Commenting on the commentators: Diane Pucin analyzes the telecast of Angels-Red Sox Game 2
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Good prediction
Buck Martinez called that right. Just before Vlad Guerrero drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the seventh, Martinez wondered if Mike Scioscia would use a pinch runner and take Vlad’s bat out now. Sure enough, Guerrero walked and next thing we saw was Scioscia signaling for Howie Kendrick to run.
Wow
So said Jeff Weaver quite clearly on replay after his ball four sure seemed like it could have been a strike. Even PitchTrax showed it might have been a strike. Wow indeed. Though there’s been a lot of lip-reading allowed during these playoffs that has been more x-rated.
Hitch fans rejoice
The Angels and Red Sox are moving back to TBS. Ernie Johnson just said, though, the movie Hitch will start from the beginning.
Scary question
Erick Aybar is a trusting guy. Analyst Buck Martinez just pointed out how Aybar checked with plate umpire CB Bucknor on whether the pitch Aybar had swung at and missed would have been over the plate. Bucknor was the first-base umpire Thursday night who badly missed two calls. Bucknor seemed to tell Aybar the ball would have been a strike anyway. Aybar went ahead and singled. Best not to leave your fate to Bucknor.
Hitch fans, disappointed?
The movie Hitch was unceremoniously dumped off of TNT 30 minutes in. It began at 6 and at 6:30 TBS studio host Ernie Johnson came on to tell everyone that ‘regularly scheduled programming’ would be interrupted because the Angels-Red Sox were coming on. Hitch fans can blame that game-tying home run by Yankee Alex Rodriguez. That pretty much cinched the end of Hitch.
Message received
A TBS spokesman said that the scheduling Thursday night that had an ad for Captain Morgan liquor and its special 40-shot large bottle running just ahead of a TBS/Fox promotion for postseason baseball coverage that began with a montage of Angel Nick Adenhart who was killed by an allegedly drunk driver earlier this season would not occur again.
According to the spokesman, ‘The spot and promo were inadvertently scheduled. We have adjusted the schedule and the spot and promo will not run back to back.’
You can follow Mike Penner’s live inning-by-inning updates by clicking here. And you can follow the in-game box score here.