FOX’s TV Camera Extends Onto Field, Causes Controversy on A-Rod Home Run

Whether it’s been BCS games or baseball playoffs, we’ve often complained about FOX TV overproducing sporting events. Not to say that I or many others don’t have short attention spans, but it seems to me that along with showing you sports, FOX’s goal is to give you A.D.D. if you don’t already have it. This sentiment goes hand-in-hand with my often used mantra that less is more. Maybe FOX has finally learned that lesson given what happened in Game 3 of the World Series on Saturday night.

The Phillies were up 3-0 early and cruising until the controversy in the 4th. After a Johnny Damon flyout and a walk to Teixeira, A-Rod sliced a ball down the right field line, just inside the foul pole. In a Jeffrey Maier moment, the ball hit a FOX TV camera that was poking out over the fence (you can see it in the image above). The umpires later ruled the ball was on its way out so they awarded Alex Rodriguez with a two-run home run to make it 3-2 Phillies. The TV camera and the subsequent ruling seemed to have cost the Phillies a run. Even if the ball were heading out, there’s no reason why a camera should be sticking out over the fence onto the field. Sure it’s a million-to-one shot, but it happened, and FOX looks bad because of it. Maybe they realize now that it’s not about how many cameras you have (and at the least, to make sure they’re not interfering with the play), but about not screwing up the action. That home run by A-Rod snapped his slump and sparked the Yankees offense. They can thank FOX and the umpires for it.

UPDATE: The hit was ruled a home run because the ground rules had been agreed upon prior to the game and they said if a ball hit a camera it would be a homer.