FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES
Final FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK Features
Braves, Phillies & Twins Final Playoff Push
Rosenthal: Have The Phillies Gotten Tired?
Undefeated Manning Brothers Battle & Cowboys/Broncos Showdown Highlight NFL on FOX Doubleheader Slate
Billick: Give T.O. Credit for Handling Unprofessional Questions on Sunday
Moose: Redskins/Campbell’s Unsuccessful Season Result of Constant Change
FINAL FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK FOR 2009 HAS AN EYE ON THE POSTSEASON – With the 2009 regular season drawing to a close, MLB on FOX spends its last Saturday (Oct. 3, 4:00 PM ET), wrapping up the final playoff participants. In Atlanta, Chipper Jones and the Braves try to close in on the Rockies for the NL Wild Card when they host the Nationals. Probable AL MVP Joe Mauer and the Twins try to finish chasing the Tigers down in the AL Central when they welcome Cy Young candidate Zack Greinke and the Royals to the Metrodome. Also, Ryan Howard and the defending champion Phillies prepare for the postseason in a matchup with the Marlins.
ROSENTHAL: HAVE THE PHILLES RUN OUT OF GAS? – FOXSports.com senior MLB writer and MLB on FOX reporter Ken Rosenthal is interested to see how the Phillies and pitcher Cole Hamels perform on Saturday when they face the Marlins. “The Phillies have many questions right now, Hamels being one of them. They’re trying to sort through their bullpen issues and are either bored or fatigued or both. Some of their hitters look tired.” said Rosenthal. “Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz have on-base percentages of .316 or below this September. A fifth, Jayson Werth, has tailed off slightly and Ryan Howard is cheating to get to fastballs inside, one scout says.” Is manager Charlie Manuel to blame for leaning on his veteran guys too heavily? Rosenthal notes that Utley, who is coming off hip surgery, has played in 153 games this season.
For more from Rosenthal on his postseason outlook log onto:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/10148608/Will-Phillies-have-anything-left-for-playoffs?
SATURDAY OCTOBER 3
GAME PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST
Washington Nationals at Atlanta Braves Josh Lewin & Tim McCarver
Turner Field – Atlanta, GA
Probable Pitchers: TBA vs. Jair Jurrjens, RHP (14-10, 2.61 ERA)
Florida Marlins at Philadelphia Phillies Tom McCarthy & Mark Grace
Citizens Bank Park – Philadelphia, PA
Probable Pitchers: Anibal Sanchez, RHP (3-8, 4.10 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels, LHP (10-10, 4.25 ERA)
Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins Darren Sutton & Bert Blyleven
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome – Minneapolis, MN
Probable Pitchers: Zack Greinke, RHP (16-89, 2.06 ERA) vs. TBA
*Please be advised that because of the playoff implications of the games on the schedule, market assignments will not to be announced until Thursday evening or Friday morning.
UNDEFEATED MANNING BROTHERS TAKE CENTERSTAGE, COWBOYS TRAVEL TO DENVER IN NFL ON FOX DOUBLEHEADER – The 2009 NFL on FOX campaign rolls into Week 4 on Sunday, Oct. 4 with doubleheader coverage of six exciting matchups—each presented in crystal clear HD. At 1:00 PM ET, Eli Manning and the smashmouth Giants look to continue their winning ways in Kansas City as they take on the Chiefs. In Indianapolis, Eli’s brother Peyton has had a sizzling start to his 2009 season. The elder Manning leads the 3-0 Colts against the Seahawks. Coming off their first win since 2007, Matthew Stafford and the Lions hope to make it two in a row against Jay Cutler and the Bears. Also at 1:00, the Redskins host the Bucs. For most of the nation, the second game of FOX’s doubleheader features Tony Romo and the Cowboys in Denver facing Josh McDaniels’ Broncos. The rest of the country will get the Rams at the 49ers.
Coverage begins at 12:00 PM ET with America’s most-watched pregame show, FOX NFL SUNDAY. Terry Bradshaw and Curt Menefee co-host the Emmy Award-winning program and are joined by analysts Howie Long, Michael Strahan and Jimmy Johnson. The crew is joined by NFL Insider Jay Glazer who presents the latest league news and scoops in the FOX NFL SUNDAY studio and comedic prognosticator Frank Caliendo contributes his weekly “Frank’s Picks” segment. In this week’s show, reporter Pam Oliver sits down with new Bears QB Jay Cutler to discuss his crazy offseason. During their discussion, Oliver and Cutler look into his rough start and subsequent turnaround so far this season. For instant updates during the week and games from the entire NFL on FOX crew, follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NFLONFOX.
Fans can gain more access to exclusive FOX Sports content by logging on to www.facebook.com/foxsports and www.myspace.com/foxsports.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 4
GAME PLAY-BY-PLAY/ANALYST/SIDELINE COV. TIME
New York Giants at Kansas City Chiefs Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston 37% 1:00PM
& Tony Siragusa
Arrowhead Stadium – Kansas City, MO
MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Austin, Buffalo, Dallas, Denver, Hartford, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Providence, San Antonio, Tulsa, West Palm Beach
Seattle Seahawks at Indianapolis Colts Dick Stockton, Charles Davis 28% 1:00PM
& Chris Myers
Lucas Oil Stadium – Indianapolis, IN
MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Greenville, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Louisville, Nashville, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle
Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick 17% 1:00PM
& Charissa Thompson
Soldier Field – Chicago, IL
MARKETS INCLUDE: Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Phoenix, St. Louis
Tampa Bay Bucs at Washington Redskins Sam Rosen, Tim Ryan 11% 1:00PM
Laura Okmin
FedEx Field – Landover, MD
MARKETS INCLUDE: Baltimore, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Norfolk, Orlando, Raleigh, Richmond, Tampa, Washington
Dallas Cowboys at Denver Broncos Joe Buck, Troy Aikman 89% 4:15PM
& Pam Oliver
INVESCO Field at Mile High – Denver, CO
MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Greensboro, Greenville, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Knoxville, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, Seattle, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach
St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers Ron Pitts, John Lynch 8% 4:15PM
& Nichelle Turner
Candlestick Park – San Francisco, CA
MARKETS INCLUDE: Sacramento, San Francisco, St. Louis
JOHNSTON: REDSKINS TROUBLES BROUGHT ON BY FREQUENT CHANGE – NFL on FOX analyst Daryl “Moose” Johnston on the continued troubles in DC. “There’s been too much change within the Redskins organization. You’ve got to give people a chance to be successful by giving them some continuity from year to year and it’s just never existed in Washington. Every once in a while you are going to have a bump in the road because of injuries, guys leaving via free agency and losing coaches. You have to look at the entire picture to see what the reasons are for a difficult season but you can’t compound that by continually changing head coaches, coordinators, and position coaches. Jason Campbell has no opportunity to be successful when you keep putting him in a different system year after year after year.”
BILLICK: I’M NOT A FAN OF T.O. BUT I GIVE HIM CREDIT FOR HANDLING HIMSELF SUNDAY – NFL on FOX analyst Brian Billick admits to not being a big fan of Terrell Owens but believes the media was out of line last Sunday. “I’m not a big Terrell Owens fan and I don’t particularly care for the way he approaches the game and his selfish attitude towards it. However, I was very upset listening to line of questioning after Sunday’s game. The reporters were clearly trying to bait him into saying something about his head coach, his coordinator and his quarterback. I give him a great deal of credit for showing the maturity to not go there. Obviously he has made his own bed as to the way people look at him and expecting those types of things but now that I’m a member of the media, I will say I didn’t appreciate the line of questioning. I thought it was very unprofessional in the way the reporters went about it.”
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