Think Commercial Breaks Are Too Long During Baseball Games? Just Wait Til Next Year!

According to an article on SI.com, FOX plans on compensating for the declining baseball ratings next year by expanding commercial time between half-innings on Fox telecasts as part of its new contract. Oh, please! These games already go too late into the night! I pray that maybe at least they'll move up the start times of these games. Would it really kill them to have first pitch at 7:30?

The article brings up another issue I've been complaining about, in a quote by Los Angeles Daily News sports media columnist Tom Hoffarth:

...whatever your opinions of Fox's announcing crews are, Hoffarth says the network could do better. "It seems pretty obvious that a postseason game without a Vin Scully doing it is just missing the boat," he said. "Here's the greatest baseball broadcaster of all time, sitting home in October. One thing that might be an option is to have the home-team broadcaster do an inning or two, like NBC used to do way back when. This World Series would be nice to hear Ernie Harwell, at least."

Exactly! No broadcaster knows the teams better than the guys who call the games night in and night out. How much better would the analysis of the NLDS have been if Gary Cohen had been in the booth. They usually do bring in a random player for commentary - this year it was Luis Gonzalez for no reason, who was useess - Keith Hernandez would have been a much better choice.