Results tagged ‘ Broadcasters ’
A Game Broke Out At The Charity Ball
Tonight could be a special night, with Brandon Webb trying to surpass Sal Maglie 
and Bob Gibson on his consecutive scoreless innings streak, currrently at 42. And we’re genuinely looking forward to it.
Last night wasn’t nearly as special, and it wasnt just because of the 7-4 loss to the Brewers in a game that wasnt that close.
Sideline reporter Todd Walsh encountered a representative from AFLAC Tuesday evening, who we quickly learned partnered with the Diamondbacks to bring over a hundred kids from Phoenix Children’s Hospital to the game. Nice.
The thrust of the piece, and indeed of the entire nine inning telecast, was that Dbacks ownership is charitable, good hearted, community based, etc. Which is fine, to a point. Every MLB franchise has a charitable arm and derives customer good will from strategically advertising that fact. While some hardliners might argue true charity is not boastful, even I recognize the corporate quid pro quo and dont begrudge it, in principle. Charity is charity, and charity is good. But at what point, practically speaking, does that customer good will become compromised by self-service, or even cross over the line into exploitation?
Last night’s nine inning song and dance might prove instructive.
This was not an impromptu sit down with AFLAC, in the signature, off the cuff Walsh style. The rehearsed Diamondbacks’ production went on for several minutes and included taped footage of a pregame celebration for the patients at adjacent Sliders restaurant. Todd even egged on the AFLAC representative, "inquiring" if it was true that one youthful participant came "right from chemotherapy" to attend the event. The pleasant rep hesitated, smiling nervously, before confirming that fact. The live camera honed in on a young, bald child after Walsh had droned on about the newsworthiness of management’s generosity.
It wasnt until the end of the drawn out segment in the middle of a baseball game that we discovered AFLAC has similar partnerships with 18 clubs, including one established with the DBacks in 2001 during the Colangelo era. Does that make this donation any less appreciated by these kids? Of course not. But it does make it less newsworthy, I think. Less a reflection of noteworthy charitable initiative than Walsh’s segment, centered on this "development", tried to convey.
This FO’s reputation has taken a mighty hit here in town. In particular, fans dont care for the righteous piety dripping from the talons of brothers Ken Kendrick and Jeff Moorad – and attendance has suffered accordingly. No big secret. So, last night, they grasped a large, blunt instrument and "designed" an entire telecast infused with nine innings of nuggets beating viewers over the head as to how righteous and wonderful the "brothers" really are.
"Beat over the head" too strong? Well, let’s see. There was a brief "announcement" about the St Mary’s Food Bank Alliance, a longstanding partner with this club and thousands of other valley businesses. (Since I have a blog, maybe I should take this "opportunity" to "announce" that I, too, volunteer regularly @ the Food Bank. Whoop de doo!)
Friday’s Front Row Grill ran a sales promotion where Mark Grace "volunteered" to pay tabs, provided fans shelled out for the appropriate tickets.
There was the extended, over the top, Walsh/AFLAC "interview".
And then there was Mr Derrick Hall.
Under the smarmy guise of "being invited", the Team President strongarmed 
himself into the booth yet again to hand deliver a rapid fire series of carefully crafted, misleading "announcements". It seems he makes a "guest visit" essentially every game now. In forty years of watching baseball, I can honestly say I’ve never seen a baseball exec so cheerfully driven to distort reality, so desperate to shill his product entirely on his own self-servingly fabricated terms.
In order to illustrate ownership’s family values, apparently, Hall went on at length, again with pretaped footage, showcasing what looked to be a chintzy, second rate kid’s play area shoehorned into the least accessible, upper level corner of the stadium, in part, because his languishing titty megabar – with the $20 separate admission just beyond center field – crowded out previous ownership’s play area for kids, established near that more desirable location.
Mr Hall’s big "announcement", however, was that the Diamondbacks will donate $5 of every ticket sold hereon out, to Diamondbacks Charities, up to $500,000. Sounds wonderful. What’s not to like? Well, that’s not all he said. The reason for this, according to Hall, was that current attendance so exceeded ownership’s expectations that they wanted to "reward" the fanbase for their allegiance with an "incredibly generous gesture".
Let’s think about this.
Q: Has attendance exceeded ownership expectations?
A: Only they can say for sure, but it’s highly implausible, given stories in the local and national press about how a first place team is underdrawing a 111 loss predecessor, by about 4K every single night – in the same market, in the same stadium. It’s implausible given Sutton and Grace’s on air campaign that this team "deserves more" and Grace’s recent diatribe that current attendance is "unacceptable". The broadcasters are, after all, company employees, reporting directly to Hall. It’s implausible given Hall’s recent acknowledgement that gameday attendance wasnt commensurate with the team’s high TV ratings as a result of, according to him, a lack of fan awareness that he is evidently rather feverishly trying to rectify. So, this "decision" is not based on exceeded expectations. It is driven by something else.
Q: What is really driving this decision?
A: If I’ve accurately described management’s true position, it would seem that perhaps low attendance is driving their decision, exactly the opposite of Hall’s claim.
Q: Why would he "lie" about such a thing?
A: Only Derrick knows for sure. Maybe pretending that attendance is excellent deflects from the fact it is not. Maybe pretending that fans already in attendance are somehow being "rewarded" deflects from the fact that this is a sales gimmick targeted at people who dont currently attend games. Perhaps a local journalist will inquire about these seeming contradictions.
Q: How does one "reward" fans by charging them the exact same price for tickets as before?
A: There’s no reward or tangible benefit to the fans here. One could argue there’s a psychological benefit, a philanthropic feeling of self esteem, but remember what Hall said. It’s not the fans who are "incredibly generous" here – it’s the owners. The fans role is to buy more tickets at regular club prices.
Q: Why is the donation limit set at $500,000? Why cant it keep going if we keep buying tickets?
A: Most likely, because ownership has already earmarked this particular amount for charity and is now merely "tying" additional ticket sales to the previously budgeted write off. Basically an accounting gimmick to try and sell more tickets under false pretenses.
Q: You mean, if I buy these so called "Charity Tickets", I’m not really donating to charity?
A: It’s hard to say, without looking at the books. Even the US Congress had difficulty with that. But if it’s on the up and up, you’d think the team would be more than happy to open up the books to an inquisitive reporter who pursued the issue. And I wouldnt bet on that happening anytime soon.
Fall From Grace
Believe it or not, I really wanted to return from Southern California and immediately bask in some of the more recent positive D*Back developments. Family and friends managed to enjoy Webb’s Sunday shutout of the Dodgers at Chavez Ravine first hand, despite our daunting lack of exposure to Alyssa Milano. Our Houston Reds are pulling away from the NL West and, amazin‘ly, have more wins than the New York Mets – in mid August! But all that has to wait, at least a smidge, after enduring Mark Grace’s shameless diatribe aimed at my fair burg during last night’s FSNAZ Pirates telecast.
While their employers have effectively suppressed attendance via pricing policy and a litany of fan alienating moves over three years, Grace and Sutton 
have consistently encouraged people to come to the ballpark. That’s their job and there’s obviously nothing wrong with that.
Where Sutton, Grace and DBacks’ brass err is in the shrill, disingenuous nature of their salesmanship. First came the ponderous nightly lectures about how good the team was and how people watching from home were “missing out” on the action. As if greater Phoenix had contracted communal glaucoma and was blind to what’s happening out on the field. As if a sports crazy community that purchased 25 million baseball tickets over the past decade was now suddenly incapable of discerning how to best spend it’s entertainment dollars. 
Then came Derrick Hall’s dumbed down campaign pitching the easily refuted fib that Chase Field has the lowest prices in all of baseball. There’s a line, over which standard marketing, putting your best foot forward, crosses over into credibility damaging misinformation – and Derrick Hall has repeatedly proven to be as timid about crossing that Rubicon as is Don Rumsfeld.
But even Hall’s by now predictable hijinks pale next to Grace’s scripted hissy last night. He used the telestrator to circle a large patch of empty seats in the lower bowl near third base and, for two solid minutes, scolded the entire televison audience that this was “unacceptable”. He further enumerated that widespread complaints about the removal of team colors and the popular left fielder were “garbage”.
You have to laugh. Here’s a guy who’s cashed $50 million in windfall checks from MLB ( and goodness knows how much more in peripheral endorsements ), chastising an entire city for not forking over sufficient dough to appropriately support their team – the one whose stadium most of them paid for and many of whom root for each night on television.
And this isnt just any city. The hot and currently humid object of Mr Grace’s calculated “wrath” sports the lowest per capita income amongst MLB’s twenty seven markets. Dead last.
Beyond the indignity (or is it hilarity?) of taking instruction on such matters from a multimillionaire shill like Grace is his stunningly angry dismissal of a lucrative swath of valley fans – tens of thousands who used to come to the park regularly who now seldom do. Grace labeled these customers’ concerns ”garbage”. Regarding the dual departure of Luis Gonzalez and the exisiting uniforms, Diamondhacks never objected to either development on its face. Instead, we excoriated specific aspects of these changes: the callous obliteration of every vestige of the original franchise color scheme, and the refusal to negotiate with Gonzalez on even a below market, courtesy level. This, after Kendrick demurely thrust unsolicited “whispers” targeting the popular left fielder upon a surprised E.J. Montini.
In the end, it doesnt matter a whole lot what I, or Mark Grace, thinks about this – or a hundred other Diamondback issues. Every Phoenician can make up their own minds about this team and this particular ownership group.
And every day they do. 
Just like they did when 40,000 a night watched a 65 win expansion team, and later 30,000 a night to support a 111 loss monstrosity. This year, the very same community (only larger) barely draws 25K to support a first place squad full of young interesting faces – a product, it needs to be said (because current ownership hardly has the “grace” to acknowledge it publicly), of both regimes.
The Show Must Go On…and on and on and….
A couple months ago, Diamondhacks posted a glowing (for us) review of Daron Sutton and Mark Grace, the gist of which was a) Sutton brings more to the telecast than Brennaman did, and b) Sutton and Grace play off one another better.
Halfway through their virgin campaign however, that honeymoon is faded history. Upon repeated listening, it’s evident Sutton brings too much to the production. Manic to a point of speculative medical distraction, too much same information, too much forced laughter, too much self conscious cloying. Just way too much Daron Sutton. What debuted as an insightful, fresh personality has, in three short but arduous months, devolved into a repititious, self indulgent, stand up wannabe.
It really came home last week, when Greg Shulte filled in on the TV side for a game. Schulte’s no Vin Scully by any stretch, but he never pretends to be more than a guy calling a ballgame – which after three months of The Daron Sutton Show, constitutes not only simple pleasure for the viewer, but relief.
Initially, Diamondhacks welcomed Daron’s quirky, self deprecating asides and demonstrations on pitching grips and technique – a welcome change from Brennaman – but his latest rehash prompted even my 12 year old to finally query, "Who is this guy, Dad? Did he invent pitching or something?" When you’ve lost the preteens you’re allegedly enchanting, maybe it’s time to tone down the emphatic, know it all instruction.
Has anyone else grown weary of the whole "Mischevious Daron" persona, blurting out trivia answers over his laptop, essentially ruining the segment for the television audience? It’s as if Sutton and Grace assume their staged banter and faux outrage trumps viewers’ desire to play trivia from home.
Then there’s the phony yarns about Mark and Daron spending quality downtime together on the road, visiting famous attractions, practically arm in arm. The charade’s amusing once or twice, but they’ve become so enamored with these elaborate fictions as to betray a hint of contempt towards the unknowing audience – while alienating the rest in on the running gag.
Sutton’s core enthusiasm for the game seems genuine. He’ll ooh and ahh when either team’s pitcher buckles a batter with a well placed curve. I like that. It shows he appreciates the essence of the central confrontation. What I dont like is how clownishly over the top he is about it. Every single night, Daron’s energy level approximates that of the World Series – or a fake org*sm – driven to convince everyone of his excitement, rather than to merely convey it.
Watching this hyper, giggly stage show, one can almost picture Sutton’s preseason goals meeting with boss Derrick Hall.
Derrick: Now Daron. This isnt Milwaukee. We have a very passive, uneducated fan base here, what’s left of it.
Daron: Yessir. Ya know, Milwaukee wasnt exactly New York or Los…
Derrick: No, no Daron. You dont understand. We’ve worked very hard to target our base and they are, for the most part, *orons. I want you to explain everything to them. Three times. Tell them what you’re about to tell them. Then tell them. Then tell ‘em what you just told ‘em.
Daron: So…three times?
Derrick: Yes. Four if it’s a promo. Trust me , it works. We read about it in business school. You’ll also need to generate ALL of the enthusiasm from the stadium. You and Bobby Freeman. I’m not trusting retail units with such a critical responsibility. It’s entirely in your hands.
Daron: Retail Units?
Derrick: Paying units…..customers!
Daron: Ohhh! You mean "fans".
Derrick: Yes, yes. Whatever. Now go out there and enthuse our revenue base!
(photos courtesy of timessquarenyc.org)
Grate Stuff
Six or seven years ago, an easygoing friend of mine – a Dbacks fan – spewed an uncharacteristically harsh appraisal of Todd Walsh that I didnt understand at the time. To me, Walsh was pretty innocuous and intermittently amusing. I liked him because he was different from the cookie cutter mold of high strung, self important sideline reporters.
But my good natured friend, John, just detested Todd back then – he called Walsh a ‘complete phony’. John’s animus was so palpable he’d reflexively mute Walsh or simply leave the room.
A lot has happened in seven years. 9/11. Iraq. Questions about global warming. After all this time, though, I have, really, only one question.
Is anyone else as tired of Todd Walsh as I am?
I mean, how many of these tongue in cheek, painfully coy Walsh cameos must one fan base endure? The ones where the broadcasters play along with the promise of an inside joke that is sloppily, if ever, revealed. Or worse, the lame, drawn out banter lacking a punchline, climax or any remotely discernable purpose within the broadcast.
Yesterday, Walsh’s schtick consisted of thumbing through a bunch of Denver attraction brochures, while mocking the area’s entertainment options with Mark Grace. Potentially funny, I suppose, but it was unbearable listening to how Walsh spends his free time in Colorado. Is Todd the world’s laziest sports ‘journalist’ ever? Couldn’t he show us around the stadium, or, God forbid, actually interview one or two of the tens of thousands of available people more interesting than himself?
What’s even more annoying is the TV booth’s predictable cheerleading of Todd’s increasingly inane contributions. What do Sutton and Grace always say after one of Todd’s "reports"? Same exact thing Brennaman used to say.
"Aww. That’s great stuff, Todd. Great stuff!"
Great stuff? Sorry. No.
What’s so great about an astonishingly enabled gadfly more enamored with his smirky, college boy persona than with the sights and sounds he’s supposed to be chronicling? Whose primary joke – that he really doesnt have much to say – has long since worn thin? Walsh’s halting, self-deprecating, Jimmy Stewartesque delivery masks the self indulgent content of much of his work and hardly justifies such third rate "reporting".
(photo courtesy of phoenoxcoyotes.com)
It’s A Beautiful Day For Baseball
Let’s just come out and say it. Daron Sutton and Mark Grace are doing a marvelous job. Are they perfect? Of course not, but this April has seen some of the best Diamondbacks’ TV work since the halcyon days of a young, enthusiastic Brennaman flanked by Bob Brenly.
Insights: A-
The two ex-players opened Sunday’s pregame with exactly the right tone (except for Sutton’s awful red polo shirt, a tone I could do without) emphasizing several "little things", when crowing about the walkoff hits would’ve been the obvious thing to do.
They also do a consistently excellent job of pointing out how interrelated the components (ie pitches, innings, at bats) of a game tie together to drive results. How a batter fouling off a hanging pitch, or laying off a borderline pitch, alters his opportunities later in an At Bat. Instead of belaboring and editorializing obvious results, they emphasize the underpinnings and, generally, let the results speak for themselves.
When Chris Young spiked Ray Durham sliding into second, they didnt wait for the 
slo mo replay to express an opinion. Sutton noticed real time that Young slid "late", awkwardly through the bag, and within two or three minutes they had correctly determined the uinintentional nature of Durham’s getting kicked in the balls, much like they had earlier in the year when Brad Penny knocked down Orlando Hudson, without much ignorant histrionics about bad blood, dirty players, etc.
Baseball Appropriate Demeanor: B-
I generally like how the booth has lightened up under Sutton – it’s as if his arrival has lifted the shroud of gloom and self importance hovering over the 
press box since midway through Thom Brennaman’s tenure. Daron goes overboard with it at times, as when mock shreiking " Let’s get some runs!!!" after the half inning, a childish gimmick that detracts from his game work and is already becoming tiresome, but overall, the new energy is a welcome change.
Voice: C
Grace’s voice cracks like dashboards in July (inside Phoenix joke), a baby step above Jeff Fassero’s postgame yodeling. Daron doesnt have a classic voice either; too nasal and sing songey. Shulte has a better voice. Resonant. Welcoming yet reserved.
Homerism: A-
After the first couple telecasts, when they tried a little too hard to "sell" the home team, Sutton and Grace are doing a fantastic job of treating the D*Backs 
and their opponents on equitable footing in terms of commentary. Almost going out of their way, actually, to be even handed. Praising Matt Morris, Jake Peavy, Rafael Furcal, blistering Quentin’s pitch selection. When you accurately assess the opposition, it means you’re calling "the game" more than a particular angle or outcome, which helps educate your fan base rather than inciting them. They’re obviously rootin’ for AZ, which is fine, but nothing’s worse than listening to a smirking homer try to win points with the home fans by degrading the competition. Sutton and Grace blast the umpires, but from what I can tell, it’s equal opportunity criticism.
Rapport: A
They seem to get along well and rarely talk over each other. What I like best of all is how easily Sutton and Grace share the microphone, the insights, the punchlines. Reminds me a little of Thommy and Brenly way back. Sutton’s dancing lead obviously, but you never get the feeling he’s freezing Grace, Garagiola or anyone out, or that there are rigid, defined roles of when people are supposed to talk. Too often, post Brenly, Brennaman was a "middleman" between the audience and his alleged color "expert", whereas Grace and Sutton are just two knowledgeable guys bouncing off each other and we get to listen in. So far, their overlapping skills and flexible roles serve as a model for keeping things fresh, perhaps an MLB broadcast team’s most daunting challenge over the course of one, or indeed several, seasons.
(photos courtesy of woub.org, mlb.com and losblogueros.net & jimtrber.com)
Outta Here
Witnessing teammates’ reaction to Hairston’s walkoff double, it looked like some of them were trying to give Scott a wedgie. Which, all things considered, is more entertaining to watch than a bunch of high fives.
As projected, Game 2 attendance was lower than a limbo stick at a midget gala, a couple thousand less than Diamondhacks’ "break even" estimate of 23,500, but still four thousand more than last year’s historic second home game. Kind of a mixed signal regarding fan buzz at the moment. With Tuesday’s televised 11th hour heroics capping an improbable six game run however, decent walk up business should immediately follow – anything less than 24 or 25K total fannies at Chase should start raising eyebrows about why our bustling burg isn’t more supportive of the redboys. It’s certainly not realistic to expect them to win more, or even as much as, they already have.
Daron Sutton is starting to grow on me. His Wolfman Jack schtick going to commercial – "Letzzz git some rrrrrrrrunns!!!!!", is already wearing thin, but the ex-pitcher understands the game better than I initially feared – he’s certainly more insightful regarding the basic batter/pitcher confrontation than Thom Brennaman typically was, who rarely got beyond familiar rants regarding first pitch hacking or grooving fastballs.
Consider Tracy’s homerun. Tracy barely laid off the pitch prior, just below the knees, setting up his 3 run blast on the next pitch. Sutton really hammered home the connection between Tracy’s good eye and enabling him to see a better subsequent pitch he could really handle. Brennaman might have praised Tracy’s restraint, but he would have been less likely to advertise its connection to the homer. And I think Thom, not being a player, sometimes assumed or expected professional hitters to hold up on borderline pitches, as if that was their job, like attending a meeting. But Sutton, an ex-pitcher, seems to more readily appreciate Tracy’s "little" skill, and is eager to share how that bears disproportionate influence on the game.
Daron also disagreed with Grace on a Chris Snyder check swing, conceding that Snyder did, in fact, go around – and later questioned a missed strike call when Cincinnati was pitching. This kind of even handed observation bolsters the credibility of an announcer who has something of a rep as an enthusiastic homer, and we’d like this objectivity to define the broadcast, with some inevitable homerism around the edges, rather than the other way around.
(photo courtesy Ross D. Franklin/AP)
Down The Tubes
With due respect to the limited efforts of the National League, nothing derails the Diamondbacks quite like putting them on TV. Bob Melvin’s teams have played with their tubes tied for years now, and after quietly fashioning a 13-7 mark in the relative cocoon of the Cactus League, electromagnetic waves from today’s FSNAZ telecast apparently proved too much for our shy and retiring Scarlets, who were zapped by the Los Angeles Heiligenschein, 8-3.
We braved but half an inning of this…this "telecast" ourselves, hardly sufficient to fully critique the new broadcast team, but between errands and FSN power outages, enough to note first impressions. On a humorous if somewhat rehearsed note, Daron Sutton briskly mocked his own "long drawn out story that no one enjoyed", a welcome departure from Brennaman’s ponderous comedic forays. His Stevestonian nasal twang, though, was an unpleasant jolt – and made Daron sound whiny even when he’s desperately cheerful – which appears to be most of the time. He talks too fast and too much, as if selling uninspected meat door to door from a van. And that grating voice isnt going away anytime soon.
Colorman Mark Grace has successfully transitioned from semi-interesting ex-player to shameless company shill, gushing about the look of the new Diamond Club one minute, and volunteering "I haven’t seen it yet" the next.
It’s going to be a long year, and the only thing that might salvage it for both the team and their fans, is radio.
Four More For Dinosaur
Having had more than one occasion this off season to suspect club President Derrick Hall might be the antichrist, it comes as something of a shock that The Prince of Redness and I are more or less in synch regarding broadcaster Greg Schulte’s four year extension:
"Greg is the voice of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The passion he has for the
game and for this team comes through in every broadcast. We are very excited he will continue to be a major part of it for years to come."
Schulte may not be the most dynamic radio man around, but his interest in baseball is authentic in the same way Thom Brennaman’s is towards college football and careerism. Every ball burg benefits from a familiar voice to pleasantly mark the lazy summers and matter of factly guide its denizens home from darkened interstates far, far away. Up around Oatman and Hyder, crackly Greg Schulte breaks through the static to share the simple treat of a ballgame and convey the promise that a distant Phoenician remembered to leave the light on.
***********************************
Now playing on the ipod: …good Lord, I dont even have an ipod. Talk about dinosaurs! – I just finished reading One Man’s Meat by E.B. White, however, a collection of essays he wrote before and during the war, from his farm on the Maine coast. Never got around to reading Charlotte’s Web, but I’ll make a point to do so after reading the crisply delivered insights in "Meat". White’s wicked observations on dogs alone justify the cost of the book. Oh, and I stole my title (and, alas, nothing else) for "Once More To The Diamond" from his classic on progress and mortality, "Once More To The Lake".
Boy! Boy! Crazy Boy!
Who will supplant Thom Brennaman as Chase Field’s play by play boy? The East Valley Trib says the club,
"…might seek permission to interview San Francisco’s Dave Flemming, 29, who teams with Jon Miller and Duane Kuiper, and San Diego play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian, 39."
As one of six or seven Maricopa County geezers who can actually place Vasgersian’s esoteric Broadway show tune references, I’m certain his outlandish schtick would sink like Tony Gwynn’s gut, were it ever thrust upon our pridefully dreary cow town. Matt might even get beat up in the parking lot after games.
Every summer our family catches several Padres broadcasts and we’re immediately struck by how dull Vasgersian’s games are compared to the more familiar Phoenix productions. It’s the first thing we all notice – and hits you like a ton of bricks. The Padres booth sounds like a minor league operation frankly – lots of dead air, copious errors and precious little insight, except when Gwynn makes a cameo.
One game, Vasgersian signed off at the end of an inning, and his crew actually went to the commerical break, before anyone realized there were only two outs. They had to cut short the commercial to play the rest of the inning. Amateurish stuff like that.
In spots, Vasgersian can be very clever. One time, amidst a tense brushback *** for tat, Jose Mesa made threatening, theatrical arm gestures, prompting Matt to chime, "Boy! Boy! Crazy Boy!", a delicious reference to the West Side Story rumble bit. It was very funny, but as an increasing share of his audience isn’t familiar with old broadway shows, this goes over most people’s heads – and worse – alienates folks who consider it highbrow. 
I dont know anything about Dave Flemming but suspect a 29 year old guy might not be the most interesting solution here either. The Diamondbacks ought to think out of the box and pursue a mature, intelligent woman with a measured delivery for the play by play job and pair her with a baseball guy comfortable working alongside. Leering Mark Grace is obviously out, as is creepy Steve Lyons, who was apparently fired again last night. Ken Phelps’ simple directness might work well. This isnt about women’s rights or affirmative action – it’s about MLB better reflecting baseball’s increasingly feminine fan base and shaking up the stale dynamics of big league baseball booths – creating more relevant and, ultimately, more interesting broadcasts.
Dbacks Make Playoffs!
For a last place team, the Diamondbacks are amazingly well represented in this year’s playoffs. Talkative Eric Byrnes, and his hair, have made quite a splash in the Fox studio, and tonight, Luis Gonzalez has done something that ambitous fixture Thom Brennaman has never been able to: be part of the #1 Fox broadcast team.
This appears to be Gonzo’s first shot at broadcasting, and although he sounds understandably stiff, it’s already clear that he and Byrnes both are easier on the ears than Brennaman typically is. Unlike their more experienced, professional counterpart, Byrnes and Gonzalez are informed commensurate with their position, refreshingly honest and, frankly, likeable.
Perhaps New York Times media critic Richard Sandomir pegged Brennaman best:
When you become known for making mistakes, or for your immaturity, it’s hard to wash away the image. If you’re a great announcer, it’s easier to forgive the errors.
But Brennaman is not great. He is mediocre, distinguished mainly by an unmodulated megaphone-like voice that is like a parody of what a sportscaster should sound like. It does not convey a warm welcome, or the promise of excellence, as do Vin Scully or ESPN’s Jon Miller, who was joined for Friday night’s Yankees-Tigers game in Detroit by the retired Ernie Harwell, ever a delightful and welcoming legend.
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