Sean McDonough realizes the touch of irony in his first assignment Saturday as CBS` new lead baseball announcer. It`s at St. Louis` Busch Memorial Stadium, home of the Cardinals-and the broadcast home of Jack Buck, whom the network dumped unceremoniously last December after two seasons.
”Out of 26 major-league teams,” McDonough said the other day, ”it`s interesting the Cardinals would be hosting our first game. I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. But I`m looking forward to it. It`ll be nice to see Jack.”
McDonough expected to talk this weekend with Buck, a longtime family friend. After all, McDonough, whose dad, Will, worked with Buck on NFL telecasts for a couple of years at CBS, wasn`t the man who pulled the trigger.
”I`m sure when I see him, being the gracious guy he is, he`ll realize it`s a little uncomfortable for me,” said McDonough, ”and I`m sure he`ll do whatever he can to take that feeling away.”
”My father sent him a note to let him know how our family feels about what transpired. I really don`t know him that well. Our paths have crossed three or four times over the past few years, and we`ve always had pleasant conversations. But I didn`t feel it would be right for me to call or write to him.”
McDonough and analyst Tim McCarver held their one rehearsal April 4 at an exhibition game between the Mets and the Yankees. McCarver and CBS coordinating producer Ric LaCivita called it quits after four innings, feeling confident they`d found the right guy.
”We went down there with the intention of going six or seven innings to get our timing down,” McDonough said. ”About the third inning, Tim took off his headset and said, `Why don`t we do just one more inning; I don`t see any reason to do more. This has been comfortable from the first moment. We haven`t stepped on each other once.` ”
”I agreed with him. And I`m really happy about that. In baseball, more than any other sport, it takes longer to get your timing down with your partner because of all the dead time between pitches. There`s not the obvious time-as there is in other sports-when the play-by-play person or the analyst is supposed to speak. You really have to read the other person`s body language and see where the conversation`s going to figure out who should be speaking and who should be listening.”
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McDonough, the voice of the Red Sox the last five seasons, actually trades one ex-catcher from Tennessee for another. His Boston partner is Bob Montgomery, a native of Nashville, while McCarver hails from Memphis.
Television is ”an analyst`s medium, whomever I`ve worked with, and no matter what the sport,” said McDonough, who got his first national exposure two years ago on ESPN`s baseball and college football telecasts. ”If someone`s going to win the battle for air time, it`s going to be the analyst and not the play-by-play person.”
Buck, perhaps, suffered from a generation gap, learning his craft on radio rather than TV. He tried to make the transition, but it wasn`t a comfortable one. McDonough, however, is a child of the TV generation. He doesn`t turn 30 until next month.
”It`s two entirely different approaches,” said McDonough of the differences between radio and TV sportscasting. ”It`s difficult to make the transition in either direction. They`re both equally challenging. In radio, you`re in total control. In TV, you`re not. It`s more of a reaction situation. I don`t know if that was the problem for Jack. I know he had done a lot of television, too. I thought Jack did a good job.”
– The arrival of McDonough isn`t the only change on CBS` baseball telecasts this year. The network will choose from three games on most Saturdays, giving it more flexibility, and the Cubs, Cardinals, Red Sox, Braves and Dodgers have agreed to increase to five from four the maximum number of network exposures before the final two weeks of the season, when any scheduled game is eligible for broadcast.
– Or is it Dr. Buck? The Cardinals` broadcaster will receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Illinois College when he gives the commencement address May 17. The degree is the second for Buck, who was similarly honored by the University of Missouri at St. Louis.
– Saturday night`s Stanley Cup playoff opener between the Blackhawks and St. Louis at the Stadium marks the debut of Chicago`s latest attempt at pay-per-view television.
Most cable operators think up to 90 percent of subscribers` orders won`t come in until Friday and Saturday. That could present problems for viewers who live in areas without addressable systems, such as Chicago Cable in the city. Those subscribers will have to go to their cable operator`s offices and put down a deposit for a converter box. And those offices usually are closed Saturdays.
Each game will cost $19.95, or $16.95 apiece if a customer buys the entire playoffs.
– ABC has secured the TV rights to the Southeastern Conference football championship for the next four years, starting with next season`s contest Dec. 5 at Birmingham`s Legion Field. . . . WBBM Radio has renewed its contract with Northwestern for a third season of Wildcat football games, with Dave Eanet and Brian Davis in the booth. WBBM sports coverage recently received a couple of awards: UPI for Best Sports Coverage (the Bulls` NBA title) and Illinois Broadcasters Association for Best Coverage of a Sporting Event (the Arlington Million). . . . Changes, additions at `BBM: Tony Salvaro`s ”Harness Racing Wrapup” moves to 11:45 p.m. Monday through Saturday; Nick Seitz`s ”Golf Spot” airs twice each Saturday and Peter Berwash`s ”Tennis Spot” twice each Sunday. . . . WMAQ-Ch. 5 also received an honor-Best Sports Report-from the Illinois Associated Press for Mark Giangreco`s half-hour special ”Da Bulls, Da Champs.” . . . Channel 5 has a couple of upcoming specials: ”Good Sports,” a look at what sports teaches about values hosted by Collin Siedor, as part of the station`s ”Celebrate America” series at 6 p.m. Saturday; and ”Chicago Bears Weekly: Draft Special,” with Wayne Larrivee and Hub Arkush at 6 p.m. April 25. . . . Danny Akers, a 17-year-old who suffers from muscular dystrophy, will join analyst Boomer Esiason for halftime of USA Network`s telecast Saturday night of the Galaxy-Knights World League football game through the efforts of the Sunshine Foundation charity. . . . ”This Week in Baseball,” seen at 12:30 p.m. Sunday on WGN-Ch. 9, gives a free plug to ”The Babe” by devoting much of its half-hour show this week to the new John Goodman movie. . . . WGBO-Ch. 66 airs the recently held Chicagoland Bowling Proprieters Association ”Showcase of Champions,” hosted by Duane Dow and Carmen Salvino, at 10:30 p.m. April 25.