Talking Heads
 

I've noticed a lot of the TH are hesitant with some comments and somewhat deliberate.

And then Mendoza states that the ball changed direction off the bat when it seemed the ball was already past the bat.

BTW, is it my imagination, or does Mendoza look a little on the.......um, how do I say this.............beefy side?

Explain this one.

"She gets the call OFF of the outside corner."

"She misses ON the outside corner."

Do they know the difference between "on" and "off" and balls and strikes?

It's been 10 minutes and I haven't heard about the "crop duster" yet though. Maybe all of the awful eyeshadow is running into their eyes and that can't see the ol' duster so clearly.

Man, you guys are a tough audience

By the way, how many gold metals has Michelle Smith won? Imagine major league baseball announcers introduced each other the way NCAA softball announcers do.

"With me is TWO time olympic gold metal winner Michelle Smith. Just incase you are hard of hearing, we will now put up her resume on the tv screen for you. In case you are tuning in late, I will reintroduce her three more times after the commercial break. Sorry Mendoza, you only won one gold metal."

That might be in her contract - just like Joe Dimaggio HAD to be introduced last at any Old Timers type thing, and ALWAYS be introduced as 'the greatest living ballplayer'

More likely they are offering the resume as a matter of establishing credibility with the audience, which as we have all witnessed is a load.

It is the ESPN philosophy that if someone played the game, that makes them knowledgeable and a candidate to put on the air as an "expert" in the game which is not only a load, but bogus reasoning.

They're even morons in the studio. A Hall of Fame pitcher says that speed is much more important than control. These idiots say some scary shit. I hope no 10u pitcher is listening to that. If so, I'm going to have to warn my umpires to bring some kevlar to the games tomorrow.

Four Words: Tim McCarver Joe Morgan


or just about any ex jock in any sport, local or national :D

There are always exceptions of course...

It has been my observation that, for the most part, they do know the game. The strategies, the techniques of playing certain positions, the art of calling pitches in certain situations, etc....

They have very little to no correct knowledge of the rules....

Welcome to TV sports coverage. That is exactly how it normally is in just about every sport. Some are better than others, but most do not even try to know the rules and talk about things they know from their limited knowledge.

Peace

I think you are being too kind. I have found that most are aware of what affected THEIR game, not the entire game. IOW, an outfielder knows about what directly affected them as a player, not what necessarily goes on in the infield or between the battery.

When did it become "de rigeur" to have a former player in the booth? I remember listening to baseball growing up in Pittsburgh and it was Bob Prince and Jim Woods and neither was a former player. I know Rizzuto called the Yankees for a while, but I don't think players doing broadcast duty was widespread until more recently. Did "Dandy Don Meridith" start this trend on MNF?

Because it gives the broadcaster instant credibility. I have found that Joe Morgan and Tim McCarver have very little knowledge of or correct application of the rules but Morgan knows the nuances of the game much better that McCarver.

I have heard it said that McCarver is the one of the only broadcasters not welcome in the MLB umpire dressing rooms.

Sorry, talking baseball on a softball board.

ESPN doesn't monopolize that philosophy. Why the heck TBS/TNT actually believes that Shaq and Barkley are the right folks to do NBA pre- and post-game analyses is beyond me.

Practically every MLB team has a former player in the booth. So we get dipwads like Rob Dibble in Washington (who never played for the Nats, so I never could understand the rationale behind that).

NBC always uses former Gold Medal champions to cover the Olympics. Very few are really worth hearing.

And on and on...

Luckily, I guess, most of the Yankee and Met ex-jock announcers, have been pretty good:

Rizzuto at his peak was a FINE announcer - despite the caricature. If you ever can see the 78 Sox/Yankee playoff game, you will see. No birthday announcements, no cannoli...just a good straight PBP. Its only when he started getting older, and the Yankees got real terrible in the late 80s, the jumping on the GWB....got a box of cannoli schtick started. Bill White was also excellent, intelligent, but not afraid to have a little fun with the Scooter. Fran Healy was also good, and when Seaver was there he was OK also.

Kiner was good, and when McCarver was with the Mets, he was OK. In fact, due to our early cable setup, we got the Phillie games when Timmy Mc was brand new in the booth there. And he was fine with Andy Musser and Ashburn - another fairly decent jock on the air. Hernandez is quite good these days for the Mets, as is Ronnie Darling.

The current Yankee situation is bizarre - almost a rotation of about five or six people - with Michael Kay the only 'Pro' Otherwise its Ken Singleton, David Cone, John Flaherty, Paul O'Neill sometimes, and they even tried Lou Piniella last year! Kay only works home games, plus the short trips to Baltimore and Boston. Usually on the road its Singleton, who is a bit dry but good, and either Flaherty or Coney - usually Flaherty, who needs to rest his mouth once in a while, as he expounds WAY too much on things. Cone, who was an intelligent pitcher, is good, and when him and O'Neill get together it CAN be interesting.

One thing nice about both the Met and Yankee announcers is that there is no Hawk Harrelson screaming over umpires and calls. Both teams seem to have a 'treat the umps fairly' policy. Everything is done in a calm and sane manner. So to hear Harrelson and other yahoos scream over close calls is pretty amazing sometimes. I have the MLB.tv package and find myself tuning out the sound mostly - except for Scully of course! Ill listen to him in bed at night very relaxing!