Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game experienced record low ratings this week. Despite the fact that the game has more young stars and is moving faster than it has in decades, the general public was not convinced to tune in and Rich Shertenlieb says the reason why may be in the broadcast booth.
“It’s going to sound strange, but I think Joe Buck not being on the call…that’s a bigger loss than most people think,” he said Friday morning on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “I just believe we’ve been conditioned to think that when you hear Joe Buck’s voice, you know, something big and important is happening in the sports world.”
Shertenlieb and Jon Wallach were not even able to name who was calling the game for FOX at first. It was Joe Davis, who was elevated to the top baseball play-by-play position when Buck left FOX for ESPN last year.
Once Wallach realized it was Davis, he said that could be part of the All-Star Game’s problem. He said that Davis “lays back” too much. Shertenlieb countered by saying he didn’t need big energy from Davis.
Wallach said that if you aren’t getting it from Davis, you aren’t getting energy from anyone on FOX.
“You need him to be different than Smoltz, who is very quiet.”
The entire All-Star Week felt lackluster to Shertenlieb. He said the problems extended well-beyond the main attraction and didn’t only affect FOX.
“The Home Run Derby felt that way as well. It just felt stale and ESPN’s presentation was all wrong.”
