and listen to the broadcast on the radio,,,,hence, they listen/see NO COMMERCIALS put on the network....hopefully the big buck companies putting those commercials on will put their foot down and demand thet FOX get rid of Bozo and Crusty the Clown....they are flat out terrible!!!....I love the radio broadcasts when they do a game...so much more informative and no commercials to listen to.

Steve

Racedude6. Oh my, I didn't know you felt that way. You're right. Sometimes you just have to listen to the radio even if that means Sterling and Waldman!