Buck offers analysis

He weighs in on Beckett, Ramirez

For now, Joe Buck, Fox's lead play-by-play baseball announcer, is playing the role of fan, watching the playoff series. Buck, who rejoins Tim McCarver in the booth Oct. 9 for Fox's coverage of the National League Championship Series, said it would be a boon for the sport if the Red Sox faced the Cubs in the World Series.

"[The Sox-Angels] series had the opportunity of being the Jon Lester coming-out party," said Buck. "I think we saw that on [Wednesday]. He was absolutely dominant. He was every bit as good as what the Red Sox would've hoped to have seen from Josh Beckett.

"There's no better big-game pitcher in major league baseball now than Josh Beckett. If he's in, that's the team to beat; if he's out, then they're vulnerable. If you have Lester and Beckett, we all know how important pitching is, especially in a short series."

Buck noticed the Angels showing Manny Ramirez's home run with the Dodgers on the big screen Wednesday at Angel Stadium during the Sox-Angels warm-ups, but he remains unimpressed with Ramirez's handling of his final days in Boston.

"Is he a great player? Nobody disputes that," said Buck. "But they had had enough. I think we're getting a good-behavior Manny now because he's in a contract drive. I think [the Red Sox] are a better group without him because I was there at the end of his time with the Red Sox and that was a mess. For a guy to act his way off a team as their cleanup hitter, on a team that has got that much invested, it's stunning that somebody could act that poorly to force a team to trade him, and he managed to do it."

Buck believes the Cubs will prevail over the Dodgers. "It's easy in a five-game series to start bailing off a ship pretty quick if a team loses the first game, but I've thought all along that the Cubs were the best team in the National League," he said. "If they get too tight and hear too much about their 100-year drought and it overwhelms them, then it doesn't matter."

In the White Sox-Rays series, Buck is going with the Rays. "I would say Tampa Bay would [present] the most danger out there of anybody just because of their talent," he said. "The White Sox never really clicked. They got off to a good start and then they got into that battle with Minnesota and they basically had a pillow fight down the stretch to see who was going to win that division. Then they got a great game from John Banks and here they are in the postseason. But I would favor the Rays."

Despite CC Sabathia's ironman work, Buck said Philadelphia should beat Milwaukee.

"I think [the Phillies] are the better team because of their rotation and probably because of their bullpen," he said. "[The Brewers] may be kind of worn out just from the fight to get in there."

Copy cat

Frank Caliendo returns for a new season of "Frank TV" on TBS Oct. 21 at 11 p.m. Among Caliendo's spot-on impressions are those of John Madden and Charles Barkley.

He chooses his impersonations by how broad an audience they appeal to. "They're not just sports guys, they're in commercials," said Caliendo, who grew up in Wisconsin rooting for the Green Bay Packers.

"That opens up a whole different demographic of an audience. If you've got Charles Barkley or John Madden, people know them from how many different places? To older people, they know Madden as a coach, then a commercial pitch guy, a color commentator. Kids know him from the video games. There's nobody I can think of who hasn't seen him somewhere."

Caliendo said Madden hasn't embraced his impression. "Madden doesn't like me even though in Time magazine he claims to not have a problem with me," he said. "He's not a fan."

Caliendo said he's amazed by the run Boston teams have had in sports.

"Boston is the only place where they say, 'We lost a game this month' and people get angry," he said. When asked if he'd consider a Manny Ramirez impression, Caliendo laughed and said it's unlikely. "I could hold up a sign that says, 'Trade me,'" he said.

He's attempted to perfect impressions of Patriots coaches with mixed success. "I've been working on Bill Parcells for years but it sounds like Al Pacino," he said. As for Bill Belichick? "I'd just dress like the emperor from 'Star Wars,'" he said. "I swear Belichick can shoot lightning from his fingers. The guy's a great coach. I like the dynasties. That kind of stuff is cool to me."

Ice time

ESPN has hired former NHL player Matthew Barnaby to replace Barry Melrose, who is moving back to the bench as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Barnaby will debut Wednesday at 6 p.m. on "SportsCenter" and will appear on ESPNews and ESPN.com. He will work Wednesdays and Thursdays during the season and every game night during the playoffs ... Prior to tonight’s Game 2 of the American League Division Series between the Red Sox and Angels, NESN will air "SportsDesk" live at 8 p.m. followed by one hour of pregame coverage at 8:30. After the game, which is on TBS, NESN will have a postgame report that will be replayed the next morning from 5-9 a.m., giving viewers a recap, particularly for those who couldn’t stay awake for the entire game ... NESN kicks off a five-game package of New England college football games with Brown-URI tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Bruins-Islanders exhibition game follows at 4 p.m. at TD Banknorth Garden.