Fox has been unconventional since its inception, and went off the charts Monday. It had the winning, dominant pitcher from the World Series game the night before jump in and do a little play-by-play while impersonating comedian Will Ferrell's mimicking of baseball broadcast legend Harry Caray.
The segment, in the top of the third inning during Fox's Game 5 telecast, began conventionally enough. Derek Holland was interviewed from the Texas dugout by play-by-play man Joe Buck and analyst Tim McCarver, who were in the broadcast booth. It's not uncommon for a pitcher who isn't going to be used to have a brief in-game chat with the broadcasters.
But what was unusual was that after the three discussed Holland's performance, viewers heard him call a pitch in the exuberant, unmistakable Caray-style voice that Ferrell has exaggerated in comic bits. (Holland probably is more familiar with the Ferrell version than actual Caray calls because Holland was 11 when Caray died.)
Buck knew Holland did the Caray imitation and at the end of the interview said he wanted to hear it and Holland said "I'll get you guys during this at-bat.''
Buck, sounding surprised that Holland wanted to do it for play-by-play instead of in mere conversation, asked, "Really?''
Holland soon went into full Caray-Ferrell mode with Matt Holliday hitting.
"And we've got C.J. Wilson standing out here thinking about what he's going to throw,'' Holland said, rivaling Ferrell's Caray imitation. "We've got Mike Napoli giving the signals here. Holiday's just waiting. Here comes the delivery. Aaaah and a swing and a miss (actually a foul ball) now it's back to the old screen. We're going to have to get the ball back. What a throw back from the umpire. That was catcher Mike Nap-oli.''
Purists probably will be aghast, saying Fox turned a Series broadcast into a Ferrell "Saturday Night Live'' skit. But it was the third inning of Game 4, not the bottom of the ninth of Game 7.
And what's wrong with a little levity anyway, as the personable Holland added a nice change of pace? Baseball seeks a ratings push, and this added a harmless, fun twist.
As far as the game, one of Fox's top moments came when the Cardinals' Allen Craig was thrown out trying to steal in the seventh inning with Albert Pujols at bat and the score tied, a key play in Texas' victory.
The Cards later loaded the bases but did not score.
"You have to be more sure with Albert Pujols (at bat) when you try to steal second base than anybody in baseball,'' McCarver said. "When you're at first base you're in scoring position with Pujols up there.
"No need to try to get to second, they're going to walk him. ... Running in front of Pujols is a no-no.''
Later, Buck said it looked like it was a failed hit-and-run play (Pujols took the high pitch) that had been put on by Pujols.
Ratings REPORT
This World Series drew its best rating yet Sunday when the Rangers beat the Cardinals 4-0 to even the showdown, and baseball's showcase event thumped America's most popular TV sport.
The Nielsen Co.'s preliminary rating says the ballgame, on Fox, was seen in 9.2 percent of U.S. homes with a TV and the Indianapolis-New Orleans NFL contest had an 8.2 figure - by far the lowest rating NBC has had for "Sunday Night Football'' in the last two seasons.
Even though there were extenuating circumstances affecting the ratings battle - the ballgame was close and the football contest was a massive rout (a 62-7 shellacking), the bottom line is that the Series is 11-1 vs. the NFL in the past 21 years when they have gone head-to-head in prime time.
(The rating for Monday's NFL and World Series games was not immediately available.)
Through Game 4, the Series was being seen in an average of 8.2 percent of the nation's homes with a TV according to Nielsen, leaving it slightly behind the figure at the same point last year (8.3) for a Series that ended up tying the record-low overall rating of 8.4.
But that San-Francisco-Texas matchup was a short one, with the Giants wining in five games, and because this year's showdown guaranteed of going at least six games it is likely that this Series won't finish at the bottom.
