Tito on our Televisions

I did not stay up for the entire Tigers/Rangers game last night.  I tried to hang in but fell asleep just after they came back from the rain delay.  I think the fact that I had no deeply vested interest in which team won (or lost) helped my brain make the decision to shut down before the completion of the game.

I will say that I enjoyed Terry Francona on the broadcast.  In the first inning I thought maybe he was shying away from the microphone but as the game went on I realized that he was just letting there be some moments in the game where you didn’t have to fill them with mindless chatter.  I found Tito funny and interesting and informative.  Three things I haven’t said about Tim McCarver in over a decade. So there’s that.

Seeing Tito on Fox last night, though, was the final action that made me have to accept the fact that he’s really gone from Boston.  And that really hurts.

I was surprised this morning to find an article written about Tito that…well, let’s just say it isn’t very flattering.  Bob Raissman calls Fox’s hiring Tito an “insult to fans”, a “bad idea”, proof that Fox doesn’t care about it’s baseball audience and a “disaster waiting to happen”. Note, this was written before even the pregame show began last night.

I find it amusing that Raissman’s criticisms of Fox could really apply to Tim McCarver as well.  Heck, even New York baseball fans (in the comments section of the Raissman piece) praise Tito.  It wasn’t a disaster, it wasn’t an insult and most people seemed to enjoy the fresh perspective.  Maybe Raissman was hoping to get the call himself?

More Tito tonight and then…well, then we’re on our own.  I’m not looking forward to a Tito-free baseball existence.