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Percy On Way Back TBS Viewers Kept In Dark

Tribune photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist throws out the ceremonial first pitch in ALCS Game 6 Saturday at Tropicana Field.

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By MARC LANCASTER

mlancaster@tampatrib.com

Published: October 19, 2008

Updated: 10/19/2008 12:55 am

ST. PETERSBURG - Only those inside Tropicana Field saw the first 20 minutes of Game 6 of the American League Championship Series as it happened.

TBS didn't get its broadcast on the air until Carlos Pena, the seventh batter of the game, was walking to first base after ball four in the bottom of the first. Just before that, B.J. Upton had given the Rays a 1-0 lead with his seventh homer of the postseason.

A router failure at TBS's Atlanta headquarters caused the blackout, TBS said in a statement.

Both the master router and the backup failed, preventing the network from transmitting a live feed - including, for most of the delay, a crawl along the bottom of the screen informing viewers of the problem.

TBS filled time during the delay by airing an episode of "The Steve Harvey Show."

"We apologize to baseball fans for this mishap that caused a delay in our coverage," the statement said.

TBS spokesman Jeff Pomeroy said the failure affected all of Turner Broadcasting's networks at the base of operations for TBS, which also include TNT and the Cartoon Network, preventing Turner from switching the game feed to another network.

Pomeroy said the network discovered the problem with about five minutes remaining in the pregame show.

Asked how often the network had dealt with such a technical issue, Pomeroy said, "It's never happened before."

Umpire Takes A Hit

Home-plate umpire Derryl Cousins left the game before the fourth inning with a bruised collarbone and did not return.

As James Shields warmed up before the top of the fourth, Cousins stepped away and signaled to crew chief Tim McClelland before consulting briefly with Rays trainer Ron Porterfield. They left the field through the Rays' dugout, followed by the other four umpires, and the Rays came off the field for what became a 15-minute delay. X-rays were negative, and Cousins was expected to be fine.

When play resumed, McClelland was behind the plate calling balls and strikes. Though Shields delivered three consecutive balls to start the inning, he seemed more comfortable working with McClelland's strike zone (which he saw in Game 1 of the ALCS) than Cousins'.

Shields had walked three batters in the third inning. That is uncharacteristic for him, as he had walked more than two batters just three times in 35 starts this season entering Saturday.

Rays manager Joe Maddon spoke to Troy Percival on Saturday and said the reliever was planning to be back in St. Petersburg by today. Percival has been at home in California with his family since he was told he would not be on the ALCS roster, but the Rays had expected him back at some point this weekend. Maddon said he had no qualms about Percival's decision to leave the team temporarily.

"There's no question there's a benefit to having him here, but when he explained to me the situation at home, with the fact that it wasn't playing, I thought it was more important that he did that for right now," Maddon said. "I know he feels better about it. We talked about that today; he definitely feels better, and that's a good thing."

Maddon said Percival has been throwing and is "absolutely" a candidate to make the World Series roster.

Riggans On The Mend

Shawn Riggans might have a chance to make the cut when rosters are set for the World Series. The catcher, out since mid-September after having surgery to clean out an infection in his right knee, has been working out and could be ready by midweek.

"It's getting better and better every day," Riggans said Saturday. "Joe Maddon might have a decision to make here in a couple of days. I just want to keep on going with it and testing it and trying to put some stress on it and do some other things that I haven't been doing lately."

Quotable

"That's 6,000 more cowbells, I guess." - Rays manager Joe Maddon, when asked if he thought taking the tarps off upper-level seats at the Trop for Saturday's game would have an effect on the atmosphere

Marc Lancaster

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