Chip Caray used the phrase "fisted" multiple times last night. Struck me and the blog we were on...
Boatdrinks

That is very generous grading for TBS.

A few issues...

There is really no excuse for "technical difficulties" that cause part of a LCS to not be televised.

It is also inexcusable to give a LCS to a network that doesn't have 95%+ HD coverage. What % of cable customers actually have TBS-HD? 50%? 75%? I suppose this should be directed at MLB, not TBS.

Lastly, the producers struggle to catch all the on-field action. Returning to a pitch late and getting an angle on dropped 3rd strikes and the throw to 1st was a problem more than once.

Jeezis Christ, is that Dr. Zaius from Planet of the Apes?

Even if FrankTV is gone, it'll be a problem with some other show. See House of Payne and Bill Engvall ads during the NBA playoffs.

I'm sorry but I disagree with MOST of these grades. It's pretty bad that they use Braves announcers and have a Rent-a-Broadcaster program (Anderson, Reynolds.) Also, check Football Night in America's Jets highlights for us. I think I heard Olberman say "Total BS." Calling out that night's rival network maybe?

To the second anon:

The only part I might disagree with you there is about the HD coverage. Using this site (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1058081), 9 of the 14 providers listed offer TBS in HD to just about everyone (so that's 64% of the group), and the other 5 are limited availability (we'll say on average about maybe half those people get it in HD, so that's another 18%), which makes it over 80%. I understand your point, and frankly any channel with sports at this point should be like ESPN and be 100% HD across the market, but I'm not sure if it's as big a discrepancy as you might think. Def. agree with your other two points.

Craig Sager got the grade he deserved.

I thought TBS did a tremendous job. Graphics were great and definetely less distracting than Fox's. Harold Reynolds is the man he instantly makes any broadcast better. Kudos to TBS. Im pissed i have to listen to monotone Joe Fuck and Tim MaaaaaaCarrrrrrverrrrrr as my Phils play in the WS

"thousands of events are aired on networks across the Country and I can't remember that happening in recent memory."

Welp, it also happened in Buffalo on Sunday - power failures at Ralph Wilson Stadium, forcing anyone who wanted that game to watch Steelers@Bengals on two separate occasions while the Chargers and Bills played on.

These are complicated systems, with backups, and sometimes backups for backups - and sometimes, things fail.

I'm sorry, but there is nothing Harold Reynolds can do or say to make me like him. I've always thought he was awful. And hearing Caray go apeshit every time BJ Upton caught a routine flyball was beyond annoying.

@ RJBO: I would give Craig Sager's wardrobe an F-. I don't think I can remember a thing he said, as I was too distracted by his mid-age crisis....

@ Chris: You're absolutely right about Olbermann. He said that "Favre said that reports he fed information to the Lions about the Packers are total BS, or TBS". Easily the quote of the night. I bursted out laughing when he said that...

As far as the grades, you were awfully kind to Caray and Co. Not even Ron Darling saved that team from tanking in the ALCS. Unabashed Sawx Hater Chip Caray, was, well, his name. Buck Martinez, in my opinion, talks way too much. He is the kind of person who likes to ramble on and on and on on a topic and once he gets going on a subject he doesn't like to stop kind of like a wind up toy he just keeps going and going and going annoying everybody in sight with his constant talking and yapping not letting Darling get a word in edge wise and it also doesn't hurt that he has one of the most annoying voices. As far as Sager goes, see my comment to RJBO. I would give the team a D, for Darling trying.

I really don't understand the Rays bias... in game 5, Chip Caray and the entire announce team were rooting hard for the Sox to come back, to the point where I couldn't listen to them anymore, promptly muting the television and turning on the radio.

Chip Caray should be ashamed for his announcing ability, ruining the legacy that Harry left behind. Caray is absolutely horrible, but I think that TBS did an overall good job. Anything looks good compared to Joe Buck though...

For all the talk about a pro-Rays bias, Buck Martinez's man crush on Dustin Pedroia is beyond embarrassing.

There was a Rays bias? What about Chip Caray's fawning over the Red Sox ability to score with two outs?

Caray also said Game 7 was "pivotal."

Indeed it was.

Does anyone else think that Cal Ripken looks like Darth Vader when he takes his helmet off at the end of 'Return of the Jedi'?

Gregg, ABSOLUTELY! He wanted to see Eck's hair with his own eyes!

I could not disagree with you more on TBS. I don't care for any of their broadcasters except for Ernie...and that's probably just good will engineered from his NBA work more than anything else. The "Steve Harvey" episode was unprecedented in not only its length but how incredibly stupid it was handled. One provision you always have is a studio host who can handle things if a remote situation occurs, even if all your regular hosts are offsite. The very next day, CBS was unable to show San Diego-Buffalo to its audience for a chunk of time, but they immediately "took over" and showed the sports fan sports. You do not put on the tail end of "Bloopers With Dick Clark" and "The Steve Harvey Show" as compensation for not being able to broadcast a Game 6 of an ALCS. You have redundancy built into your system for all possible scenarios. And as for Chip Caray, I'd prefer Bill Engvall do the games.

What Rays bias? Were you watching the same games that I was watching? Are you serious? A RAYS bias?

I think you meant to say a Red Sox bias, but maybe you actually weren't watching the games...

And Buck Martinez's crush on Pedroia is unhealthy...

And Chip Caray is a disgrace to his father...

The only time there was a Sox bias was in Game 5 when the crew wanted the Series to keep going. They may have switched a bit during Game Six, but during Games 1-4 and 7, Caray could not contain his excitement after every Rays' homerun.

Chip Caray tried to roll the dice and "foreshadow" big plays, like saying the tying run at the plate would tie the score by hitting a home run(which often didn't turn out this way)

Granted, just two years and they looked pretty good, but there were some technical glitches that were funny, like the accidental cutaway to what looked like an interview set during one of the White Sox games, or cutting to the wrong camera on a pickoff move, like when they cut to the high first cam that had a great wide shot of left field.

Chip Caray was just trying way too hard. As a Mets fan, I've loved Ron Darling as an analyst and Buck Martinez was very good. Caray suffers a bit from Joe Buck's Disease where he think he needs to always be talking.

David Aldridge and Sager need to GO! They have little or no baseball knowledge and their comfort level with baseball is very obvious. I don't think Ernie Johnson is that great at baseball either, but still a decent host for the casual fan. I think Verducci could have been stronger given his extensive baseball knowledge but he gets a pass since it is his first time on TV.

It's absolutely insane - as a Rays fan - to continue to hear this junk about biased announcers. After all these years of the sports media licking at the Red Sox and Yankees feet, we have a little excitement and get a little credit and all the whiners come out. The Red Sox fans are a bunch of idiots.

Maybe the Rays are getting alot of love because....they won the AL East? Maybe because they won their first two playoff series? Nah, the entire sports media should instead revert back to their September ways and talk 24/7 about Manny and the Red Sox - that's so much more interesting.

Idiots.

There'll always be a "bias" perceived, and announcers in all sports tend to go with the better team, which the Rays were for most of this series (and I'm a die-hard Sox fan!) Nice to see our guy Don Orsillo get some praise. He's so smooth night in and night out for the Red Sox broadcasts.

No problem seeing the Rays pull out the win. They've done it right and they're a pretty classy bunch from Joe Maddon on down. We'll see 'em next year!

I thought TBS did pretty good, especially the Inside MLB studio show.

One thing that completely struck me as odd was the programming decisions made for after the post game shows ended. Taking a guess that a large portion of viewers were male, you would think TBS would program some movie or show that would at least have some chance to keep viewers from changing the channel after the postgame show ended. More than once, TBS immediately started with "Sex & the City". It only took two seconds for millions of TVs to flip to something else. There were some movies (MIB), but they still could've put in more effort to keep people around.

Anybody notice how Darling and Martinez would re-word each others' analysis? Mostly it was Martinez after Darling.

Darling: "Not all hits given up by pitchers are mistake pitches, Ortiz just hit a good pitcher's pitch"

Martinez: "Ortiz just hit a good pitch there, not all hits are mistake pitches"

And so on ...

If you grade TBS just on Game 6, F. If you grade TBS overall B+. Orsillo and Anderson are 2 of mlb's best young pbp. Smoltz killed Leiter and Gonzo in the booth. Darling is sensational and Eck deserved a national audience. The graphics, camera angles and replays were top-notch. No excuse for Game 6 and so many people looking to rip TBS got a fat one over the heart of the plate.

I watch a lot of Mets games on SNY(although I'm a Yankees fan), and Darling is terrific.

Thought he did a great job, and although I'm not a fan of Buck Martinez, I thought he was good too.

I think TBS blew FOX out of the water this year (which isn't hard). The pre and post game shows were top notch per usual for Turner. Brian Anderson is actually better on national telecasts than he is with the Brewers. A lot more constraint and doesn't ramble NEARLY as much. I got spoiled with Matt V and Darron Sutton for 4 years so I was extremely hard on BA when he started.

Ernie Johnson versus Jeanne Zelasko or Karl Ravech? I will take EJ any day.

I agree that Smoltz was great (I wouldn't say he killed Leiter, whom I've always liked in the booth), but Darling? Seriously?

I live in DC and first heard him during his short stint with the Nats and was relieved he went to the Mets so I would have not reason to listen to him. Only to have him rear his ugly head for TBS...ugh.

If for no other reason than he would no longer be calling Cubs games, Dick Stockton needs to be either put out to stud or taken behind the barn and shot. If I wanted to hear pointless semirelated ramblings I'd volunteer at an old folks home.

Tony Gwynn should be doing nothing near a TV camera that doesn't involve shooting an instructional video on hitting a baseball.

I would like to give a special shout out to Brian Anderson. As a Cubs fan, I've watched my share of Brewers games these last couple of years, and I was worried how he would do calling their first postseason in 26 years. He was the consumate professional throughout the parts of their games that I watched. Great job.

Oh, and yeah, I'd take the TBS guys over any team that includes McCarver. See Stockton, Dick (above).

I feel sorry for anyone who has to watch baseball without Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy as the announcers. The Sox season is always a joy to watch on NESN and then you get to TBS & FOX for the post season and nothing can compare to the high standard of NESN broadcasting.

Additionally, for all of you people who commented that Chip Caray ruined his fathers reputation... lest we forget that his father was a total drunk and could barely sing "Take me out to the ball game"

Chip Caray is Harry's grandson. Skip Caray, who passed away recently, is his father.

I've had the MLB Extra Innings package for 7 years and have listened to every announcing team in both leagues. You're kidding about the Red Sox announce team, right? Remy is awful and ranks right up there on the homer scale along with Hawk Harrelson and the clowns that do the Cubs on TV, Len Kasper and Bob Brenly.