One thing that's annoying about Hawk is that he's capable of being an informative, insightful PBP guy, but chooses not to be far too regularly.

The catchphrases don't even bother me so much anymore. He's been doing them so long that they're almost like white noise to me. It's the pleading ("ball four, base hit") and how he gets when the game is close late. Hawk didn't sound so much like a PBP guy in the bottom of the ninth inning when the Sox had the tying run on first. The batter check swung and the catcher motioned to first as though he was going to try and pick off the runner. Hawk's rattled noises on both the check swing and false throw to first made him sound more like a parent getting finicky in the passenger seat as they teach their kid how to drive rather than a guy being paid to call a professional baseball game.

The issue with Hawk is not that he is a homer; it's that he's an #######. His homerism certainly makes the problem worse, but the same level of homerism in someone who is not an ####### wouldn't necessarily do the same.

He's started keeping imaginary scores, and updates you on that. Like last night, there was a blown out call that cost the Sox a run. At the end of the inning, he said something like "It's 1-0 Cleveland, but it should be 1-1." He gave that updated score multiple times until the Sox took the lead.

Ugh, exactly. And he takes it as a personal affront if the Sox can't get in a guy from third with one out. If that happens early in the game and it stays close, you'll have to hear that passive-aggressive "We've had our chances, but it's 3-3..." whining at the end of every inning.

I guess I like him well enough when the Sox are winning (because that keeps his unpleasantness to a minimum), and not when they're losing.

Disclaimer: It's been about two decades since I've heard large doses of Hawk; after that time, I've only caught little snippets of him now and then. So maybe he's not an ####### anymore. But good god, he was an ####### back then.

I want the zombieSkip Caray back in the Braves booth. Entertainment at its best. Drunk or sober... in the booth.

Do White Sox fans like his homerism?

I like being able to hear him call the last few outs of Buehrle's perfect game, and I would have liked to hear him call the last game of the 2005 World Series. I could do without the other 4000 or so games he's worked.

White Sox fans I talk to, which is about every day, say that yes he is a pompous ass, but he is our pompous ass. I tell them I don't hate the Sox, I just hate Hawk. That doesn't bother Sox fans at all.

Dick Enberg does Padres games?

Oh, my!

I don't get this focus on homer vs. non-homer. Hawk discussions always end up here. But take away all homerism and Hawk is still the worst announcer in the game.

Actually, Hawk's newest catchphrase is, "It's all good!" That's the straw that broke my camel. I can deal with 'He Gone', and 'OVAH' and 'Dadgummit', but this.... These days I'll play Madden instead of watching a game, and listen to Ed and DJ on the radio (not the world's greatest either, but better) instead. Shame, because I still like Stoney, but...it's just frustrating.

Maybe moreso because the team can't hit.

Dan McLaughlin's "Look what I found!" every single time a pitcher successfully fields a comebacker always makes me cringe.

That is accurate, most clueless announcer in baseball.

That is accurate, most clueless announcer in baseball.

I always think that, until MLB TV forces me to watch fox, or listen to another team. And then I realize how lucky we are in STL.

Dan and Al can be annoying, especially when they repeat stories we've all heard 20 times, but they do a good job of doing things like criticizing cardinals players for not hustling, or making mental mistakes, and regularly second-guess the managers. Not always for the right reason, but it's clear they are free to speak their minds and aren't held to regurgitate any kind of party line.

They very regularly say things like "Cardinals caught a break on that pitch" when a strike thrown to a cardinals batter is called a ball, and they usually try to tell both sides of a story when there's a story. They aren't Jack Buck, but you don't see that kind of "we're homers but we call it straight" from guys like Brennaman or Harrelson.

Although by the metrics in this article, if they said "wow, that was a strike, but the umpire called it a ball- *we* caught a break", they'd score higher on homerism, so whatever.

Dan and Al can be annoying, especially when they repeat stories we've all heard 20 times, but they do a good job of doing things like criticizing cardinals players for not hustling, or making mental mistakes, and regularly second-guess the managers. Not always for the right reason, but it's clear they are free to speak their minds and aren't held to regurgitate any kind of party line.

I'm a huge fan of Al. and if the truth be said, Dan has gotten better over the past two years or so, but it's hard for me to get past how horrible he was for such a long time. Not just the boring monotone announcing style, but the fact that he is not that baseball savvy.

Although by the metrics in this article, if they said "wow, that was a strike, but the umpire called it a ball- *we* caught a break", they'd score higher on homerism, so whatever.

Shannon is very good at doing that, he has no problem saying when the umpires seem to be having an off night, regardless of which team it's helping.

the word for hawk, unless everything is going the Wsox way, is "petulant"
oooooh, BIG word

he whines like a 2 year old who needs a nap. it's not that he's a homer. it's that he comes off as an a-hole

BUT

he's better than milo hamilton or his 2 maroon assistants

I mean I wonder about things Alex. Like I wonder, if we call an orange an orange, why don't we call an apple a red? Or a banana a yellow?

Now blueberries make sense, but someone explain gooseberries to me!

The color is actually named after the fruit!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_(colour)

I prefer Ricky Horton and Al Hrabosky to Al and Dan McLaughlin. Ricky and Al, both lefty pitchers, but completely different in terms of stuff (Al had a huge fastball and almost nothing else, while Ricky was all slop and control) will give you a good schooling on how to pitch if you listen to them enough. Besides, Horton worked really really hard to become a competent broadcaster, and has succeeded. His first couple of years were painful. He knew the game, but he didn't know how to describe it, or how to set up the coming TV break, or anything. But he worked at it and has become very good, IMO. - Brock Hanke

The color is actually named after the fruit!

Interesting. I was just trying to induce a Taxi subthread though.

With most White Sox fans I encounter, it seems that if you dislike Ken Harrelson, you get the same response for saying you don't like AJ Pierzynski. "You don't understand them. They just want to win."

Crap like that.

Besides, Horton worked really really hard to become a competent broadcaster, and has succeeded. His first couple of years were painful.

Agreed. Horton has improved by leaps and bounds, the only drawback is that he's added the old time fogeyism that he didn't have when he first started. Before he used to defer to the modern player and not pull the "in my day crap" but more recently he has started to do that a lot more frequently. (and of course his Whitey worship is about as annoying as Al's hatred of the Cubs)

#37's description of Ray Fosse is dead on target. I think the only thing that saves him from entering Hawk territory is that he's very quick to praise the opposing team's players for their hustle and outstanding plays. And while he doesn't have a catch phrase, Ray cannot describe something positive for the A's without using the words great or unbelievable.

It's great that Cleveland's broadcasters wouldn't respond to a request to talk about finishing a distant second, but Hawk is more than willing to brag about being first.

I think the Hawk/AJ parallel is right. Non-Sox fans ##### and moan about his homerism, and he just eats it up. He sustains himself on the hatred. I'm not terribly attached to Hawk, but hearing the complaints make me like him more.

The MLB.tv era puts it in a weird perspective. "This guy is on the White Sox's payroll, and he's calling games for White Sox fans. I am not a White Sox fan, and I can't believe he doesn't make more of an effort to appeal to me."

the word for hawk, unless everything is going the Wsox way, is "petulant"
oooooh, BIG word

he whines like a 2 year old who needs a nap. it's not that he's a homer. it's that he comes off as an a-hole

This, exactly. I have no problems with broadcasters being homers; I expect it, to a degree. Hawk's just annoying at the best of times, and when things are going wrong, I just want to punch him in the face.

I wonder if Stoney does too. God damn the Cubs to hell for running him (Stoney) out of the booth.

And yeah, I'd take Hawk over Milo. Back in his Cubs days, they did this thing where Harry and Stone would do innings 1-3 and 7-9 on TV, and switch to the radio for 4-6. Milo did the radio for 1-3 and 7-9. Milo was horrid enough that when the 4th rolled around, my dad and I would mute the TV and turn the radio on.

Hawk announces while rooting for his team; a good homer (contradiction) would root for his team while announcing.