It’s a three man crew (one play-by-play, two color), but the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball guys (Dan Shulman, John Kruk, and Curt Schilling) are fantastic. The play-by-play is good and Shulman knows when to shut up and get out of the way of Kruk and Schilling for insight, anecdotes, and general tomfoolery.
Schilling is certainly an improvement over previous color guys, but Kruk is a complete buffoon.
I disagree. He’s not overly erudite, that’s for sure, but he tells a story well (and usually a pretty funny one) and he actually does know quite a bit about hitting, the batter’s strategy. and the batter’s mental process.
I’m really enjoying the Kruk-Schilling interplay. I like the way they’re so comfortable with offering insight, and then throwing to each other for the opposite (hitter as opposed to pitcher or vice versa) viewpoint. I never cared for Kruk in the studio, as he was indeed buffoon-ish, but when it comes to talking about action on the field I think he’s much better. Schilling can be insufferable sometimes, but here it’s much more clear that he’s a lot more self-aware than he’s normally given credit for, and pretty magnanimous about being the brunt of jokes. And he has great insight into the mechanics and the mentality of pitching.
There’s a probably not-true but too good not to repeat story about the first baseman who faked throwing back to the pitcher, and in order to distract the runner asked what he’s doing after the game…
Runner: “I’m getting some steak and onions”
Fielder: “With those little pearl onions?”
“No, I like them big. Big as baseballs.”
At which point the two had wandered away from the bag, with the first baseman on the inside, so he opens his glove showing the ball and says “Oh, you mean like this?”