FanNation - The Republic of Sport

After the first inning HBP of Shane Victorino on his failed bunt attempt, I was beginning to wonder when Joe Buck and Fox were going to start the charity telethon to raise fund for his bruised index finger.  Was it really necessary for three straight innings, plus breathless updates as the game continued to stress over the status of Shane's finger?  Even as a Yankee fan, I was getting my check book out as I was sure Joe was going to let us know where we could send money to help Shane get over this tragic sports injury.

Since this was an elimination game for the Phillies and Shane is a tough player, I figured that since no bone was sticking out he would find a way to continue to play and contribute.  Perhaps if this was a game in August against the Nationals he might have come out, but not in this game and all it meant for the Phillies.  Listening to Joe and his partner in misinformation Tim McCarver, you begin to wonder when Victorino would be elevated to sainthood for his gutty play.  When ARod got plunked in the hip on Saturday night, the same hip he had surgery on, sudden silence in the booth and very few replays as after all this is ARod, a damn Yankee as far as Fox announcers are concerned.  For in the world of Tim, no one ever throws at the Yankees with intent (sure Blantons pitch got away from him, that was why it was high and hit ARod on his shoulder, nothing intentional with that pitch).  With Tim's focused vision, any opponent that hits a Yankee is just trying to establish an inside location, never meant to hit anyone, after all that is what Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton taught him, are there any pitchers outside of baseball other than those two in Tim's World?

Kudos to Victorino for continuing and not wimping out of a key game, like what I saw from David "Fat Man" Wells and Jason "I am a baby" Giambi, who all begged out of a pivotal game 5 against the Marlins in the '03 World Series. 

While I can perhaps understand Buck's bias against all things Yankee, after all his father was a NL broadcasting legend and he grew up with the NL, not so sure why McCarver is so biased against the Yankees.  Maybe his tenure as a YES broadcaster did not end on good terms?  Luckily my TV has a mute button, so I can switch to the radio broadcast when it gets too thick in the Fox booth.

I am sure there are Phillie fans who feel the same way about these two being biased against the Phillies, but it is a shame that such a showcase for baseball is left to the verbal mistakes, wishing and hoping and whining we hear from these two. 

Please New York, end this series in 6 so we are spared from listening to the two Phillie fans in the Fox booth from broadcasting a game 7.