My new favorite website.

Whacking Tim is good, but overt Google manipulation is better. Let's see if Joe Buck brings this up in the next couple of weeks.

YOU'RE A REAL MAN DEION!

Well, it's already #5 on Google. I'll do what I can right here, <a href="http://www.shutuptimmccarver.com">Tim McCarver</i>.

Duh, maybe this would work better, Tim McCarver.

I just searched on "awful announcer" and it was #1.

this site is not very good actually. many of the "dumb things" he has said that they list aren't that effective in print....if i didn't know who he was, i would have no idea why he is so reviled from reading this site. they need to better explain it in context. or be more selective about the one-liners they post. yes, i realize it's not a serious endeavor but goddammit, it could be, which would in turn make it funnier to read as well.

Well, let's use this thread to catalog his nonsensical comments and then email the site some of them.

This is exciting.

On a related note, I think Piazza has been very good when he's not following Sutcliff's lead. When he just goes with his own thought, its usually pretty insightful. If Rick starts talking first, its usually loudmouthed blather.

Well, let's use this thread to catalog his nonsensical comments and then email the site some of them.

Somebody else might remember this one better than me:

I'm pretty sure it was during the World Series last year, either game 1 or 2, and a new pitcher--I think it was Foulke--entered the game. Buck made some comment about it being a foggy night. McCarver responded, with that bizarre emphasis of his, "Yes, it's a night that could be in some old horror movie like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And here we have a pitcher who's BEEN like Dr. Jekyll AND Mr. Hyde for the Red Sox this year."

I started yelling at my TV--"No! No! No! You--you can't do that! You cannot pull off that segue!"--which was nothing new. But this one was so bad I actually had to get up and pace around the room to get it out of my mind, which was unprecedented.

"How appropriate for the Giants to win this Cinco de Mayo afternoon with a walk-off hit by Benito Santiago."

Benito Santiago being, of course, Puerto Rican....

Tim McCarver's biggest flaw is he does not realize how great Derek Jeter is.

Tim McCarver's biggest flaw is he does not realize how greatsexy Derek Jeter is.

This is one of the "dumb things he said":

" As a new day begins in New York, the sun sets in Hawaii."

If it is midnight in New York, it is 6 pm in Hawaii.

In late October, the sun sets at around 6 pm.

It may not be relevant, but it was accurate.

"If it is midnight in New York, it is 6 pm in Hawaii"

I should clarify, that this assumes daylight savings time. Which it still was until around October 28.

If Rick starts talking first, its usually loudmouthed blather.

usually?


first?


take both those words out

This one is my favorite:

"At the risk of sounding gaga over Jeter, he's hip too. He's hip. If I may use that young phrase, he's one of the hippest players in the big leagues."

Here's the all-time:

<i>"You know, the 'Gant' in French means 'glove,' and Ron used his Gant to rob [insert Met slugger here] of a double..."

Damn flags! Let's try it again!

Here's the all-timer:

<i>"You know, the 'Gant' in French means 'glove,' and Ron used his Gant to rob [insert Met slugger here] of a double..." <i>

Grrrr...

Nevermind, you get the point...

I agree that a lot of these quotes aren't dumb. In fact, in some of them it seems like McCarver made an intelligent but counterintuitive observation that went over the submitter's head.

I personally appreciate Tim's enthusiasm. Baseball is not well-suited to television and having a guy all jazzed up about the game brings an energy level that covers up the down periods.

Y'all weren't subjected to the Howard Cosell baseball hatin', the guys in my day were better, why can't they all be Eddie Stanky?, when does football start pile of cr*p. Howard clearly despised baseball thinking it was too slow. Berman is much the same in that he makes himself the show believing the game can't speak to the audience due to the lack of action.

Tim is LIGHT YEARS ahead of that stuff. And from a practical point he helps folks connect with baseball's historical past which is a key component of baseball's appeal. Cripes, the guy CAUGHT Bob Gibson. Kids should know about Bob Gibson.

Alright, he gets a little carried away with his faux egghead routine and the hair color changes daily but at the end of the day I think his contribution is a net positive.

Though everyone would benefit from a healthy dose of Vin Scully when October rolls around.

Has anyone here read McCarver's book "Baseball for Brain Surgeons"? I read it a few years ago and thought that it was pretty good for the most part. That was the first time that the reasons behind certain things, like lefty-righty matchups, were made clear to me.

On TV, however, is another story. Even as a Yankee fan, I find his Jeter love a bit much.

actually buck bothers me alot more than mccarver. his randy moss bit really pissed me off.

Berman is much the same in that he makes himself the show believing the game can't speak to the audience due to the lack of action.

His love of Gridiron is a joke. That is seriously the worlds most boring sport.

Though everyone would benefit from a healthy dose of Vin Scully when October rolls around.

Now your talking!!!!!!

"At the risk of sounding gaga over Jeter, he's hip too."

That episode was simply jaw-dropping. Off the charts, all the more so because Joe Buck openly mocked McCarver on air over his adulation, stopping just short of singing "Timmy and Jeter, sitting in a tree", etc.

McCarver is a hack. He's the Bobby Flay of baseball announcing.

Berman should be banned simply for popularizing the "nickname-last name pun". Our company softball commissioner insisted on doing this for everybody's names in the weekly results e-mail. Cute once, but gets annoying really quickly.

Plus Berman's slurring of "Oakland Raiders", which I guess is supposed to make them sound tough and feared, is just stupid.

Baseball for the thinking fan, indeed.

Berman should be banned simply for popularizing the "nickname-last name pun".

I agree with Uncle "Free" Willy.

In hell, McCarver, Sutcliffe, and Berman are in the booth for all the games.

I better straighten up.

Berman's nicknames were funny for about 2 weeks there in 1981

and besides, he never came up with Jon "get thee to a" Nunnally

Plus Berman's slurring of "Oakland Raiders", which I guess is supposed to make them sound tough and feared, is just stupid.



I think he thinks he sounds like Al Davis when he does that...

That website may not be all it could be, but it still provides an important public service and should be commended. Anyone remember the 16-inning game between the Astros and Mets in 1986? McCarver did that game, and I've hated him ever since for making this strained, stupid comparison between the game and Beowulf. And he's worse now. It's pathetic how hard he tries to show what a brain he is, and with so little success.

I don't anything about Bobby Flay, but I ate at his Las Vegas restaurant and had the most incredible chocolate dessert with pecan ice cream I've ever had.

In hell, McCarver, Sutcliffe, and Berman are in the booth for all the games.

and Costas will be down there explaining why hell USED to be better..

Has anyone here read McCarver's book "Baseball for Brain Surgeons"? I read it a few years ago and thought that it was pretty good for the most part. That was the first time that the reasons behind certain things, like lefty-righty matchups, were made clear to me.

I agree. Decent book. When I was just starting to get back in the game, and reading as much as I could, I found it very helpful.

McCarver is annoying at times, but he doesn't bug me as much as Buck does. I find Morgan, as a commentator, much more annoying than McCarver. PBP guys always bug me more than color guys. With bad color guys, you may get some crap, but you'll also get that rare gem of useful information. With bad PBP guys you get crap, on top of them telling you things you can see with your own eyes.

this strained, stupid comparison between the game and Beowulf.

Hey-Zeus, how stupid is that?

all true fans know the correct comparison was to Paradise Lost

I don't anything about Bobby Flay, but I ate at his Las Vegas restaurant and had the most incredible chocolate dessert with pecan ice cream I've ever had.

Morimoto kicked his White behind both times straight up. The Japanese Judges only gave Flay the win the second time because they didn't want to embarass a foreigner by "not giving him face" if you will, and the people in Japan didn't like Morimoto anyway.

Flay is still a douche for standing on top of his cutting board. If not "blasphemy" then unsanitary at best.

37: I'm with you all the way. Standing on the cutting board was way not cool.

In hell, McCarver, Sutcliffe, and Berman are in the booth for all the games.

and Costas will be down there explaining why hell USED to be better..

And Jim Gray asking Satan if there's anything he'd like to admit.

McCarver only really annoys me when he feels strongly about something and refuses to let it die for a whole inning. And that only happens about once every ten games.

McCarver is annoying when he tries to show how much he knows. an example - he was talking about extra inning home runs and commented that Kirby Puckett had the last one at the time (IIRC). going the next step, and saying the announcer was Joe Buck's dad - dumb stuff.

He does that all the time - that's what gets me.

MaCarver makes a lot of observations about the game which I think add to the broadcast.

Morgan is far more annoying - his "the Yankees are manufacturing runs" to win games from last night. Which is complete garbage. After A-Rod led off an inning with a walk, Joe is telling us the Yanks needed to make something happen - caught stealing. Brilliant.

Berman should be banned simply for popularizing the "nickname-last name pun".

I like those, I think they're funny. Are you calling me low-brow?

:)

McCarver responded, with that bizarre emphasis of his, "Yes, it's a night that could be in some old horror movie like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And here we have a pitcher who's BEEN like Dr. Jekyll AND Mr. Hyde for the Red Sox this year."

Following up Harvey's not-so-fond memory of Howard Cosell, in the 1940's the big time announcer on all the national broadcasts was Bill Stern, who never thought of an incident that he couldn't invent and fit into his larger point, sort of the Ronald Reagan of sports.

In any case, one of his stories involved an incident long before the Revolutionary War in which George Washington saved Benedict Arnold's life, which enabled Stern to get off the line he'd probably been saving up for years, to wit:

"And THAT MAN whom our beloved GEORGE WASHINGTON brought back to life on that fateful day was none other than---BENEDICT ARNOLD, in a meeting of America's FIRST citizen---with America's WORST citizen."

No way that McCarver, or even Cosell, could top that.

In hell, McCarver, Sutcliffe, and Berman are in the booth for all the games.

and Costas will be down there explaining why hell USED to be better..

And Jim Gray asking Satan if there's anything he'd like to admit.

And when God comes down to let you bask in his goodness for a brief few seconds of reprieve amongst the thousand years of torture... Jeanne Zelasko cuts him off.

The point of the Google bombing is not to link "awful announcer" with shutuptimmcarver.com, but with McCarver's own site.

The I Hate Tim McCarver web page

The McCarver Drinking Game
Here's how to play:
Get a bottle of your favorite booze and a shot glass and...
1: Drink every time Tim uses a multi-syllable word incorrectly.
2: Drink every time Tim states the obvious like it is a profound insight.
3: Drink every time Tim calls the play wrong.
4: Drink every time Tim gets a player's name wrong.
5: Drink every time one of Tim's inane comments is met with stoney silence by the other broadcasters in the booth.
My guarantee is you'll be drunk by the bottom of the 1st inning!

In any case, one of his stories involved an incident long before the Revolutionary War in which George Washington saved Benedict Arnold's life, which enabled Stern to get off the line he'd probably been saving up for years, to wit:


Did something like that really happen? Arnold was from Connecticut while Washington was a Virginian.

In any case, one of his stories involved an incident long before the Revolutionary War in which George Washington saved Benedict Arnold's life, which enabled Stern to get off the line he'd probably been saving up for years, to wit:

Did something like that really happen? Arnold was from Connecticut while Washington was a Virginian.

Which may have been why the story was told by Bill Stern, as opposed to, say, Edward R. Murrow.

McCarver's worst qualities are exacerbated by Buck, who, unlike his father, shouldn't be let near any important baseball moments.

My biggest gripe is how much he over-utilizes instant replay for insignificant moments, pitches and plays after the fact.

I'd like to introduce you to my friend Chris Berman. I flipped by last night and caught a "back-back-back-back-back-back-back-back-back" thing and I actually turned off baseball. For the night.

Whoever said above that he makes himself the show is right. Awful awful stuff.

Anyway, he and his damned hand-rolling motions should go straight to hell.

I don't think anyone should criticize any other announcer until they have had the misfortune to listen to Ken Harrelson.

Has anyone here read McCarver's book "Baseball for Brain Surgeons"?

No, but I have my Dad's old copy of <i>Oh, Baby, I Love It!" (or whatever). I liked it a lot when I was a kid. It's still enjoyable.

As for the site, a lot of people wrote in with "He got Edmonds out up and in, which is his biggest strength and biggest weakness." That can literally be true. He may have a problem with that pitch, but when he hits it, he hits it a ton every time. I think a lot of the people contributing to that site don't know very much about baseball.

Flay is still a douche for standing on top of his cutting board. If not "blasphemy" then unsanitary at best.

The real crime was that he "raised the roof" when he did it, which was always lame and, by the time Flay did it, was totally played out.

I don't think anyone should criticize any other announcer until they have had the misfortune to listen to Ken Harrelson.

Can't they all suck? It's not like the existence of Himmler made Goebbels into a good guy.

I don't believe that McCarver said all of those, such as

"Hey! He just threw a stider! I've invented a new pitch! A stider! hee hee hee"

I liked Baseball for Brain Surgeons. I wonder who wrote it for him, because the guy I hear announcing can't possibly be the guy that penned that book.

McCarver will always be linked to Doc Gooden's 1985 season for this fan. While I admit he's deteriorated steadily into a mass of annoying idiosyncracies and strained puns that are no longer charming and folksy the way they all seemed back in the 1980's, his analysis and commentary of that extraordinary season will always be one of my most cherished baseball memories.
"Lord Charles. Man!"

And who was that on the Braves Astros game yesterday that said Kevin Foster should be like Randy Myers and through a ball on 3-2, using the hitter's aggressiveness against him. Foster then threw a curve in the dirt, which was taken for ball 4. Same announcer declares he doesn't understand the pitch selection, and why would the pitcher choose a pitch eh couldn't throw for a strike?

It's moments like these that make me wonder.....

I agree with Bob Gibson's take on Tim McCarver:

"The only thing you know about pitching is that you can't hit it! Now get back behind the damn plate!"

And who was that on the Braves Astros game yesterday that said Kevin Foster should be like Randy Myers and through a ball on 3-2, using the hitter's aggressiveness against him. Foster then threw a curve in the dirt, which was taken for ball 4. Same announcer declares he doesn't understand the pitch selection, and why would the pitcher choose a pitch eh couldn't throw for a strike?

Steve Phillips and Eric Karros were doing the color for that game, but I missed that specific moment.

Part of why McCarver/Buck team stirs resentment is that they are coupled with Fox's production. Every game features terrible camerawork and the first pitch is missed in about a third of the innings.

I live in an area that gives me a special kind of sick pleasure from listening to the combination of McCarver, Kay, Harrelson, Skip Caray, Sutton, and Kalas. I get some of the best, worst and unintentionally funny broadcasts of the season. By the end of the season, I swear I can feel my brain oozing out my ear.

Sutton

You mean Don? Because, I assure you, Daron is much, much worse.

I actually like Hawk Harrelson.

Regarding Berman:

In the game yesterday, a ball was hit to center and he said "Fly ball to center, the centerfielder is back on it and makes the catch."

C'mon Chris, can't you tear yourself away from nicknaming football players long enough to learn the player's name?