FOX needs to stop killing our national pastime

	Remember when "Scooter" was just the nickname of Yankees legend Phil Rizzuto? Al Bello/Getty Images

FOX isn't the worst thing to happen to baseball, but that's only because Shoeless Joe Jackson and seven of his teammates consorted with gamblers 86 years ago. Had FOX (or TV, for that matter) been around back then, no doubt it would have had its animated talking baseball, Scooter, explain the scandal to kids around the country. Either that or Scooter could teach them how to throw a spitball.

Who is Scooter here for anyway? Surely not children, because if that is the case, then why was it teaching us how to throw a "brushback pitch" the other day? For some reason FOX even decorated Scooter with a black eye for the occasion. I'm not sure what that even means. What I do know is that Scooter needs to go the way of Poochie.

But at least Scooter has one redeeming value: We only have to endure him in small doses. The same cannot be said of the lead network's tiresome broadcast duo of Tim McCarver and Joe Buck. McCarver is a good announcer for baseball novices. But at this point, Tim, we've heard everything you have to say. I'll let you know when my 2-year-old daughter needs a crash course on taking secondary leads.

McCarver's partner, Buck, is just another in a long line of examples of why there is too much nepotism in sportscasting. (If you want your son and your grandson to have jobs for life, then get your butt into the booth.) Maybe FOX and ESPN can stage a battle of the networks and have Buck and Jeremy (son of Dick) Schaap step into the Thunderdome.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention other aspects of FOX's coverage that stink, such as their punitive Saturday afternoon blackouts, the boring pregame show, the silly RIGHT NOW! box and turning the All-Star Game into a gimmick.