Very nice intro by FOX. Definitely a goose bump moment. I take it the other person talking is Michael Douglas?

Great job by Fox... they get a lot of crap over their coverage but baseball has the richest tradition of any sport in America. It has experienced more of American history and this intro captures it all very well. Well done!

Wow, that didn't take long...already gone.

The tone reminds me a bit of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__X7ybW9Ljg

And yes, I believe that was Michael Douglas.

WOW

just WOW

Fox nailed that

Where the fuck was Cleatus!!!

Thought you were being cheesy when you said you got goosebumps.

You weren't.

Great, great intro.

Over the years it seems like the country has shifted its focus to football as being "America's Sport", but this intro captures why baseball is, and always will be, my favorite sport.

also, agreed with the Glory music. Awesome movie.

Go Phillies!

Weird, only a short while after posting the "Field of Dreams" clip, I'm sitting here listening to this morning's Mike & Mike replay, and they play the audio of the very same speech.

Sure it's not Buster Douglas?

solid. one of the few times i've used that adjective and FOX in expressing a sentiment.

ugh

Best. Intro. Ever. Peroid.

That gave me goosebumps, as well.

Go Phillies!!!

ok, i watched it like three times on this blog....but damn if i didn't have goosebumps and tearing eyes if i watched it on live TV...damn Jeanne Zelasko for talking....a silent moment would've worked better...much better

Even after seeing it on this blog, I still got goosebumps watching it live on Fox. Wow, just wow. Great intro! I rarely compliment Fox, but they did a great job with that.

Buck: "Just in case you're watching the Rays for the first time..."

Aren't you watching this incarnation of the Rays for the first time, Joe?

"Just like that, Cole Hamels erases the mistake made by Howard" - Joe Buck
"Double plays do that" - Tim McCarver

Buck: Let me go over the strange groundrules for Tropicana Field here.
Buck's Brain: Because FOX has never done a game here before, and I have no idea what they are. Whoa, look, a ray tank!

McCarver keeps pronouncing Kazmir "Cashmere"

Led Zeppelin's song is having control issues right now.

"He played for Tampa way back before they were called the Devil Rays...." - Joe Buck

That wasn't too long ago, Joseph...

steve...was just gonna say the same thing. I'm not sure whether I should put the game on mute or hope that Philly knocks him out of the game early.

After all these years, it still amazes me that there aren't better announcers out there than Buck and McCarver (or Chip Caray or Miller/Morgan for that matter).

For all of us who piled on Chip Caray, here's our first stupid Buck moment with Carl Crawford. "He played for Tampa Bay way back when they were called the Devil Rays." Uh that was last year Buck.But great, great open.

I think that was meant with sarcasm...

I didn't pick up any sarcasm from Buck on the Rays/Devil Rays comment... and it's not like Buck has a hidden subtlety that takes us all days to get.

Anyone else catch McCarver's "and this is not a good start for the Phillies" after the basehit in the bottom of the first? A whole 5 minutes after Chase Utley hit the HR?

Ya, real bad start there Tim.

Rocky Theme!

I've been waiting for that to happen. A homerun during the taped interview with the coach. It just seems so awkward when they can't cut away.

"Ray-naissance" man, McCarver? Really?

Rosenthal: "It's Maddon borrowing from Madonna: Express yourself."

Buck: "It's a dead fish throw from Kazmir to Pena".

Fox's center field angle behind the pitcher is much different than TBS's. TBS was shift way over towards LF. I watched the whole game with my head tilted.

Yeah. Fox just announced that thanks to the Bartlett stolen base, we could all get diarhea tomorrow - also known as a free taco from Taco Bell.

There are more stipulations on that free taco than on an advertised car lease price.

@ Mal: YES! I always wanted free diarrhea. I'll be sure to stop by all of the Taco Bells I know....

Let's all be thankful they don't let Tony K. sit in with this crew. He'd be telling us how much faster Favre would get the ball in from centerfield than Upton.

"All the fans will enjoy a free taco...." - Chris Myers

Yeah, he just said that...

The president of Taco Bell is a blimy Brit (or is he Australian)...who'da thunk it?

Why is a British dude the president of Taco Bell? Shouldn't Cheech & Chong be the president of Taco Bell?

Does that stolen base mean we get two free tacos, er, emergency trips to the bathroom, tomorrow?

If I hear "and that pitch barely missed" one more time I'm going to put my foot through my TV.

Am I the only one who thought that little girl's reaction was hysterical? Okay, maybe it's because I'm a Phillies fan, but still.

Could we re-gift this Fox broadcast to Canada, Joe?

@ jfein: Since Pena got picked off 1st during the 6th inning, that cancels out the other stolen base. This effectivey killed the Rays rally and spared us all a second round of the butt squirts.

Fox's baseball coverage: The only time I see WebMD commercials.

/logs on there to look up "taco related abdominal pain"

Game 1 sponsored by Taco Bell.

Game 2 sponsored by Pepto Bismol.

Does anyone remember how many blown saves Lidge had this season? I wonder if The Wonder Twins will tells us anything about that next inning?

@mal: Lidge has as many blown saves this year as Buck & McCarver have made good points in this game.

"Well, buddy boy, we have a heck of a start to this World Series" - Joe Buck in that pinkish-purple shirt and tie leaning back, talking to Tim McCarver. That was just creepy. On so many levels.

@ RJBO: Right you are. Lidge is one of the worst closers in all of baseball. It's a miracle the Phils are even in the World Series, given all of the saves he has blown.

After that shot of the guys in the booth, I understand why Buck sounds like he's half asleep...HE IS. Sleeves rolled up, leaning way back in his chair.

It's the 9th inning of a one-run ballgame in the World freakin' Series. How about a little intensity!!! At least act like you're interested.

If Buck were a Taco, he'd be a soft shell.

That's the first time that I can recall that the ball was all the way in the middle of the black part of the FoxTrax.

So, Tim, are you going to explain why you keep saying that Ruiz has to block Lidge's sliders in the dirt WHEN THERE ARE NO RUNNERS ON BASE?!?

McCarver: "They call sliders like that 'cement mixer'". This comment was followed by no explanation whatsoever. It is commentary like that that keeps AA in business.

A hit batter in Game 2 gets you Taco Bell's new Butt-ruption Burrito.

Enjoy your stomach cramps, guys.

Lidge has as many blown saves this year as Buck & McCarver have made good points in this game.

Zero:
Blown Saves for Lidge
Good Points by Buck & McCarver

/didn't mean to disrespect Lidge
//me drunk

what about Chris Meyers interview with chase. HE mentioned something about Tampa being on the Fringe and then mentioned that Fringe is an excellent show on Fox.
Then he threw it over to Ken Rosenthal saying. Ken Rosenthal is with the Phillies Closer.
Come on Chris How do you not know Brad Lidge?

The fun doesn't happen until October 28th. What a shame...

Heck, there might be a parade October 28th in Philly. Imagine how the Taco Bell at The Gallery will look...around 3 PM.

Hey, Fox had to do something to spice up their worst-case scenario match-up (Rays-Phillies); they're effectively saying, we can't actually hype this series based on its own merits--so how's this: "Watch Baseball--be Patriotic!" They might as well have waved the white flag with the Nielsen people with that intro. Trust FOX to put politics into...well...everything.
Too bad, though, since the series is actually pretty compelling baseball (though you'd think they could get through a 3-2 ball game in less than 3.5 hours!).

I got tears in my eyes when i saw this live, and then the backstreet boys totally killed the National Anthem and all was forgotten. They should never be allowed to sing it again, atrocious!

Did the boy band sing it or lip-sync?

Did we all miss that the narrator is American Hero Jack Bauer?

@ Anon @ 8:04: Michael Douglas was last night. They switched it up and used Sutherland tonight. They said last night it was Douglas.

So Kiefer Sutherland just did the Michael Douglas part on tonight's intro.

Awesome. Can't wait for 24.

And about the intro? Remember that Garnett/Bill Russell interview that Stuart Scott commented on? Where he said, "if you don't get goosebumps...you just don't get it."

That's what this one says. If you don't get goosebumps watching it, then you just don't get it.

Agreed with Adam. I saw it once on this blog, live last night, and live tonight, and I got goosebumps all three times.

I guess this is going to serve as our game 2 open thread as well....

Los Lonely Boys??? Where does MLB find these bands that people stopped caring about years ago?

McCarver: "Playfully, (Myers) is sorry there's no DH...there is a DH."

I just noticed that they're not having the "Steal a Base, Get Diarrhea" promotion. Damn, I guess we can only get the squirts on one day...

The pre-game intro was great, but why have a Canadian narrate it (at least for game 2)?

"What are they, like a mile apart?" - Tim McCarver on the Philadelphia sports complexes the Linc and Citizens Bank Park. Just one problem with that and Joe Buck corrected him, they're right next to each other! They're not a mile apart, they're 100 yards apart.

"Big thunder coming up for the Phillies" - Joe Buck giving me Disney flashbacks...

Joe Buck, after Shields is relieved: “He can only be a winner if he gets a decision.”

"Tim McCarver has never had a mohawk" - a Fox graphic. I'm not kidding.

I missed the intro for Game 2! Does anyone know where I might be able to see it? The first one was awesome! Thanks in advance!