This Week in Baseball

ALTHOUGH THAT MANY will tell you that High School, College and NFL Football make up our national passion, Baseball is still our National Passtime. We believe this to be true and forever may it be so!

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL has been a staple on Saturday afternoons for nearly four decades and shows no signs of slowing down. It is done by Major League Baseball Productions and The Phoenix Communications Group; which means that it is a sort of "house organ" of the celluloid and video media.

THE SHOW DOES a fine job of covering just what the title implies. In one half hour, its concise and thorough covering of the previous week's action gives any fan a picture of what's going in both Major Leagues, all Divisions and every Ball Park.

ADDITIONALLY, THE PROGRAM always features insightful items about the stars of the day and what teams are on fire and what Managers may be in danger of being replaced.

FOR ALL TIME we will remember the words of Mel Allen (1913-96); which were always present during his years hosting the show from 1977-95:

"How 'bout that!"

"TWIB" is a show on various channels which always gave the latest updates on the last week's action and gave close up moments with the players. Plus the bloopers and highlights were award winning overall the show for a "MLB" fan.

TWIB was one of those shows that I watched as a kid every Saturday afternoon and it helped me get to know the players beyond just their stats. You get way more of a behind the scenes look at the players and teams then you would on a sports highlight show.

It doesn't hurt that the first several years of the show it had the immortal voice of Mel Allen describing all the action which was a real treat. Ozzie Smith took over the job for a short time after Allen passed away.

The show was originally a syndicated show now it serves as a lead in to MLB on FOX games every week.

When the opening theme (which was also used as the theme for the game show Jackpot) came on, along with the familiar voice of former Yankee broadcaster Mel Allen narrating major league baseball highlights, it would be a great way for baseball fans like me to get the latest baseball news.

But TWIB was more than just highlights. Before the first commercial break, there was a quiz question with the answer coming up after the break. There was also bloopers and outstanding plays followed by the player of the week.

As time went on, with competition from ESPN and other sports cable channels, the show became more feature oriented. By 1995, Allen became ill and left the show. He would be replaced by frequent fill-in Warner Fusselle and in the next season Ozzie Smith. After the syndicated run ended, Fox picked up TWIB with Buzz Brainerd handling voiceover duties.

in addition, TWIB had outstanding writing and editing and it was also a key to the show's long running success. When video boards became commonplace at ballparks, TWIB would be shown before games and during rain delays. If you missed the show on the weekend and didn't set your VCR, it was another way to watch it.

I will wrap the review with Allen's familiar closing line "That's all for now folks."