|
|
|
|
Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Friday, April 18, 2008
Yeeerch!...Some of the names on this list makes me want to feel someone’s throat with a pair of super-vanadium bolzenschneider pincers!
10 – Marty Brennaman
Certainly not to be confused with his son Thom, who too often shows displeasure for the antics of the 21st century athlete, Marty is a classic voice who has done multiple sports on the national stage, but still shows his passion for his beloved Cincinnati Reds.
6 – Joe Buck
Buck certainly has his detractors, and often interjects too much of his own opinion into the broadcast when facts would better serve his listeners, but his classic voice coupled with a strong knowledge of the game make a good package for someone who is also asked to split his time as the top football announcer for Fox. More importantly, he manages to maintain his composure and professionalism while being stuck next to the incredibly long-winded and often incorrect Tim McCarver. The sheer fact that he hasn’t stopped in the middle of a broadcast to ask McCarver what the heck he’s talking about is a testament to Buck. I’d rather hear Buck’s opinion, as out of place as it might be during a baseball game, than hear McCarver say something completely untrue.
|
Support BBTF
Thanks to
phredbird
for his generous support.
Bookmarks
You must be logged in to view your Bookmarks.
Hot Topics
Newsblog: OT: NBA Monthly Thread, May 2012 (1832 - 1:32am, May 26)Last: baudibNewsblog: Boston.com: Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios lays off all staff (119 - 1:28am, May 26)Last: Swedish ChefNewsblog: HP: Baseball is leaving the human factor behind (56 - 1:15am, May 26)Last: The Keith Law Blog Blah Blah (battlekow)Newsblog: T.R. Sullivan: Of Frank Robinson, Milt Pappas and Jim Palmer (8 - 12:40am, May 26)Last: The Gurus DO NOT BourbonSamuraiNewsblog: Wilmoth: Nate McLouth Designated For Assignment (12 - 12:25am, May 26)Last: TriponHall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1973 Discussion (15 - 12:13am, May 26)Last: DanGNewsblog: Bud Selig -- No need for more MLB replay for now - ESPN (86 - 11:59pm, May 25)Last: cardsfanboyNewsblog: The Hall of Very Good: Former Cards Slugger Critical of "LaRussa's Regime" (4 - 11:26pm, May 25)Last: cardsfanboyNewsblog: CSN to host ‘Phillies at the Beach’ on Memorial Day (18 - 11:25pm, May 25)Last: Fielder's the first baseman, Felder is the fielderHall of Merit: Most Meritorious Player: 1972 Ballot (28 - 11:25pm, May 25)Last: lieiamSox Therapy: A Winning Ballclub? (20 - 11:24pm, May 25)Last: DanNewsblog: Matschulat: Did I Miss The "Paul Konerko Is So Overrated OMG" Bandwagon? (27 - 11:16pm, May 25)Last: baudibNewsblog: TBO: Nerdy Rays head north (17 - 10:07pm, May 25)Last: PreservedFishNewsblog: Himrich’s Top Ten Target Field Foods (6 - 9:57pm, May 25)Last: Long John McCaine Mutiny on the Bounty (scott)Newsblog: Dodgers want to host NHL's Winter Classic (22 - 9:38pm, May 25)Last: Cris E
|
|
Reader Comments and Retorts
Go to end of page
Statements posted here are those of our readers and do not represent the BaseballThinkFactory. Names are provided by the poster and are not verified. We ask that posters follow our submission policy. Please report any inappropriate comments.
1. FSC23 Posted: April 18, 2008 at 03:48 PM (#2749759)Scully is hands down the best, as for Buck........ I would place him number 11.
Look again. He's #4.
I seriously turn off a sporting event if Buck is working it. He's awful.
Amen - he makes listening to a game really enjoyable. He's the whole reason I got XM after moving to SD. He's passionate about the game, very smart but also silly—loved last year when he and Flemming tried to figure out how to say 'let's go Giant's in Latin during a miserable game at Wrigley, while still keeping me in the game. I myself am partial to Kuiper. I know he's not going to be on a lot of lists like this, but he's great. He's the guy I'd most want to go to a game with. Laid-back, excited at the right times, knowledgeable, good mix of 'back in my day' stories, funny but not mean (like a lot of announcers who mistake wit for ripping people), not prone to rants; just an all-around great listen. Between Kuiper, Kruk, Miller and Flemming, the broadcasters make watching this Giants team a lot more interesting than it'd be otherwise.
Worst announcer: Ted Leitner, and it's not even close.
Also, Bob Costas is not an "active" announcer, seeing as he hasn't done a game since, what, 1989?
I like Buck for PBP. It's when he says <u>anything</u> else that you need to tune him out or risk incurring red-eyed rage.
He frequently mistakes statistics (like he'll say Pat Burrell just hit his fifth HR when it was his sixth), players in the field (IIRC, he mixed up Jayson Werth and So Taguchi), and whatever he has to read off the cards/screens.
Isn't PBP the least important thing for TV broadcasts?
It works just the opposite with Mike Krukow for me. When he's talking about things other than baseball, he's entertaining and even quite funny. It's when he starts talking about baseball that he's annoying and so full of #### it pours out of his ears.
Possibly, but the system we have is the system we have and we have our completely subjective standards for what is acceptable in that system. Although of course JRE is totally wrong. 8-)
That kind of old-guy-homerism is better suited for radio, where the broadcasts are limited to the fanbase.
With XM and MLB radio, that's no longer the case.
Joe Buck is bad, but there are far worse out there (Hawk Harrelson leaps directly to mind).
I like Ron Santo but would never put him in a top ten list.
Vinny deserves to be at the top of any broadcasters list. Pure joy to listen to him call a game, and there is nobody out there remotely as good. Charlie Steiner, who seems to have dyslexia on the Spanish surname "Encarnacion" (he always mispronounces it "En-kuh-nar-see-own", dear God), still bugs me but I like his XM radio show and 90% of his Dodger radio calls enough to call it a truce. (Long fly balls ... well, let's just say he misjudges them most of the time.)
I think he is a combination of #1 and #2 -- he's both pyssy and shytty.
Depends. If I'm viewing in a bar, I can't hear the TV anyways. If I'm at home, I often have the TV on while doing other stuff.
I have a bigger problem with directors than any announcers. Sometimes watching the game is like watching CNBC. Too many crowd shots. Too many cuts from camera to camera. I could go on and on.
...except he isn't PBP.
And now I've heard twice that that Scully has no peer. Bob Uecker is every bit as good as Scully, but in a different way.
Steal, borrow or beg your way to a place where DirecTV's EI package is available and tune in to Channel 730 tonight.
Darrin Jackson and Ken Harrelson.
End of story.
"He gone."
"Grab some bench."
"He needs to bow his neck."
"Getting ridden hard and put away wet."
This is my pick to click. DJ and Hawk. Trust me. You can put in on the board. Yes!
...except he isn't PBP.
Its not a list of best play-by-play men (Santo is on the list), its a list of best announcers.
I think Ron Darling is an up and comer. I've really enjoyed him the few times I've gotten to listen to him.
I hate John Sterling (among many reasons) because he says "grounds-rule double" and is obviously so proud of his Safiresque brilliance, but he's still wrong.
8 – Bob Costas
He would be near the top of the list (certainly the top of the younger generation of broadcasters)
I'm a big Costas fan, but that really caught my eye. It's nice to know that 56 is the new 26.
I watched this WS and I didn't hear it as much, but then again, I wasn't a Giants or Angels fan. GRANTED he's the Giants guy so I'm sure it was there a little bit. However, the truly interesting thing is that Yankees fans scream he's biased to Boston, Boston Fans whine he's biased to NY, it goes on and on. I think he's probably like the NY TIMES. If the left and the right each complain the paper is too far in the other direction, they must be doing something right.
I've always liked Rose for the Mets but haven't listened to the radio games in awhile because I moved into a place with free cable and therefore, SNY.
I couldn't disagree more.
Let's bludgeon something together...
And at some point in the 21st inning, he out-and-out said the Padres were going to lose the game. Which they did, but man is that a stupid thing to say.
Not to hijack the thread, but if they're talking about $400 haircuts, the answer is, no way.
People have the same reactions to McCarver - so I don't think that it necessarily means he's doing something right. A better reaction would be if both sides agreed the source was unbiased.
Dizzy Dean
Lindsey Nelson
Bob Uecker is okay for a guy who's still able to talk
Guy heard him do America's Most Wanted one time and Guy cheered for the criminals!
Maybe that's why Kalas seems best suited for the over the top NFL Films type stuff.
I don't like the White Sox guys at all, but mostly because they are so incredibly quiet when the other team does anything, not because of the ridiculous stuff they say.
I've just noticed this year how bad the Rockies guys are.
I think Boog Sciambi and Len Kasper are the best guys on tv, bar Scully. The Mets group is also good.
All I ever hear about McCarver from ANYONE is that he sucks. So even if my point isn't that great (and it might not be, it was off-the-cuff), I'm not sure McCarver's a great way to dispute it.
Actually, now that I think about it, there was some talk about how he and Buck really brought out the worst in each other and that one without the other wasn't as bad. I forget which. I think McCarver.
That's George Frazier. Frazier and Drew Goodman were getting awfully loopy in the late innings, but then again, it was like one in the morning, when it's hard not to be loopy.
Frazier is pretty good when he's talking about pitching mechanics. Other than that, he's useless.
Wait, what's right and what's wrong?
Look again. He's #4.
I'm going to chalk that up to a bad page load. My list went from 6 to 3 and I didn't notice it until you pointed it out for me. I had to reload it to see the whole list.
Bet-uh-mitt is correct.
Miller said BAY-TAH-ME (accent on every syllable), after which the Braves announcers started saying that too.
I just wanted to second CFiJ's sentiment on Pat Hughes; amid all the Santo hate no one seems to have noticed that Santo's partner is VERY good. Also I think some of the guys are on this list just because they are well known nationally. At least they didn't put Joe Morgan on there.
Miller said BAY-TAH-ME (accent on every syllable), after which the Braves announcers started saying that too.
Betemit said he doesn't really care, but that Miller pronounces it correctly.
Hughes is overrated. He and Santo make a very entertaining team, but I don't know how many times I've turned on the game and waited until 2 outs in the inning to find out the score. I think sometimes the focus is too much on entertainment in the Cubs booth. I was crestfallen to find out that Gary Thorne replaced Schulman on ESPN radio this year. He and Soup were a great team. Thorne and Soup are good but not the same.
Ron Santo's not PBP. He's a nice guy, and can be fun to listen to, but he doesn't belong on a list of "Best Announcers," not by a long shot. Sure, he's a homer, but he still often forgets to tell the listener what's going on.
Bob Costas isn't currently doing baseball, and probably won't in the near future. We might as well stick Joe Garagiola on the list.
I'm not sure how anybody can like Buck, even his PBP. He's as boring as they come. It's not all McCarver, either. Ever seen Buck do an NFL game?
The other 7 look fine to me.
Favorite announcers:
Dizzy Dean
I seriously wish I were old enough to have seen Dizzy Dean do the original GOTW in the 1950s.
How I long for the days of Harry Coyle.
Flood the stadiums with rats, I say. That will solve everything.
You are off my Christmas card list!
I was wondering why Thorne seems to be off Orioles telecasts. I've only had about three of them turned on this season, though, so that may be a false impression.
Darling is really good.
WHERE'S HARRY CARAY?!!?
NBC did do postseason coverage in the late '90s.
Costas and Tony Kubek were terrific on NBC's Game of the Week in the mid-1980s.
But Vasgersian was great on the XFL.
You must be Registered and Logged In to post comments.
<< Back to main