Red Sox-Yankees finale a big hit in ratings by Laura Nachman Bucks County Courier Times www.bradyresidence.com/ontheair.html October 22, 2004 With apologies to the "Desperate Housewives" of ABC, the biggest hit on television this week was the "Desperate Red Sox," who vanquished the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series on Fox. In the overnight ratings, Game 7 scored a 22.2 rating/32 share, making it the highest rated League Championship Series game since 1990. In a conference call on Thursday, announcers Joe Buck and Tim McCarver said they were still in shock over Boston's victory. "I'm still shaking my head over what happened," McCarver said. "Without a doubt, this was the most important win in the history of the [Boston] franchise." Buck called the Red Sox "the most dangerous team in October and the most complete team he's seen" since he began doing games for Fox in 1996. Buck will be calling his seventh World Series, and McCarver will be announcing his 14th, beginning Saturday night at Fenway Park. Super Bowl-loons Don Mischer Productions will be in charge of the "Super Bowl" halftime show on Fox this year. Last year, MTV produced the disastrous show for CBS with Janet Jackson. Mischer gained notoriety this year as the guy screaming for balloons during the "Democratic National Convention" coverage. Mike behind the mike Former Comcast SportsNet anchor Mike Rodgers will be the backup sports anchor behind Don Tollefson and Bill Vargus on WTXF. Download this Though WIP was quick to take Howard Eskin off its Web site when the host was suspended for 30 days, it hasn't been so quick to put him back on http://www.610wip.com/. Even though Eskin returned to the air on Oct. 14, he still isn't back on the Web. Kid stuff Donovan McNabb is appearing in "Verb" spots on Nickelodeon to encourage outdoor play. The Sims Former KYW sportscaster Dave Sims plays the sportscaster in those NFL United Way ads. TM squared Todd MacCulloch, who retired from the Sixers last month, will be the color analyst for radio broadcasts this season on WIP 610-AM. He'll join play-by-player Tom McGinnis. Where have you gone? Comcast SportsNet will air 10 Philadelphia Phantoms games to fill the void left by the NHL lockout. How about some old Philadelphia Firebirds games? ESPN again "SportsCenter" games are available in toy stores. I'm holding out for the Chris Berman cabbage patch doll. October 22, 2004 9:21 AM