Broadcasters - Search/Destroy

Destroy: Joe Buck, Joe Morgan, Steve Phillips (ah, let's say everybody on ESPN save Miller), Jim Kaat, Steve Lyons

Destroy with Extreme Prejudice: John Sterling, Charley Steiner, Michael Kay

search: jim palmer (if for nothing else, his arrogance is utterly charming)

Search John Rooney and Steve Stone
Blow to smithereens Chimp Caray and Ron "Ohnooooooooo" Santo

I am mostly indifferent to Darrin Jackson, and I like Hawk Harrelson most of the time, but his stories are getting really old. I wouldn't mind a new Sox TV team, that's for certain.

Plus Stone can actually pronounce the word "him" as it should be, rather than as "eem." (I call that particular affliction "Phil Simms Disease.")

Plus wouldn't you want to search anyone who makes fun of Chip Caray's freakishly large head?

Obviously search Scully, and the dear departed Ernie Harwell.

I like Steiner and Sterling, and I hate the Yankees! Sterling's "THUH pitch..." is great.

Steve Stone is great, he cracks me up. He's a real card. Funniest thing he said all year: after an early season game against Atlanta in which the Braves came back to win, Alfonseca was credited with the win. Stoney said "so Alfonseca comes back to bite the hand that once very amply fed him." I mean, you have to imagine it in that dry Stoney voice, but it was priceless.

I think I prefer my announcers to be older guys with slightly southern accents and a folksy manner. The grain of the voice is really what counts, especially when you're going to be spending close to 3 hours with the guy. Give me a distinctive voice and I'm hooked, I could hardly care what they say. Growing up with Harwell probably instilled that in me. This is the big reason I've never warmed to the young bucks. Or the young lewins. They just haven't accumulated enough stories, they always seem to be trying too hard, they always OOZE "broadcasting school". Compare Jack to Joe, or Harry and Skip to Chip. The younger guys just sound so fundamentally uncool. Give me colorful oldsters that I'd enjoy sharing a cocktail with, not young dweeb careerists. and get Buck the hell off my NFL games while you're at it.

By algebra, you'd enjoy Our Pres. in the booth.

Steve Stone filled in for Santo in the playoffs last year, when Ronnie was in surgery in Arizona -- and I just couldn't deal with it. Hughes would make a generalization, and Stone would come in and be like, "Well, that's not actually true, Pat." I just wasn't used to someone correcting Hughes, who's a pretty smart broadcaster himself.

http://www.powermaxconsulting.com/a_caray1.jpg

Then a couple times an inning Hughes will lead him: "Clement's looking good today, Ronnie..." That extra "Ronnie" punctuating the sentence as if to say "wake up over there, little buddy!"

What did he say?

absolutely love steve stone

The guy screaming "He has two strikes, Tony!" after Tony La Russa intentionally walked Trea Turner on a 1-2 count to pitch to Max Muncy who proceeded to hit a three-run homer is peak chef's kiss. (via @NBCSWhiteSox)pic.twitter.com/C9yaR0ZdBU

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 9, 2022

Posnanski was quite exasperated too:

https://joeposnanski.substack.com/p/la-russa-strange-days-indeed?s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Isn’t it amazing how the people who most mock advanced statistics are the ones who rely on ultra-specific stats that could not possibly be more manufactured or meaningless?

i just want to say, regarding this and TLR

YES!!!!!!!!!

and it also applies to so many foolish baseball announcers who STILL don't know what OPS (and mock it?) is, let alone a real advanced stat

my favorite is when the announcers talk about how a particular player has performed against another team, going back several years. Never mind that these teams were each made up of different sets of players, so the only thing you're really analyzing is how the player performs when he is around a different uniform (which also changes).

i think a minor contributing factor of many of these things are the kind of stats and "interesting information" that is provided to the broadcasters in the booth. Each team has a Media Guide which is actually really fun to flip through. they're thick and compact, and you can quickly find ...a bunch of stats about each player that are ancient, just an ancient way of analyzing baseball or even thinking about it. "So and so had 45 RBIs on the road last year!" --- as Chris Farley would say, "Well LA DE FRICKIN DAH!". since many announcers are the least informed people in the game (dan mclaughlin of the cardinals is like this), they're not going to find information about any of the players, other than this media guide, along with whatever they can pick up while standing on the field like a giant fucking doofus during batting practice before the game

"Pujols is batting .900 against the pirates in his career..., jimmy..."

THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT PUJOLS OF THE 2000s VS THE PIRATES OF THE 2000s, YOU FOOL!!!!

Each team has a Media Guide

Do they still put these out? I got swept up in a fever of completism a few years ago, and ended up spending ~$1,000 for just about every media guide for every team from the early '80s through to 2006. I assumed they stopped putting them out a few years ago because of Baseball Reference.

As of last year they did - I am retired/banned from the booth

I’ve noticed an annoying thing the newer announcers are doing lately (the ones doing YouTube and Apple broadcasts and the occasional team broadcaster) - is humble bragging about talking to the players.
I have not once in the last 4 or so years, since broadcasting opened up to social media/tech platforms, learned a single goddamn thing when Joe-talking-head decided to inform me he was talking to player such and such before the game. He tries to not swing at pitches out of the zone you say? Well by golly I can’t wait to read the book that revelation is going to inspire.
It’s like broadcasters are going in two directions simultaneously. They’re trying to hire “stat” people who’s job is to overly drill down on numbers that may or may not be relevant. And they’re also hiring name brand guys (ex players) that care incapable of describing what is happening on the field with any sort grace.

I’ve noticed an annoying thing the newer announcers are doing lately (the ones doing YouTube and Apple broadcasts and the occasional team broadcaster) - is humble bragging about talking to the players.

jim edmonds is notorious for this, already, after only a year or two (god let it end). his version is saying that he got a text from someone. And no, it's never, ever interesting or enlightening. it's always just like:

Dan Mclaughlin: and that's a slow roller to first base, taken care of by Goldschmidt. It turns out that...*sounds of flipping through media guide* he has hit...28 HRs against the Giants in his career.
Jim Edmonds: Hahaha, that's great, that's great.
Dan Mclaughlin: What's that, Jimmy ballgame?
Edmonds: I just got a text from Scott Rolen, ha! He said he saw Goldschmidt in the gym yesterday and he was putting in extra time there, in the gym. You know, I was telling the coach of my son's baseball team. You have to move the players around. You can't have my kid, I mean a kid, coming out of middle school and locked into a position. High School is the time to try out different positions, not the time to lock them into a position, is what I told the coach of my son's baseball team. He needs to listen to me more -- both the coach and my son.

🚨🚨🚨 TEXT ALERT 🚨🚨🚨

Jim: "My mom's texting me now, so I made her happy."@DannyMacTV : "You have a lot of people texting you, Jimmy."#STLCards                       #stlcardinals #JimEdmonds #JimEdmondsisms

— Jim-Edmondsisms (@jimedmondsisms) May 6, 2022

i used to think that edmonds had a decent case for the HoF, that if nothing else he deserved to be on the ballot for a year or two longer before dropping off. but holy shit jim edmonds, stfu

i don’t mind wacky stat anomalies as long as no one pretends that they’re predictive

i mean while prince albert has hit .373/.447/.717 with 32 homers in 97 games in pittsburgh, it’s different now that he’s 42

not wildly different, unfortunately

I'm sorry, Buck Martinez, but you sound like Meatwad.

HE’S SO HARD TO LISTEN TO.

This, however, was relatable.

and just all of a sudden
buck martinez couldn't
contain himself 😂👂 pic.twitter.com/r95EoFOC5J

— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 13, 2023

For sure, at the bar Friday night I had the game on the tv behind me and was like "look at that stache, look at those thighs, everyone please join me in crushing on this dude."

Spencer Thighder

Yankees fans 🤝 Red Sox fans

tweeting angrily at ESPN/Karl Ravelach for this:

"I know your mom passed away when you were young, what does Mother's Day mean to you and your brother?" - Karl Ravech question to Triston Casas while playing first base on Sunday Night Baseball. pic.twitter.com/5HEwa5dVhw

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 15, 2023

Tom Glavine makes the easiest money in the game -- 3rd man in the booth, doesn't travel, doesn't work all home games, barely opens his mouth, doesn't put much thought into what he does say. But he's a Hall of Famer!

I like the Australian guy I've heard on Braves broadcasts.

former Barves reliever Peter Moylan! He's been great and from the moments I've heard.

Yeah, Moylan is good. He usually does pregame/postgame but gets into the booth sometimes, I guess when Frenchy is doing national-network games.

Angels game rolled over into the postgame studio bit and Bobby Valentine looked terrifying, big 'the owner of a traveling circus who'd try to buy your soul' energy.

Boog Sciambi was great when he was just a bro who knew the game and could enunciate. Now the harder he performs the less good/interesting he is.

I haven't been keeping up with MLB streaming/broadcasting news over the offseason, so this was a bit surprising:

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/diamond-sports-deal-emerge-bankruptcy-signs-streaming-pact-with-amazon-2024-01-17/

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Regional sports programmer Diamond Sports Group, a unit of Sinclair Broadcast (SBGI.O), opens new tab, said on Wednesday it has signed an agreement with a group of creditors to emerge from bankruptcy and will get funding from Amazon.com (AMZN.O), opens new tab as part of a streaming deal.
Diamond, which operates regional sports channels under the Bally Sports brand, said it will receive $450 million in financing from the creditor group, $495 million from Sinclair and $115 million from Amazon. Diamond will use the funds to pay down older debts and continue operations. Amazon will take a minority equity stake in Diamond as part of the deal.

What the new Diamond-Amazon deal means for MLB, NBA, NHL:
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39333324/diamond-amazon-streaming-mlb-nba-nhl

So I may be able to watch Braves games on BezosPrime this season? Weird. Is there any updated news on this from the past 2 months? A quick search isn't turning anything up.

IT'S HERE
IT'S FOUND

21 yrs ago I was a NESN truck intern watching Jerry relentlessly roast Don over what a lunar eclipse is. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard to this day. Enjoy the best six min of your week. (Enormous h/t to @sidsethupathi)

--> https://t.co/OCzRzDL0ak

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) April 9, 2024

so, i bit the bullet and decided to get directv streaming for the season so i can have access to masn, and i have to say, i REALLY like kevin brown and ben mcdonald as a pair. i get that for a lot of folks, jim palmer is sort of an acquired taste, but i also think brown and palmer work well together, too. brown is good on the aspects of the modern game/culture, has a good voice and puts a bit of his own spin on the call that doesn't really sound forced.

that orsillo-remy bit is fantastic, maybe even better than 'here comes the pizza'

I don't know how old Harry Caray was when he signed this. I'm not trying to be mean--as a semi-regular contributor to the VegemiteGrrl's Home for the Absent-Minded thread, believe me, I understand.

https://i.postimg.cc/QxcxXvyN/harry.jpg

WHAT is this home run call LMAO https://t.co/M5OyOkypgH

— EJNave (@twitchejnave) July 31, 2024

Jeff Blair made me laugh yesterday: "There's nothing worse than trying to go through your notes from a Ross Atkins press conference."

that call is so funny, i want to see this sign when he comes up:

WHATCHA GONNA DO
WHATCHA GONNA
WHATCHA GONNA DO
WHEN MCADOO
BREAKS THROUGH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoQNkpHFGTA

Will Flemming (Dave’s brother!) on WEEI asking “How about a little threesome?” and the booth clearly either muting or turning down their mics to laugh

https://www.batterypower.com/2024/10/2/24260361/braves-tv-broadcast-diamond-bally-sports

Per Evan Drellich of the Athletic:

BREAKING: Diamond says in court it plans to continue broadcasting one — just one — of the remaining teams it has with MLB: the Atlanta Braves.

The 11 other MLB teams (and 9 still under contract) with Diamond will either have to negotiate a new deal w/Diamond — or go elsewhere.

Wow, they probably want to renegotiate the contracts like they did with the NBA and NHL. All those contacts took a haircut and are not paying out like they use to.

https://www.mlb.com/news/bob-costas-retires-from-mlb-play-by-play-duties

As broadcast careers go, I guess he had kind of a Steve Carlton/Zack Greinke finish. I don't much care what he did at the end; when he was good, he was great.

he was fine, imo. he made the choice to follow cosell and michaels and jim mckay rather than scully -- which is totally reasonable! -- but for however much he ~loved baseball~ and ~had mickey's card in his wallet~ i don't think he did enough of it to be great at it

(not that scully didn't do other sports as well, but he was always there for dodgers baseball)

all the best broadcasters are local guys imo

(also all the worst, tbf)

Youth movement!

WFAN and the Yankees are set to hire Dave Sims, 71, to be their new radio play-by-player succeeding the retired John Sterling, according to sources briefed on the agreement. Sterling, 86, stepped away from the broadcast booth earlier this year but returned to be the team’s lead play-by-player for its postseason run.

Sims will team up with 78-year-old Suzyn Waldman on the broadcasts. His contract is for two years, according to the sources.

149 trips around the sun between the two of them. Sweet lord.
Am legit curious if they have stayed sharp and kept up with modern stats etc or if they’re more like those two old fucks on the muppets

Kinda a win/win situation ain't it?

SEARCH: The current Statler and Waldorf of MLB broadcasting (tele or radio)?

watched an orioles broadcast for the first time in a long time today; jim palmer is still great at 79 -- what hall-of-fame player also has a voice that good? it just sounds like baseball -- and i quite like kevin brown. i'll assume ben mcdonald is an acquired taste

https://awfulannouncing.com/mlb/gary-cohen-matt-shaw-charlie-kirk-memorial-cubs-mets.html

had the misfortune to read comments on twitter around this and so far the right thinks it's hypocritical because (i) sandy koufax and shawn green both have not played on yom kippur and (ii) gary cohen took the weekend off when his dog died

so stupid, sorry just have to vent

i feel like this new generation of players were raised differently than many of us.

i think back to momentous sentimental homeruns like Dee Gordon's where he flip-flopped switch hit in tribute (not featured in video), then raked a Big Sexy meatball into the RF stands in tribute to Niño:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXQslHUnfRg

it's obviously a different case when your teammate dies rather than your favorite podcaster, but in the long run it's more impactful and more legendary tribute as what you can do as a ball player.

Chris Sale did a Luis Tiant tribute in spring training this year

https://www.mlb.com/video/chris-sale-pays-tribute-to-luis-tiant-with-1st-pitch

They were never teammates but Sale obviously knew him from his time with the Sox and spent time with him

in both of those examples the player actually played and didn't take time off, which is what Gary was getting at. if shaw had done a treinen thing and wrote charlie kirk on his cap or jersey or w/e i don't think this would still be a story

like the cubs were short a player for that game against the reds, they didn't get to call anybody up

Dodgers are 2W-7L in games featuring Treinen since the CK school shooting.

That's the ultimate tribute: blowing your team's season.

truly one of the worst game-ending calls I have ever witnessed

https://www.mlb.com/video/payton-tolle-in-play-out-s-to-alejandro-kirk-qyyyfv

MLB edited the audio to make it sound as if DOB actually saw what was happening in real time

https://www.instagram.com/p/DPAebgTDS3l/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9rJFDUKMCk