I Had To Turn It Off When

During Game 1 of the ALCS on FOX, lead announcer Joe Buck said, "237 homers were hit in the new Yankee Stadium this year." He added, "87 of them were hit in the first 23 games. Most for any stadium in its first 23 games." What the significance of 23 games is, he didn't say. I guess there's a trivia question buried in that stat somewhere. Can't wait for my 5-year old boy to grow up. I will be sure to ask him, "Son, which stadium yielded the most home runs in its first 23 games?" It's the type of question that will probably have me adding an hour or two to his curfew, I'm sure. If he doesn't throw a punch at me first.

Must FOX continue to keep that annoying graphic in the right hand corner all game long? You know, the one with the FOX logo (of course) that tells us where the series stands: Yanks lead 2-1. Now, we all know that FOX loves its graphics more than Letterman loves interns but can't it put the logo on the left side of the screen right next to the scoreboard graphic the way TBS is doing it? Besides, exactly what fan is watching the game that doesn't already know how the series stands?

Speaking of graphics, isn't it about time that FOX stopped showing their "Fox Trax" strike zone on the TV screen. It has proven what we all knew before the technology was even invented and that is every umpire in every game is inconsistent when it comes to calling balls and strikes. I'm surprised the umpires -- who we've heard never liked the overhead camera angle because it showed how bad they were when it came to the corners of the plate -- are allowing this technology to undermine them.

Here's one man's vote to ban all post-game interviews by every network. FOX "analyst" Ken Rosenthal did his best Suzy Kolber imitation when he asked Alex Rodriguez after the second game of the ALCS, "Alex, the Yankees are now up 2-0 in this series. How good is your position?"Oy vey.

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