Posted by Craig Brown on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 12:36 pm

Last night, I saw every blemish, blackhead and pore on Andy Pettite’s face.  Not by choice.  And not because I’m some sicko who pays attention to things like this.  It was because the FOX broadcast forced me to see these things.

It was because someone in a production truck in the Bronx decided it was interesting television to zoom their high definition cameras as tight as possible on the Yankee starter.  Ugh.

Please FOX, spare me the extreme close up.  It may add drama when Mike Wallace is grilling Nathan Thurm on 60 Minutes, but it doesn’t really work in the world of sports.  Fine, the eyes are the window to the soul and all that, but do I really need to see Andy Pettite staring at his catcher, waiting to pick up the sign?

Sometimes, more is more.  There are 60 inch (and larger) high definition televisions that are affordable to the public.  These monster sets beg for wide shots where you can see more of what’s happening at the moment.  And in outstanding detail.  How about instead of a close-up of Chone Figgins eyes while he’s leading off first, you show me a high angle from behind home plate that shows me the length of his lead and the positioning of the infielders?  Of course Figgins is focused and intensely staring at the pitcher.  That’s what he’s supposed to do.  And it’s not interesting in the least.

The little three shot set-up where we see the pitcher, the batter and the catcher’s crotch isn’t compelling and doesn’t add a single thing to the broadcast.  We can basically see the exact same thing from the center field camera.  Just because this shot can be achieved doesn’t mean it should be hoisted upon the viewing public.

Those split screens… Does the director get a bonus every time he puts one of those inane splits on the air?  Every split I saw in the ALCS was unnecessary and added zero to the broadcast.  What makes it even worse is when the camera pushes in for one of the patented tight shots during a split.  Players, particularly batters and runners on base, move around.  They may not move much, but when you’re so damn tight, the slightest movement will push them out of frame.  At times, I felt like I saw more of Torii Hunter’s helmet than I saw of his face.  It’s like The Blair Witch Project comes to baseball.

I’ll begrudgingly give FOX some credit:  They seem to have moved away from the obligatory “worried fan” shot.  You know what I’m talking about.  Usually some woman in a brand new (Your Team Here) baseball cap, anxiously clasping her hands in front of her mouth, as if the tension is just killing her.  Yawn.  Unfortunately, they seem to have replaced those shots with even more close-ups of players and managers.  Sometimes, you can’t win.

Noted media curmudgeon Phil Mushnick of the New York Post hates the graphics that litter the screen.  I dunno… the score and the diamond illustrating where the runners are seems pretty vital.  That graphic is now just accepted.  We know this because if it were dropped from the broadcast, we’d be kind of angry.  However he does have a point about the “Yankees lead 3-2” graphic that was in the top right corner of the screen.  Seriously?  Are we that ignorant that we don’t know the situation in the series?  I would imagine even the most causal of fan would know the series score if they stumbled upon the game.

The pitch track thingy that TBS placed on the side of the screen (high-def broadcast only) was interesting, but actually begged for more information.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but if you’re going to have something like that, really trick it out with colors indicating pitch type and a letter in the circle indicating ball, called strike or swinging strike.  This graphic, tucked in the corner somehow added to the telecast.  I guess it’s because baseball isn’t like the other sports where there’s constant movement on the field.  There’s more “dead” space on either side of the screen which lends itself to this extra information.  The pitch track is probably just the beginning.  One year, they’ll put full box scores on the side.

I know FOX is trying to catch the attention of the casual fan with these games.  They’re paying huge sums of money for the privilege of carrying these games, so I can’t really blame them for trying.  I can blame them for trying to hard and focusing on everything but the game.

This isn’t to say they should completely trash the extreme close-up.  I love the replays where the ball is leaving the pitcher’s hand and the camera follows it’s flight all the way to the plate.  Love it.  Being able to see the grip, the release and the resulting spin is fascinating to me.  Seeing the ball at the moment it impacts (or misses) the bat is always worth seeing as well.  Or the close-up of the bag when the throw barely beats the runner.  These are examples of a tight shot that works.  Which is probably why we don’t see replays like this enough.

I’m sure by the time Wednesday rolls around, I will have de-FOXified myself enough that I’ll make the mistake of turning on the television to catch the first game of the World Series.  I’m guessing by the second inning and the 50th closeup of CC Sabathia or Cliff Lee, I’ll switch over to the radio.

Craig writes about the Royals at Royals Authority. He welcomes all questions and comments via e-mail. Or you could just follow him on Twitter.