I've thought about it for a while, and all I'll say is, If you've ever wondered what the last 30 years of Yankee games have been like, it's pretty much crap like that.

Now that I've completely covered tonight's game, I'd like to organize my list of complaints with the new Fenway centerfield camera angle. (Please click handy comparison pic to enlarge.)

1. Often shaky, since it's a robot with no one to steady it--and if a gust comes up right on the pitch, there's no switching to another angle, as it's too late.

2. Too high, yet not high enough so that we can see home plate--the pitcher's head is in the way. Yeah, we have a head-on view for balls and strikes, but if you can't see the plate, inside-outside is a little difficult. (Though I don't know what tonight's ump's excuse was....)

3. Players are too small. Think about it (or just look at a shot from the "classic" angle), from down lower, the top of the pitcher's head appears not too far below the top of the batter/ump's heads (though the pitcher is off to the left, so he doesn't cover any of the plate area or batter), so they can zoom further in. From the high new angle, the pitcher's head is even with the batter's knees. So they have to pull back enough to get the height of two people stacked on top of each other (in 2-D), meaning the players appear almost twice as small. I hate feeling so far away.

4. I miss Kapstein and Drinkwater! The score bar on the new angle covers the front row, and even if it didn't, it's so zoomed out you don't get the full front-row people experience.

5. Weird visual stuff--like, the foul lines are all effed up and seizure-causing. Maybe it looks better in HD, I don't know.

6. Still have trouble figuring out where the ball's going in that split second after the ball is hit. A ball hit right at you from the old angle can be fielded by the shortstop--from the new angle it goes right up the middle. Balls down the lines require me to do new math to see if they're gonna go fair or foul. And fly balls--surely you noticed tonight on Papi and Drew's balls, they looked like homers off the bat, but the fielders had to come in for them. Look, maybe you just sit there watching, letting the play happen without a care in the world. But in that split second, I am mentally willing the ball to do what I want it to. And if I don't know where it's going, I feel totally lost. It'd be like if someone invited me over to watch the Red Sox-Yanks game in their mansion with movie screen-sized TV and all the Jax cheese doodles I want, but said the picture will be a mirror image, or that their pet gorilla "might" be in front of the screen for much of the game. Screw that! I need to root my team on, and without the perfect conditions, I might as well be watching the Food Network while the game is on. And who knows how the team will respond without me!

7. Inconsistent. All the other parks are still using the CA (classic angle). It's messing me up to have to go back and forth in my mind between home and road games. If all the other parks switched--well, we'd still have problems 1-5, but at least we'd solve 6 and 7.

People say I'll "get used to it," but even if I do, it'll take twice as long since it only happens at half the games. Wait, that's not even right, since we have to keep going back and forth... I promise you I wouldn't make such a huge deal about this if it wasn't really screwing with me. And if you like the new way, I'm happy for you. Oh, sorry, I should've had a disclaimer: Do not read if you're fine with the new angle, this will only make you notice new stuff and then you'll be messed up like me.

I'm glad I have tix to Saturday's game and not last night's. Oh, and don't be surprised if the centerfield camera suddenly goes dark tomorrow... oh wait--it's a Fox game. So you'll get the classic angle while I'm at the game! And Sunday, too, since it's on ESPN. Cherish it, people! Because Monday you'll be sunk back into the black hole.