Most/Least Clueless Announcers?
 

Bought the MLB,Tv package for my computer/streaming device for this season, and was wondering which announcers are most clueless about rules/mechanics, etc, and which ones actually might know something.

I ask because I am used to the YES and the Mets SNY guys, who mostly are pretty good about things. The YES guys, in particular seem to have a grasp of the idea that most umps are pretty good and know their stuf, and that they as announcers don't know enough to comment on sticky calls/situations. The Mets guys are pretty good also, although sometimes Hernandez might get a little upset a times. Both crews are populated by reasonably intelligent ex players like Singleton, Cone, Darling and the already mentioned Hernandez, and that helps.

To me, Tom Seaver is the most knowledgeable. He correctly recognizes proper rotations, and he definitely knows the pitching rules.

Especially clueless:

Tim McCarver (The Babe Ruth of clueless announcers)
Joe Morgan
The entire YES team (Sterling is the captain)
Jim Palmer (it's a good thing for him there were seldom runners on base when he was pitching)

Edit: By the entire YES team, I am referring only to Sterling, Kay and Wuldman (I'd like to know who came up with the brilliant idea to have a chick with a Boston accent announcing Yankee games). I apologize in advance to Rita for the preceding sexist comment.

Michael Kay makes an effort to learn. He'll actually look up rules and ask for help understanding them.

Suzyn Waldman is Mass born and raised but spent a bunch of time on Broadway and with WFAN and has seemingly become a New Yorker.

I'll concede that one Rich. At least he has stopped describing the tailoring of the uniforms every game.

Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan make my most clueless list.

Joe Morgan and Hawk Harrelson make my excruciatingly boring list.

Steve Stone makes my "most knowledgeable" list.

JM

Any chance we will see national telecasts with a former umpire at the disposal of the announcers to explain rules similar to what FOX did during this past NFL season?

Any list not including McCarver and Morgan is sadly lacking. These two do more by themselves to force umpires to re-teach rules to coaches than all the rest of the broadcasters combined. McC is the only one I have ever hears actually say "The hands are part of the bat." on television. And after being corrected, he said, "Well that's the way I learned it..."

Ugh.

Also,
 

When Harold Reynolds worked for The Mothership @ LL World Series for three straight years intoned: "the hands are part of the bat."

I tried to get his attention (I worked three of the Reynolds brothers in high school) but it fell on deaf ears.

Watching the MLB network one night Harold was taking and noted: "I always thought the hands were part of the bat . . . the hands are part of the batter's body."

Progess in baby steps.

T

Hawk Harrelson beats them all.

Maybe he bothers me more because he is a local guy, he is the White Sox announcer and goes crazy about every umpiring mistake that he thinks takes place and will go on and on for innings. He is just a complete idiot and maybe why he let Tony LaRussa go when he was the GM of the Sox soon after they had won division in 1983 (I believe). There are too many examples of how stupid he is. People from Chicago know how dumb he is.

Peace

In a few years, he'll say "And we all know the hands are not part of the bat," giving the impression he's known it his whole life.

None of them really bother me, but Ken Harrelson is pretty bad for the most part. He does occasionally tell a good story or two.

Tom Grieve does a great job as an analyst. It just depends who they have as play-by-play guy nowadays.

We can put Vin Scully in that club as well. What a legend!

thats funny....

In YES' defense. Clueless Sterling and Waldman work for WABC radio and not YES. I'm a Yankee fan, but if I'm at work or in the car, I'll listen the Mets because I just can't take Sterling and Waldman. I have the MLB package as well, and two guys that come to mind that will go on and on about any call that goes against their team is Duane Staats and whoever his partner is down in Tampa.

We all know.

Not that surprising. I've said for years that young players can learn a lot about how to play the game from listening to Morgan. I'm surprised that he hasn't been tabbed to manage or coach for a MLB team.

Sterling would be better with a different partner, I think - when he was Kay, he was actually pretty good. I keep wishing the Yankees could convince Waldman to 'retire',, and replace her with Kimberly Jones, who i think would be an excellent 'color' person. I also wish YES would have a more stable lineup - even though the 'rotation' is fairly predictable, it still kind of annoying trying to figure out who is going being actually working any particular series.

Everytime Jim Palmer "says tie goes to the runner", I want to pull out my eyeballs with my thumbs!

Agree 100%. Actually enjoyed Sterling/Kaye combo. Love Kimberly Jones. Maybe to pretty for full time radio though :D

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...es_8_31_09.jpg

The San Diego announcing team is the largest collection of umpire-haters on air today (based on my experience watching MLB Extra Innings). That includes Dick Enberg.

Joe knows baseball. Some folks get so hung up on his lack of rule knowledge that they assume he's clueless about the other stuff too.

It's true. Why pull out your eyeballs.

The issue is whether or not a tie can exist or be perceived.

But if there was actually a tie the runner is safe by rule because the tag has to be made before the runner touches the base to get an out. If it's a tie it wasn't before. Safe.

After seeing that picture, they could get Botox as a sponsor.

Kinda favors Mr. Ed to me.

Not always. On a retouch appeal (doubling-up), tie goes to the fielder - by rule.

What gets to me about Joe Morgan is his need to repeat everything three times. He'll make a decent baseball observation, but by the time he's repeating it the third time in his slow methodical way I'm ready to turn the channel or mute the volume.

True but that's not a force and nobody yells on that one anyhow in my experience. It's more of an "aw sh!t" reaction on an unavoidable one or a berating of the runner on an avoidable one.

Listening to those two clowns makes me long for the days of Frank Messer, Bill White (yes THAT Bill White) and, of course, Phil Rizzuto.

Waldman and Sterling are insufferable. I could understand Rizzuto being a "homer"; in fact I would expect it. He was balanced by Messer and White, but with these two it is COMPLETELY over the top.

A few years ago, the Mets were playing the Red Sox late in the season, and the Yanks and Sox were both contenders for the division/wild card. I don't remember whom the Yanks were playing, but there was break in the action and Suzyn was doing the out-of-town scoreboard. When she got to the Mets/Sox game, she snickered: "Who do you root for?"

She is either:

A) Clueless, or
B) A closet Red Sox fan

a.

Maybe not the best pic, but she's OK by me. Granted, she's no Heidi Watney.
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...CJZR8yRLab0QvA

C) all of the above

Least:
Tim McCarver
Harold Reynolds
Jim Palmer
Mark Grant
Hawk Harrelson

Most:
Vin Scully
Steve Stone
Matt Vasgursian

At least KJ has real solid journalism cred....

A real die-hard Yankee fan wants both of them to lose. It's not that strange a question.

In that game, a die-hard Yankee fan would be pulling for the Mets all the way.

Tim McCarver, hands down, is the "King of Clueless" when it comes to baseball rules and its applications. He is a moron, a creton, a mind-boggling idiot.

Michael Kay
Joe Buck
Tim McCarver