Best and worst baseball TV announcers

[infrared41]

Odds are that this will turn into another "my team is the best" homer thread but I'll try it anyway...

GQ has listed who they believe are the top and bottom 5 TV announcing teams in baseball. Here's the link.

Top 5:

Vin Scully - Dodgers

Gary Cohen, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez - Mets

Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper - Giants

Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy - Red Sox

Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza - Angels

Bottom 5

Steve Stone and Ken Harrelson - White Sox

Thom Brenneman and Jeff Brantley - Reds

DeWayne Staats and Kevin Kennedy - Rays (note the use of the wrong Rays logo in the article)

Matt Underwood and Rick Manning - Indians

Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble - Nationals

So what do we think?

[NEW.ERA]

Call me a homer but I love that Buck Martinez is back calling Jays games with Pat Tabler.

I wouldn't know about other markets all I know is Gary Thorne does O's games or at least he used to.

[crashcarson15]

Well Vin Scully wins hands down. Part of me hates the White Sox guys and the other part of me doesn't, but my Indians fandom says to hate them

That said, Thorne and Krukow/Kuiper are both pretty good. The Nats broadcasters suck though. Thanks Peter Angelos.

[JamieRose]

I've loved Remy and Orsillo for years, but I actually refuse to watch Red Sox games on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball because those announcers annoy the hell out of me. Joe Morgan and those other guys spend more time talking about nothing and mispronouncing names than commentating on the actual game.

[Cujo]

BEST: Vin Scully, Dodgers - The guy is not only a living legend, he's easy on the ears and adds a touch of class to every game he calls.

WORST: Hawk Harrelson, ChiSox - The total opposite of Vin. He shouts into the mic like a total assclown, and calls every game with a MASSIVE bias, not to mention that disgusting smokers-voice of his. No professionalism at all. Not sure how Sox fans are able to tolerate him.

[leopard88]

Call me a homer but I love that Buck Martinez is back calling Jays games with Pat Tabler.

I wouldn't know about other markets all I know is Gary Thorne does O's games or at least he used to.

Gary Thorne is still doing Orioles game and is very good. He has a rotating cast of partners, including Jim Palmer, Mike Flanagan, Brady Anderson, Eddie Murry and (if memory serves me) Ben McDonald. Palmer and Flanagan do most of the games and are both pretty good. The others are new at the color commentary business and are pretty unpolished.

[DDR]

Ken Harrelson is absolutely dreadful. But Steve Stone is great. He makes the broadcasts bearable. Although I suppose anything would be better than Harrelson and Darrin Jackson. Good God that was a brutal pairing.

[Bronxmet]

Without a shadow of a doubt, Mr. Vin Scully's #1, but I'm a fan of Michael Kay (Yankees), Gary Thorne (Orioles), Bob Costas, as well as Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy (Red Sox). But I can't stand Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Jon Miller, Gary Cohen, and Joe Morgan.

[nybatt]

although its rare to catch him... Jim Kaat is an incredible color analyst and play-by-play man... He was with the YES network for 3 or 4 years before taking time off to be with his wife who was in poor health and has since passed. He is back with the MLB network..

He has the mind of a steel trap in recalling exact pitches, games, players, and stories from his entire career. He also had a thing about "day baseball" and would go on describing why it was superior to night ball. His analysis of pitching, pitchers, and the way the game has changed was informative and refreshing.

I am also a big fan of Don Orsillo, even as a fan of the Yankees. He is a straight shooter and does a solid job even describing visiting teams and their success.

My vote for terrible go to: Dave Niehaus and the Mariner booth, Gary Thorne (orioles), and Josh Lewin (Rangers AND Chargers!).

[tp49]

Without a shadow of a doubt, Mr. Vin Scully's #1, but I'm a fan of Michael Kay (Yankees), Gary Thorne (Orioles), Bob Costas, as well as Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy (Red Sox). But I can't stand Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Jon Miller, Gary Cohen, and Joe Morgan.

Vin Scully is #1 hands down. One of my favorite memories was on opening day a few years back the Dodgers were at the Giants and the Giants broadcast truck had problems and was knocked off the air. It was replaced by the Dodgers telecast and hearing Vin call opening day in his solo booth just sounded and felt very right. I didn't want the Giants telecast to come back.

Having grown up in New York and listened/watched many years of New York baseball announcers I can say the Mets have always had an excellent broadcast team on both television and radio. I used to love watching Ralph Kiner who would sometimes start out a story with "when I was dating Marilyn Monroe..." The Mets announcers are hands down better than the extreme homers who work in the Bronx and yes I rank Michael Kay right up there with John Sterling in the realm of bad announcers.

Kruk and Kuip have grown on me over the years but when I moved out here I could not stand them and found them unwatchable. I liked Jon Miller better when he did Orioles games though in person he is very nice and very knowledgeable about the game. I think Ray Fosse and Glen Kuiper in Oakland are underrated and I find the Marlins television guys to be absolutely horrid.

Nationally, I cannot stand Joe Buck and Chip Caray because I think they're buffoons as is Chris Rose with FOX. I also cannot stand Joe Morgan because of his holier than thou attitude that seeps in the Sunday night telecast.

[BBTV]

[my team's] announcers are the best. I've never actually listened to any other broadcasts, but I grew up with these guys and their voices are familiar so they're the best.

Seriously though, it's not tough to point out the broadcast teams that are bad - but it's pointless to argue who's the best. I could sit here and give you a million reasons why I loved listening to Harry Kalas, but it's so subjective and there are hundreds of intangibles in play.

[illwauk]

I think this lists credibility is juuuuuuust a bit outside!

[Sport]

Jeff Brantley is terrible whether that be on TV or the radio, but I don't think Thom (I hate how he spells his name) Brennaman is that bad. I really like Chris Welsh, the color guy who's been on tv for as long as I've been watching the Reds on cable. I think his insights are solid, he's got a good personality with a nice voice. He's a Cincinnati and national league homer, but that doesn't bother me. What does bother is that he often gets his years mixed up when talking about Reds and baseball history.

I can't speak for anyone else good or bad because outside of Sunday night baseball, I haven't heard anyone besides the Cincinnati guys. I think ESPN's crew is getting old and out of touch though and they need some newer guys.

[TopCat]

I don't think the Twins' Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven are too bad. But man, Bert drops waaay too much pitching knowledge on you. He's kind of a know-it-all.

Hawk is the guy who does the "STRETCH, STRETCH! YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOARD... YES!" right? I kind of like that.

[HedleyLamarr]

Wasn't Keith Hernandez napping in the broadcast booth earlier this season?

GQ must not have high standards....

[TBGKon]

I'm going to have to call the Rays duo a split. Staats is no top 5, but he's definitley middle-ground. Kennedy on the otherhand I cannot stand. For one, his deal has him doing a partial season (about 90% of the home games and the west coast roadies). His far superior replacement is Brian Anderson, who is much better and pairs better with Staats.

The Rays really need to think about the Kennedy deal and consider locking up Anderson before another team scoops him up.

[DDR]

I don't think the Twins' Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven are too bad. But man, Bert drops waaay too much pitching knowledge on you. He's kind of a know-it-all.

Hawk is the guy who does the "STRETCH, STRETCH! YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOARD... YES!" right? I kind of like that.

Yes, that's him. The article mentions his catchphrases as a reason he sucks, but it's more his ridiculous homerism. And I'm a Sox fan. He gets pissed at umps for calls that down go the Sox' way and will stew about it for the rest of the inning at least. And when the Sox are losing, he gets noticeably downtrodden which brings down the enthusiasm of the broadcast. Just not good.

[LC]

Hawk is the guy who does the "STRETCH, STRETCH! YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOARD... YES!" right? I kind of like that.

Seriously? That, along with "HEGONE!" have to be the worst regular catchphrases (or whatever you want to call it) in the history of baseball broadcasting. He's completely unprofessional, disgustingly biased, and those catchphrases are just..plain stupid.

I mentioned on Saturday in the MLB Season thread the horrendous immature performance of Kevin Millar for FOX. Tank responded with a fairly lengthy rant, which I agreed with pretty much every point of. Put Harrelson on PBP and Millar on CC in the same booth, and you'd have the loudest, most unprofessional babblefest ever heard.

Homer-wise, the Braves with Chip Caray and Joe Simpson are decent, but nothing special. When it's a PeachtreeTV broadcast, though, we have Ernie Johnson, who has been surprinsing boring, with occasionaly John Smoltz, who rattles off terrible jokes throughout the broadcast. In 2008-09, before Caray, was Jon Sciambi, who got so worked up over the Aflac Trivia Question that the 4th inning was pretty much shut down each game. He and Joe would spend the entire inning working up their guesses, and then totally overreact when the answer was revealed.

On a positive note, I've enjoyed Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow since playing EA MVP 05, and I just love the voices of Thom Brennaman and Josh Lewin with the Rangers.

[Saintsfan]

Vin Scully isn't just a great Baseball commentator, he's a great broadcaster full stop. Odd thing about sports commentary is that it's only when you hear someone do it really well you realise how hard it is. Take the Kirk Gibson WS home run- 'the only question was whether he would get around the bases unassisted'. Genius line! Simple, but summed up the moment perfectly!

[Sodboy13]

I don't think the Twins' Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven are too bad. But man, Bert drops waaay too much pitching knowledge on you. He's kind of a know-it-all.

Hawk is the guy who does the "STRETCH, STRETCH! YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOARD... YES!" right? I kind of like that.

Yes, that's him. The article mentions his catchphrases as a reason he sucks, but it's more his ridiculous homerism. And I'm a Sox fan. He gets pissed at umps for calls that down go the Sox' way and will stew about it for the rest of the inning at least. And when the Sox are losing, he gets noticeably downtrodden which brings down the enthusiasm of the broadcast. Just not good.

If they're losing by enough, does Hawk still slink out of the booth for one of his inning-long scotch breaks, like he did when paired with Darrin Jackson?

Steve Stone is a brilliant baseball analyst. Hawk is a bloviating clod who thinks he knows more than anyone because he was a (horrible) GM once and he was the first guy to wear batting gloves, and his catchphrases are fawned over by morons.

One of the perks of my evening shift, as a White Sox fan, is watching Sox games on mute.