TV Announcers
 

Well, with the CWS, some interesting sits in MLB, there seems to be an abundance of opinions of who is the worst TV announcer, and with everyone's favorite series (LLWS) in a couple of months I'm sure there will be more.

Orel I thought did a pretty good job,
Reynolds was bad,
McCarver & Morgan really stink,
Larkin isn't much better.
I don't have an opinion about the Sox/Cubs guys as I don't get to hear them all that much.

Any other comments or additions to the list?

Worst and then 5 best
 

Tim McCarver - the worst of the bunch. The next rule he gets right will be his first.

Harold Reynolds - what does he do, just guess what the rule is?

Joe Morgan - slides into third place. At least he tries to learn the rules. Keep trying.

Jim Palmer - absolutely brutal. I scream at the TV when he "explains" the rules.

Barry Larkin - he's pretty new to the list, but climbing up the charts with a bullet.

The Braves announcers - it is a wonder that anyone can stay awake with the Caray's. What a snoozefest.

Brent Musberger - he's ok for football, but for baseball or golf, there are few worse.

Tony Gwynn - hell of a hitter, but as a color analyst...hell of a hitter. He is dull, boring, and a real Captain Obvious, as all he does is restate what you just saw on the screen, while trying to sound like he's giving a pearl of wisdom.

Tim Flannery - very glad he's back coaching 3rd base (for the Giants this time). He never really got the hang of play-by-play.

Jerry Coleman - the Colonel was a great ball player, a WWII hero, and a wonderful human being. But his best announcing days are long behind him, as he makes more mistakes than ever these days. He only works part-time this season, and is due to retire at the end of the year, I believe.

The best 5 guys out there (radio or TV) IMHO:

1. Vin Scully - Dodgers
2. Harry Callas - Phillies
3. Marty Brennaman - Reds
4. Bob Uecker - Brewers
5. Matt Vasgersian - Padres

What drives me crazy about Joe Morgan is that he feels the need to repeat everything twice; a little bit slower the second time.

I can only name three:


1) Whoever is on now.

2) Who ever was on before.

3) Whoever is on next.

I need to add the fill-in for Matt Vasgersian, Steve Quis to the list of most boring announcers ever. He must have attended the Skip Caray School of Play-By-Play.

:D :D

Jim Kaat is sorely missed on the Yankee games this year...even though he occasionally got one wrong, Kaat was one of the few TV people that knew where the umps are coming from in their calls. A decent knowledge of the rules for a player too.

I'll tell ya who is missed--Harry Caray. The guy was so drunk off his @ss that he was just amusing. At least he had an excuse if he ever claimed to know a rule, which I don't believe he ever did.

Jon Miller (great)
Joe Morgan (brutal)

Another pretty good one that I forgot to mention: Milo Hamilton.

Overheard last night from Tom Hamilton, play-by-play guy for Cleveland (radio):

"Foul ball, left side. Blake goes to field it, it's in the stands. He's fighting a fan for the ball!

"No fan interference when the ball is in the stands, so we'll do it again."

Good call!

Joe Morgan is without peer as a TV announcer for baseball.

He articulates clearly about the offensive and defensive strategies,knows the players, and draws on a wealth of experience to make watching an ESPN Broadast entertaining and informative.

A great bonus tonight is the presence of Hall of Fame announcer Ernie Harwell.

Any list of great baseball announcers that omits Harwell is not a list.

Ummmmmm, yeah.

Stunning articulation on the complexities of hitting there.

Pujols is a great hitter because he puts the ball in play. You can't be a great hitter if you swing and don't make contact with the ball. When Pujols swings, there's a pretty good chance that he's going to try to hit the pitch. If he swings and misses, he just has to wait until the next pitch like everybody else, but even when he misses the pitcher knows without a doubt that Pujols just took a swing at it." -Joe Morgan, Baseball Genius
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Umm...could you repeat the part where you said the stuff about the...things...

Reading that quote made my head hurt...

Joe Morgan is a baseball genius.

Too bad the Hall of Fame does not allow multiple inductions for the same person.

" He stood there like the house by the side of the road." Ernie Harwell on a Bonderman strike out of Jason Tyner.

Great night on ESPN. Three Hall of Famers in the booth.

Gee, all my posts about playing with McCarver and his being an ***, from personal knowledge, got deleted. I guess that somehow the truth is offensive. Wow.

Is that all they dealt with, or did they also contain personal attacks (including responses to attacks on you) of other posters here?

It might not be apparent, but many other posts have also been deleted from this and other threads, and sometimes valid points get caught in the collateral damage.

Come on Bob, he mentioned "playing with McCarver," and therefore left himself wide open. You didn't think my reply was funny? I even added the smiley face to indicate humor.

Morgan without peer?
 

??????

Well Sir, I can honestly say that I couldn't disagree with you more. I believe that he is one of the worst TV announcers that we have to listen to today. What ever skills that he had as a player on that great team have not transfered to the booth. I would rather listen to a game on ESPN Deportes (and I don't speak or understand much Spanish) than have to listen to him drone on with the nonsense that he called commentary!

Then dont listen.

That is why they have ways to change channels or eliminate the sound.

But judged by those who do watch and listen to Morgan, he is one popular guy.

You are entitled to your opinion, of course based on your standards.

But the Joe Morgan accomplishments as an announcer seem to put you in a rather miniscule minority:


Started his broadcasting career in 1985 for the Cincinnati Reds.
Went to the Giants in 1986
Did one year for the Athletics in 1995
1988-1989, Morgan served as an announcer for Monday Night Baseball games, the 1988 American League Championship Series and served as a field reporter for the 1989 World Series.
From 1994-2000, Morgan teamed with Bob Costas and Bob Uecker to call baseball games on NBC. During this period, Morgan helped call three World Series (1995, 1997, and 1999 respectively) and four All-Star Games (1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000). Morgan had spent a previous (1986-1987) stint with NBC calling regional Game of the Week telecasts.
Currently, he is a member of ESPN's lead baseball broadcast team alongside Jon Miller. Besides teaming with Miller for Sunday Night Baseball telecasts, Morgan has also teamed with Miller for World Series broadcasts on ESPN Radio. He is also a broadcaster in the MLB 2K series from 2K Sports.

CableACE award in 1990 and Emmy awards for sports analysis in 1998 and 2005.

Fair enough, thx.

Sure did, what's the issue? JT was several years ahead of me for sure but baseball All Star teams were picked by area. Small town Missisippi USA, I got thrown in with the Big Town Memphis boys. JT was, gosh, 15? Didn't drive, I do remember that. There was always a young squirt who got to tag along during the Legion season so there I was.

I don't know how old you are, this was before your time, but JT was 16 as a senior HS, gone to MinLB soon after that. No one liked him, no one.

The fact that you are the first person I've ever heard of that actually likes Joe Morgan makes me wonder how miniscule that minority actually is. Viewers aren't watching because of Morgan -- they're watching because they want to see the game and have no other choice.

I disagree. I think most viewers actually don't like him. I can't prove it, obviously, I just get that impression based on the fact that everyone I have ever spoken to about him dislikes him very strongly. I didn't even like him as a player -- sure, he was a great hitter -- but that ridiculous chicken wing he used to pump made me want to smack him.

Jim, I have to defer to the networks on Joe Morgan. There is zillions of dollars at stake and they keep him ad infinitum. Why? Because he improves their revenues.

The other day Rick Sutcliff was calling a Twin-Yankee game.
R1 and R2 No out. Tori Hunter runs to 1st on a D3K. R1 and R2 advanced.
Neither Rick or his partner understood why the Umps sent Hunter back to the dugout. They didn't try to make up anything, it was just obvious they were confused.

Joe Morgan is also a successful author on books about baseball.

Perhaps you and your friends would find this one, now in its third edition, informative:http://www.amazon.com/Baseball-Dummi.../dp/0764552341

Sutcliffe actually said "Hunter is out on strikes, as the runners weren't off running on the pitch". As if attempting to take the next base makes the base unoccupied. :mad:

During yesterday's Yankee v. Twins game, Torii Huner was ejected for screaming at the HP umpire from the dugout. Yankee announcer Paul O'Neil replied, "It's not the HP umpire's job to police the dugout and start and arguement with a player who is off the field!"

I'm with Bob on this one!

Ah yes, Paul O'Neil, anger management poster-boy and Yankee rat-extraordinaire, who never met an umpire he couldn't tell to f##k off. If he were commissioner, he'd fire the umpires and have the players settle any disagreements with a quick bare-knuckle bout. What a loser, and a piss-poor example for kids who watch the Yankees. I can't imagine why they keep him around.

I don't much care for O'Neil. :D