Best and worst baseball TV announcers

[raysox]

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.

Thats the same thing that my Dad, and I think. Kennedy is lame.

[DDR]

You guys are just haters. Hawk FTW.

Yes, but you're just a homererotic fanboy. Hawk sucks massive balls.

However, Ron Santo is the absolute worse thing to ever happen to sports broadcasting.

You're just a homoerotic-fanboy hater. Sucking balls FTW.

[Jigga]

You guys are just haters. Hawk FTW.

Yes, but you're just a homererotic fanboy. Hawk sucks massive balls.

However, Ron Santo is the absolute worse thing to ever happen to sports broadcasting.

You're just a homoerotic-fanboy hater. Sucking balls FTW.

No, it's homererotic...

[speedy]

You guys are just haters. Hawk FTW.

Yes, but you're just a homererotic fanboy. Hawk sucks massive balls.

However, Ron Santo is the absolute worse thing to ever happen to sports broadcasting.

You're just a homoerotic-fanboy hater. Sucking balls FTW.

No, it's homererotic...

I see what you did there.

[1990hornet]

Screw them, I love Dewayne Staats! but Kevin might be another story.

[oddball]

For all the Hawk haters out there, I'm curious on how many of you were friggin' always drunk and senile Harry Carry lovers? Talk about one of the absolute WORST announcers of all time, that was probably on the air because he was sponsored by Budweiser. I figure he stayed on the air because he came cheap, just a keg of beer for every game. Okay two kegs!

[The_Admiral]

Actually, Harry Caray before the stroke, before he became a cartoon character, is regarded as an all-time great, consummate pro. Caray & Piersall is one of those things that could never happen today, and I'm surprised it even happened then. Of course, in his later years he was largely carried by Steve Stone and the direction of Arne Harris, and yet even in his Jason Eyesringhosen days he was better at his gig than any Mass-Produced Syracuse Broadcasting Dude.

[Still MIGHTY]

Non-homerwise:

Vin is still the best to me. He may be going down a bit, but Vin is still Vin. He can tell a story about a player like nobody else I've ever heard. He does have help of course with his stats and whatever, but he can intertwine the stats and story and the action all together so seemlessly and smoothly. Whenever the Angels and Dodgers play, I listen to Vin to see the other side and just hear my team being presented in a better way.

And as mentioned, Hawk FTL. Between "He gone," "Put it on the board... YES," calling players by their first name or a nickname (Johnny, A.J., etc), and that hideous perfect game call last year "YES! YES! YESSS! HISTORY! HISTORY!" Completely moronic.

Homer-wise:

On TV, Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza are the best Angels have had in a short while. Victor is very knowledgeable and clear and concise. He is also very entertaining. He and Guby interact with each other very well. Guby is good, not the best color guy by any stretch. But he knows what he's talking about for the most part, and puts it in a way thats easy to understand. They're 100x better than Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler were together. Those guys started the year last season as the primary TV guys and began to switch on and off with radio PBP Rory Markas and Gubicza (only did TV) who took over full time about 1/2 way through and Hudler/Physioc did a lot more radio. Hudler and Phys were let go. Rory was going to be the full-time TV guy and died of a heart attack in the offseason and was replaced by Rojas.

On Radio, Terry Smith as PBP is ok. His actual play by play during the game isn't bad, but he's definitely not great. And on the post game show, ugh. He will defend every last player and coach to the death. Anybody calls with a criticism of the play and its "well... uh... thanks for the call, I'll let you take the answer off the air (So the guy can't comeback and criticize Terry or the player again)... uh... he... uh... is... uh just getting over something... and... uh... he... is trying his best ya know... and... uh... he has the potential... and... uh... he'll get over it... uh... you just have to keep going.... uh... and... uhh... it's not his fault." It has gotten to a point to where if radio is my only option, I will only listen to the postgame either when the Angels win or if his part-timer for travel days Jeff Bigs is in (and even then Bigs is terrible. He isn't the best radio voice, but at least he'll engage in conversation and give an opinion. Jose Mota on color is bad. He should have stayed on the Spanish radio side. He doesn't have much information to say. He sometimes struggles with actually communicating what he means, and his overuse of speaking to players only in Spanish and his over pronunciation of Spanish names is killer.

[Kevin W.]

Oh come on, criticizing him for the perfect game call is ridiculous and you know it. How else would you expect him to react?

[Still MIGHTY]

Oh come on, criticizing him for the perfect game call is ridiculous and you know it. How else would you expect him to react?

Professionally. Not screeching his head off like a howler monkey.

[Kevin W.]

Oh come on, criticizing him for the perfect game call is ridiculous and you know it. How else would you expect him to react?

Professionally. Not screeching his head off like a howler monkey.

Go work for an organization like he does and see one of your pitchers make history like Buehrle. Try to stay calm at that moment and get back to me.

[MDC]

Oh come on, criticizing him for the perfect game call is ridiculous and you know it. How else would you expect him to react?

Professionally. Not screeching his head off like a howler monkey.

Go work for an organization like he does and see one of your pitchers make history like Buehrle. Try to stay calm at that moment and get back to me.

This would literally take years to happen in order to prove your point. Very interesting command.

Hawk Harrelson is a chump. Steve Stone is good. Ron Santo doesnt deserve a microphone, and I hate it when Pat hugehs says "Zamm"brano. Its "Zahm"brano

Cubs TV broadasting is good though. Len Kasper and Bob Brenley do a great job.

[oddball]

Oh come on, criticizing him for the perfect game call is ridiculous and you know it. How else would you expect him to react?

Professionally. Not screeching his head off like a howler monkey.

Go work for an organization like he does and see one of your pitchers make history like Buehrle. Try to stay calm at that moment and get back to me.

Making history? If you're going to get into an argument with an Angel fan about no-no's, you're in a losing battle. Sorry about that, it's just Nolan Ryan trumps any and I do mean any White Sox good pitcher who throws a perfect game. I'm not blaming Hawk, as I like him, I'm just saying that to say history and pitching gems, the White Sox have nothing on Nolan Ryan and the Angles, sorry.

[DDR]

Oh come on, criticizing him for the perfect game call is ridiculous and you know it. How else would you expect him to react?

Professionally. Not screeching his head off like a howler monkey.

Go work for an organization like he does and see one of your pitchers make history like Buehrle. Try to stay calm at that moment and get back to me.

Making history? If you're going to get into an argument with an Angel fan about no-no's, you're in a losing battle. Sorry about that, it's just Nolan Ryan trumps any and I do mean any White Sox good pitcher who throws a perfect game. I'm not blaming Hawk, as I like him, I'm just saying that to say history and pitching gems, the White Sox have nothing on Nolan Ryan and the Angles, sorry.

What does your post even mean? That an announcer for the White Sox, before reacting to a perfect game, should think to himself "is this more impressive than Nolan Ryan's? No? Okay." That would be a memorable call.

"Yes! Mark Buerhle has thrown the 18th perfect game in history. Yet it pales in comparison to what Nolan Ryan did for the Angels. Mercy, he was a heckuva pitcher."

I'm just not quite sure what the fact that Nolan Ryan threw no-hitters has to do with Hawk's reaction to the perfect game.

[The_Admiral]

I hate it when Pat hugehs says "Zamm"brano. Its "Zahm"brano

Guess he won't be saying it either way for a while!

[HedleyLamarr]

However, Ron Santo is the absolute worse thing to ever happen to sports broadcasting.

I like hearing Ron utter a "Damnit!!" when the Cubs give up runs....

[Sodboy13]

Actually, Harry Caray before the stroke, before he became a cartoon character, is regarded as an all-time great, consummate pro. Caray & Piersall is one of those things that could never happen today, and I'm surprised it even happened then. Of course, in his later years he was largely carried by Steve Stone and the direction of Arne Harris, and yet even in his Jason Eyesringhosen days he was better at his gig than any Mass-Produced Syracuse Broadcasting Dude.

Seconded. Several years ago, ESPN Classic showed Carlton Fisk's first game with the White Sox, in Boston, in 1981. Harry and Jimmy were calling the game. That game, the SportsCentury profile of Piersall, and the many anecdotes I've heard from people who got to watch those two work together through the '70s, make me wish I was alive to watch Bad White Sox Baseball on Channel 44.

[NJTank]

I saw a clip of the Disco Demolition game and Harry Carray cracked it looks like they are having a pot convention.

[BadSeed84]

Wheres Gary Matthews and Tom McCarthy on that list? lol

I wonder where harry kalas would've been if he was still alive, he definitely was the best imo.

[FiddySicks]

Vin Scully is so insanely overrated it's not even funny anymore. Sure, I'm saying that as a Giants fan, but I really don't get why the guy is STILL considered the best. At one point he was, but even a lot of Dodgers fans now think he's gotta go. Glad to see Kuiper and Krukow were so high up on the list, they're half the reason why I watch so many Giants games. And I don't agree with the Mets announcers above them, but I've only had the chance to catch a few Mets broadcasts, and they were all good.