Baseball announcers -- is it just me?

Cafe Society
1

I’ll preface this by admitting fully that I’m spoiled.

I live in Los Angeles, and I’m a die-hard Dodger fan, so I am often treated to the smooth stylings of the venerable Vin Scully. He is, of course, widely considered to be the best in the business. Other announcers don’t come close to him, and I don’t expect them to. He’s in his own league.

Now, I happen to also be a huge baseball fan in general, so I enjoy catching other baseball games any chance I get. Through my satellite, I have access to Angels, Braves, Cubs and White Sox games. The announcers for all of these teams do a fine job and are more than up to the task of calling a quality game. But here’s what bugs me, and why I’d rather listen to Vin than any of these guys any day. It seems to me that everyone I’ve ever listened to EXCEPT Vin roots for the team they work for. I realize this may sound like common sense thing to do, but it really annoys the crap out of me.

An example. Let’s say the team of the announcer(s) is on defense. There are runners on first and third with one out. This is what you might hear:

Vin: “Two on, one out…and if you’re a Dodger fan, you’re hoping for a double play here. Here’s the pitch…”

Rex Hudler (Angels announcer): “Alright, we’ve got guys at the corners, we’re in a tight spot – hopefully we can get a double play and get out of this mess. C’mon, Angels, let’s go!”

See the difference there? Vin understands that most of his audience is rooting for the Dodgers, and he provides a relevant perspective based on that. But he pulls that off without cheerleading, which is the sort of thing really grates on my nerves. It strikes me as being unprofessional and a bit immature for someone being paid for what they do. I expect the kid working the PA system at a high school football game to get excited when his team scores a touchdown – but I don’t want to hear that in professional baseball. I like neutral announcing – paint me a picture and keep me in the game. I’ll decide how I want to root.

So, is it just me? And are there other announcers on a team’s payroll who can call a game without making it clear whose side they’re on?

2

Bill Brown, who does TV play-by-play for the Astros, is a bit colorless but at least isn’t too much of a homer, which means I much prefer him to the insufferably cornball rah-rah stylings of his radio counterpart Milo Hamilton. Milo’s going into semi-retirement, though, only doing home games this year.

But the real treasure here in Houston is color commentator Jim Deschaies. Fairly astute about strategy, can be hilariously funny at times, and dishes both compliments and brickbats to the home and visiting teams in roughly equal measure. I really miss him when he’s being subbed by Larry Dierker.

3

Well, if Rex rooted for ALL his former teams, he wouldn’t sound like a hometowner at all! :wink:

But yes, most announcers (especially radio) are pretty biased towards their own team.

Vin Scully is the best there is. Remember the games of our youth, when he called 'em with Jerry Doggett? Hell, we had Chick Hearn too… spoiled rotten out here.

4

Dave Niehaus of the Mariners does a pretty darn good job of having a bias for his hometeam, and being excited when they do well, but still being able to appreciate good baseball no matter who plays it.

He’s been known to admire home run shots from opposing bats, or comment on the prowess of an opposing player’s glovework, and yet there’s no question that when his voice gets excited, there’s good baseball happening on the field.

In that double-play example, Niehaus will call out the positions of the players, and forgive me if I don’t know their current roster, but: “Olerud is playing off the bag at first, and Boone is on the grass — Jamie Moyer would love to get a ground ball to the left side for the double play here.” Or he might just say, “The Mariners are at double-play depth.”

I’ve never heard Vin Scully call, so I can’t confirm your assertion that he truly is bias-free. It’s possible that we tend to notice a bias when some other schmuckbag announcer uses it and fail to notice our own. :smiley:

5

There must be, because every sports message board I’ve ever read in every major league baseball city is full of complaints that the announcers from ESPN/Fox are completely biased in favor of the opposing team.

Baseball announcing tradition has it that there are three schools of announcers: East Coast, Midwest and West Coast. East Coast school generally acts like there are no opposing teams. The home team is simply going through a scrimmage to stay sharp for the World Series.

Midwest school is not afraid to acknowledge there are two teams on the diamond. However, the home team either wins because it plays brilliantly or loses because it screws up so badly that the obviously inferior opposition can capitalize on mistakes. Individual players for the opposition can make brilliant plays, but the team itself never does.

West Coast school, as led by Scully, are seen by East Coast and Midwest fans as “not caring” enough to root.

However, given that every baseball announcer agrees with Asimovian that Vin Scully is next to God, and given that announcers like Curt Gowdy, Jack Buck, Bob Prince and Bob Uecker all had strong ties to their home teams, and still got high marks when calling national broadcasts, I have to believe that rooting for the home team is just part of the job.

I suspect that because Scully has been identified with the Dodgers even longer than Los Angeles, he can call the game any way he wants.

6

When I was a kid listening to Albuquerque Dukes game on the radio, I always thought that the announcers did a good job. They traded off every two innings, so it’s not like there was an announcer and a color guy. The guy who was on in that particular inning did both play-by-play and color. One of them was Mike Roberts, who now does announcing for the Isotopes (and has covered the Lobos for decades), and I have blanked on the other one. Of course, I could be really wrong and was blinded by young loyalty.

Anyway, I agree with the OP. I have XM, so I have the home announcers for any given game. Frankly, I just like good baseball. Yes, if I could have it my way, the team I’m rooting for will go 162-0 and sweep all the way to the World Series. (Actually, that’d be really boring, but you see what I mean.) But if the team sucks one night, or the other team is just playing better ball, or whatever, I can still enjoy the game. And, as much as I might hate to see it, I can still appreciate a great double play, or a snag of a line drive, or stealing a home run by going over the fence, or a great performance by the pitcher, or any other number of things.

7

Oh, and kunilou, I hate watching games on Fox. The announcers themselves just bug the hell out of me (see any Pit thread about Fox and baseball) and it’s really bad watching a Yankees game listening to McCarver talk about Jeter like a lover.

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Believe me, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I had some bias on the issue. But I also recall hearing Vin doing a World Series broadcast (with Joe Garagiola, if I recall correctly) that the Dodgers weren’t a part of and recognizing that he was just as incredible no matter who was playing on the field.

I am encouraged, however, to hear that there are other announcers out there who get excited about good baseball from either side. It’s too bad I’m too cheap to pay $179 to Dish Network for the MLB package; otherwise, I’d probably get to hear more of them. :slight_smile:

9

Tom Hamilton for the Indians gets excited about great defensive plays and home runs no matter who does them. What I like about him is he rarely (if ever) says, “We” when talking about the team.

I like Marty Brennaman for the Reds, too. He can be damned caustic, especially about Griffey, though. I like it, but I can see why others might not.

10

I love Marty. He does dog the hell out of the whole team when they need it.

Sir Rhosis

11

What I absolutely HATE is when the TV broadcasters interview some two-bit actor or semi-celebrity, completely ignoring that there’s a game going on.

“So, Biggus Dickus, you’re a real baseball fan, eh?” “Oh, yeah, Bob, I just love this team. I’ve been a fan since I came here with my Uncle Joe…” Blah, blah, blah, blah…

Five minutes later, return to action.

“Well, there have been three runs scored here in the fourth inning, and Manager Mike has been thrown out of the game. Tough luck, Manager Mike. Now, fans, it’s time for our trivia contest…”

I often turn off the sound and put the radio on.

12

All I know is that Chicago White Sox commentator Hawk Harrelson is a terrible homer - his partner, Darren Jackson, is no great shakes either - and that Hawk made Sox games almost unwatchable for me during my years in the Chicago area. Seeing the ChiSox win the Series last year was nice. Seeing them do it from New York, where I didn’t have to hear DJ and the Hawk, was a blessing.

13

If it helps at all, Yankee fans (and Met fans) hate McCarver. We tried to drive him out of NY, but like a form of mold, he keeps coming back.
These days Yanks only have one un-biased announcer. Jim Kaat who is great. The rest of the very large crew of announcers are either hopeless Homers or at least will never say anything bad about the Yankees and try to make excuses for them. We just added Al Lieter and I have some hope for him.
In the old days the Yankees had Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto who was an extreme homer but a beloved character and a connection to all the great old Yankees. He was Balanced by Bill White (an Old Cardinal) who called a neutral game with some comedic exchanges with Scooter. He was the first African-American Full Time Local Announcer for MLB. Frank Messer rounded out the trio from 1971 to 1984. He was a no-nonsense game caller and not a homer. Good baseball knowledge and he questioned decisions.

Jim

14

What Exit? you’re right - Jim Kaat is fuckin’ brilliant - great insight from a pitcher’s perspective. I happen to love Michael Kay, too - when paired up with Kitty (Kaat) they play of each other perfectly. I don’t get a lot of “homer” bias, just great baseball…

15

McCarver is a windbag, but at this point, I think his reputation for Jeter-loving has come surpassed the reality. By the way - and I think this point is a distantly-related - SportsIllustated surveys of major-leaguers note that they believe Jeter is both the best and most overrated shortstop in the game.

16

Kay is very much a company man. He even carefully went after Torre when The Boss was feuding with him. But yes, when it is just Kaat & Kay or Kaat, Kay & O’Neil we get a well announce game. Singleton is a twit and defends every player and bad decision. Murcer is a hopeless homer, as bad as Scooter without any real insight into the game or beloved antics and foibles. Sterling & Waldman: Homers, plus Sterling needs his eyes checks. “Its long, Its Far, Home Run…Hunter catches it on the warning track” :wink: At least twice a week.
I have hopes for Leiter, he could become as good as Kaat. He doesn’t over talk, he seems comfortable and he offers up good insights. He knows how to take the cues from Kay that Kenny & Murcer almost always fumble.

Marley23: Wonderful contradiction on Jeter, isn’t it. He is such an odd player. You don’t measure him by stats, but by apparent heart and somehow making the big impossible plays at the improbable times. Even Varitek speaks respectfully of him and almost no Yankee fan would take A-Rod over Jeter despite A-Rod on paper being much better than Jeter in every statistical measurement.
You can only truly appreciate a player like Jeter if you see them every day. He still plays the game like a AAA player trying to stay in the Majors.

Jim

17

re: the Yankees broadcasts, whomever does the play-by-play on the YES network games (I don’t catch enough on that network to know the names) is, IMO, the single most annoying play-by-play announcer I have ever heard in ANY sport. The guy whose home-run catch line is “See-ya!” Him. Make it stop. YMMV.

The Red Sox have an extremely popular set of TV announcers and an extremely long-running (and also fairly popular) pair of radio announcers. In both cases there is a definite bias towards the home team, but there is also a respect for the opponent and an ability to keep perspective. I’d rate the radio pairing as “average to above-average” - they tend to get annoying on occasion, and the play-by-play guy gets overly excited for any sort of deep fly ball - while the TV pairing (Don Orsillo and former 2B Jerry Remy) is one of the best local broadcast groups that I’ve seen.

The Orioles actually have a pretty decent set of TV announcers as well. They shuffle people around a lot, based either on which local network is covering the game or something completely random, I have no clue. Either way, both Buck Martinez and Jim Palmer are extremely good analysis guys, with an understanding of the game and an ability to give analysis from a semi-objective standpoint. The play-by-play guys aren’t distracting from the action on the field, which is a great thing IMO. The Orioles broadcasts would be great if the production values were a little higher - going from Sox games on NESN to the local O’s TV broadcast makes me feel like I’m going back in time ten years.

18

That’s Michael Kay.

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Radio broadcasts are, among other things, advertising for the team. Announcers work for the team, either indirectly via the station with the team’s approval, or directly for the team. Boosting the product in its market is part of their job.

20

Yep, and my mileage does vary - I love him. You should hear his radio broadcasts during the drive home on ESPN radio - he is smart and funny and knows his baseball…

Nice points, What Exit? - I agree with pretty much all of them. I don’t think of Kay as a homer - maybe because I usually have Murcer, etc. to compare him to, but either way, I like how he calls a game…