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Big League Stew

Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:20 pm EST

Shamed TV camera slinks its way back behind right field fence

By 'Duk

Only in the World Series can the placement of a TV camera make headlines.

From the Associated Press:

"As a precaution, we've moved the right-field foul pole camera back slightly so that the edge of the lens is completely in line with the top of the wall," Fox spokesman Lou D'Ermilio said Sunday before Game 4.

Jimmie Lee Solomon, baseball's executive vice president for operations, said the camera was never supposed to hang over the fence.

"Get it back and keep it back," he said MLB told Fox.

I have no idea why the umpires wouldn't have made the same order before Saturday's Game 3 — long before Alex Rodriguez(notes) plunked a home run off it — but their original decision to rule contact with the camera an automatic home run showed an incredible lack of foresight and, dare I say, spine. It shouldn't have taken an incident like A-Rod's home run to tell Fox it doesn't run the show on the field of play. 

Related: Álex Rodríguez, 2009 postseason on the Stew, 2009 World Series on the Stew

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44 Comments

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  1. unholyfuq
    1. Posted by unholyfuq Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:27 pm EST

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    first, good job fox
  2. Ari
    2. Posted by Ari Sun Nov 01, 2009 10:55 pm EST

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    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjkoRkHxIwI
  3. mochasmo@...
    3. Posted by mochasmo@... Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:15 am EST

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    Funny how the fox announcers didn't mention this at all. ESPN really dropped the ball by not making a HUGE deal out of this. You know fox would if it were the other way around.
  4. txbabes
    4. Posted by txbabes Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:52 am EST

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    way to go, fox....
  5. John D
    5. Posted by John D Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:49 am EST

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    Someone needs to tell ARod that he is a American. He was born in the US and went to school in the US. Paid millions of dollars to play baseball from a team that is in the USA. I am soldier and when a person who is born in this country doesn't say he is America that is a slap in the face to all Americans.
  6. Clark F
    6. Posted by Clark F Mon Nov 02, 2009 8:49 am EST

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    I found that quite amusing that A-rod would hit a homer by hitting a camera.
    He is a great player. He won Game 4 with a tie breaking double in the ninth
    inning last night. I hope the Yankees will wrap this up tonight their 27th.
    I now name A-rod MVP for the World Series.
  7. Dean
    7. Posted by Dean Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:14 am EST

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    It should have never been in the field of play to begin with. If it was in the field of play (which it was), it should have been ruled a ground rule double. If the umpires noticed that it was over the fence before the game, don't you think they would have told them to move it back, rather than make up a rule about it being a home run if the ball hit the camera? Something stinks about all of this.
    Not the reason the Phillies lost, but it certainly didn't help any.
    The bias towards the Yankees winning it all is so clear as day....you can't help but wonder if this is Seig's parting gift to Steinbrenner on his death bed.
  8. Hal M
    8. Posted by Hal M Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:30 am EST

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    Dean, shut up. It wasn't in the field of play. The camera wasn't out over the fence, it was on top of it. And yes, there is a huge conspiracy to make the Yankees win the World Series. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that they are the best team on the field. Moron.
  9. TJO
    9. Posted by TJO Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:11 am EST

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    Hal, the camera absolutly was out over the fence and at the angle the ball was coming down there was no sure way to tell that it owuldn't have hit the top of the fence and bounced into the field of play OR of course it could have bounced over. If a fan in that exact spot touches the ball is a double isnt it?
    And yes the Yankees to field the best team in baseball so they should win as everyone has picked them to do.
  10. uh oh
    10. Posted by uh oh Mon Nov 02, 2009 10:46 am EST

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    John D. - I think poor grammar and spelling skills are a slap in the face to all Americans...so I would work on that before going all "Uncle Sam" on a baseball player.
  11. Andy P
    11. Posted by Andy P Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:29 am EST

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    I hope MLB changes networks the next time the contract is due for renewal. FOX's broadcast is getting old and stale. Joe Buck is enough to lull anyone to sleep and Tim Macarver spends more time managing the game than analyzing it. I'm tired of him trying to outwit the managers only to find out his strategy was wrong. He should stick to color commentary like he's supposed to. MLB needs a fresh look to postseason coverage. I would rather ESPN or NBC take over. They at least have play-by-play people who can keep us awake.
  12. yeah, yeah
    12. Posted by yeah, yeah Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:02 pm EST

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    Dean: "If it was in the field of play (which it was), it should have been ruled a ground rule double. "
    Actually, if the camera wasn't over the rail that ball would have been a souvenir. Doesn't change the game, but it shows you have no reason to complain.
    Nice use of distorted reality to say the Phils got hosed on that one. +1
    \Not a Phils fan
    \Even less of a Yanks fan.
  13. mr kersey
    13. Posted by mr kersey Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:49 pm EST

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    Hey Knuckleheads, MLB is dirty but its hard telling someone that sports is their whole life,only when its something else that it is corrupt in your mind,I guess your thinking and way of life is why America is going down the shi$$er.
  14. smiley
    14. Posted by smiley Mon Nov 02, 2009 1:38 pm EST

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    HAL H: if u read above it states the cam was over the fence and is now in line with the fence. so it shouldn't have been called a homerun because the ball was on the way down and hit the middle to lower portion of the lens. had it hit the top of cam and not the lense YEAH YEAH then give it to him. Replay needs to be changed and these umps need to be changed game to game because all playoffs they have been screwing up. I am a phillies fan but i will say the dodgers were suppose to win that series, they just couldn't take advantage of the calls the umps gave them. Phillies are losin this on their own with lack of hitting. funny how howard can't hit crap now when he blew up the first two rounds. Wonder how much bud paying him to whiff again. haha
  15. sam spade
    15. Posted by sam spade Mon Nov 02, 2009 2:02 pm EST

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    I guess this was in response to my blog and other which pointed out that the ball would have probably hit the fence and bounced back into the field of play for a double. It was agreed that it would be a homer. But the camera in the field of play calls into the question that whole play. We will never know but at least it won't happen again.
  16. Older_than_Moses_Shaq
    16. Posted by Older_than_Moses_Shaq Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:04 pm EST

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    Idiot cameraman needed to be evicted from the stadium as any fan would be interfering with a ball in the field of play. What a moron. If you can't do the job properly, you shouldn't be there in the first place.
  17. bull502@...
    17. Posted by bull502@... Mon Nov 02, 2009 3:26 pm EST

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    It should not have been ruled a Homerun. The camera is not part of the field, or fence, like the foul pole. It should have been considered the same as fan interference.
  18. richard nixon
    18. Posted by richard nixon Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:30 pm EST

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    oh no, it's not fan interference, it's media interference. this is a symbol of how media is destroying the game. it's a metaphor. bon jovi should write a song about it, especially since i'm sick of the crap played before the game, during the game, after the game, during highlights, game summaries, nifty little fun rock baseball action videos, fox promos, etc., and that's yet on top of having to hear joe buck and tim mccarver, the perry como and huell howser of baseball. at least you learn something from huell howser.
  19. The Godfather
    19. Posted by The Godfather Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:17 pm EST

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    #9 Dean... you are just a Tool...
    #12 uh oh... you too are a Tool for raging on someone's grammar in a sports blog as if it were a disertation.
    Finally, controversy over a camera, really? Who gives a flyin' $^#@%& !!!
  20. The Ugly Librarian
    20. Posted by The Ugly Librarian Mon Nov 02, 2009 6:53 pm EST

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    You're a jackass if you think there was a conspiracy to ensure a Yanks' victory based on the placement of the camera, as if they knew before the game that a ball would be hit to that precise spot, and it would be the Yankees hitting it.
    The camera was behind the wall if you're a Yankees fan, and overlapping the lip of the wall if you're a Phillies fan. Enough said.
    The media is the reason everyone is making a big deal about these types of plays. If it weren't for mass coverage, 90% of the people who watched this game and [profane] about plays like this wouldn't have gotten to see said plays, and would have been lucky if they got to hear it on the radio. If you don't like listening to the announcers and seeing all the fancy-schmancy techno-crap the networks use, listen on the radio. If you don't like the radio announcer, buy a damn ticket.

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