And Al Lieter was even better than Cone.
Paul kind of fills the Scooter niche.
O’Neill was a surprise as a broadcaster considering how intense and deranged he often seemed as a player. He’s a huckleberry, as Rizzuto would say. He’s always upbeat and never mean or negative. It’s just that he’s dreadfully boring.
Mike Blowers for the Mariners (Root Sports) does a nice job. Not Hall of Fame stuff, but it’s interesting and he doesn’t ruin the game. (I don’t ask for much)
The first time I heard Leiter I was like holy shit! The man is telling me stuff I didn’t know! Cool! It was legitimately enlightening.
As to Manny Machado, I’ll believe he’s opting out when he does. If he has a down year, it might not make any sense to do so.
The only thing I really noticed and bugged me is Buck Martinez repeating seconds later what was just said by the first announcer. As for Pat Tabler, post game talks, yes, I would say he talks but doesn’t seem to be saying anything substantial. For the record, I found McCarver okay. I didn’t like Morgan because he dismissed sabermetrics, this from a guy who very likely is a HOFer because he has good sabermetrics stats.
Buck Martinez’s voice is too nasally for my taste. I just can’t get used to it.
The Cubs’ TV color commentator, Jim Deshaies, is similar. I never noticed this before, but then one day a friend of mine told me that Jim never says anything that my friend doesn’t already know. Then I started paying attention, and my friend is right!
Baseball announcers who contribute little of interest are still way more tolerable than obnoxious homers.*
*Ken Harrelson being the worst example on record.
It’s quite possible that the worst baseball announcer of all time was Howard Cosell. He’s up there near the top anyway… Knew nothing about the sport and thought he knew everything. A lethal combination.
Good one. In baseball broadcasts he was just incredibly terrible; he was in there solely because of his fame.
For certain; I think that another reason why ABC used him on sports that he wasn’t well-versed in was that his abrasive, opinionated style seemed to generate interest among fans (even if it was to complain about him).
In general, the better announcers were not star players with the exception of Al Kaline and George Kell. McCarver was like the rooster who thought the sun rose every morning to hear him crow. I think his broadcasting wore out many a mute button on remotes around the nation.
Al Michaels did not have nice things to say about Cosell. In fact, McCarver replaced Cosell on, I think, ABC at the time.
Jim Kaat’s pretty good. Bob Uecker hit 21 percent of his career home runs off Hall of Famers. 
Of course, the pool of announcers generally doesn’t include a lot of superstars, anyway. Play by play men are usually professional broadcasters, not players, and I think that the reason so many color commentators are players but not stars is just that star players would be too expensive for the job.
Yeah, Kaat is pretty good. And I’m old enough to know that Dizzy Dean wasn’t a great announcer, but he sure was fun to listen to.
Orel Hershiser is a pretty good color guy for the Dodgers. I’d call him a star player.
Milwaukee Brewers doing something smart, lowering concessions prices. And I’m fine with smaller portions, portion sizes are already insane.
Cool move, Brewers!
(The “414” reference in the value menu’s name is a play on the Milwaukee area’s primary area code.)
Which of the new rules do you think will have the most positive affect on the game? The most negative? I am looking forward to the faster pace. I guess we will see how it plays out.