Fifth in a series.
Broadcast: Chicago White Sox on Comcast Sportsnet-Chicago, Minnesota at White Sox, 6/9/08; Announcers: Ken “Hawk” Harrelson, Darrin “DJ” Jackson (Jackson handled play-by-play in the 4th through 6th innings, while Harrelson took the rest of the game)
What can I say? This was, as I expected from a few brief peeks at White Sox telecasts in the past, a debacle.
I can understand that local broadcasters are going to put an emphasis on the team they cover. I can understand that they’re also going to sound happier when their team is doing well, whether it’s because they genuinely feel that way or just because they’re trying to please their audience. However, there are limits.
At least there should be limits. For the duo of Hawk and DJ, such limits do not exist. They used “we” or “us” or “our” (as in “our Sox” or “our guys”) in referring to the White Sox no less than 29 times by my count. Twenty-nine! Plus Harrelson called them “the good guys” twice while referring to Minnesota a time or two as “the Twinkies.” And don’t get me started on the blatant cheerleading…uh oh, it’s too late! (All quotes below, unless otherwise noted, are from Harrelson.)
In Chicago’s 2nd, Jim Thome at bat: “That ball hit hard into left field! Stretch! Stretch!” Not quite enough – it bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.
Still in the bottom of the 2nd, before a 3-2 pitch to Jermaine Dye: “Ball four base hit right here, 23 (Dye’s number).” Dye singled, Thome scored despite a strong throw home from CF Carlos Gomez. They mentioned a strong throw but gave all the credit to Thome, not mentioning that the throw was a little to the first-base side of the plate. Had it been a more direct throw Thome very well might have been out.
Bottom 3rd, Toby Hall batting: “Start us off, Tobe-meister!” Good grief.
Bottom 3rd, 2-1 count on Thome: “Here it comes, Jimmy. High fast ball.” Before the next pitch: “Here it comes, one more time.”
But before that Thome at bat, another running theme. Paul Konerko was called out on strikes on a pitch on the outside corner. Jackson said Konerko watched it all the way into the catcher’s mitt and decided it wasn’t a strike, and so he agreed with Konerko. Although it’s hard to tell on TV, with the center field camera angle not giving a very accurate view, the pitch was at least borderline, and certainly too close to take.
The rest of the game they complained about the call, especially Harrelson. At least twice when pitches on the outside corner were called balls he said “that’s the same pitch Konerko was called out on.” Any unbiased observer could tell that wasn’t the case. One pitch, especially, was way outside. He said, in the top of the 4th regarding two pitches called balls to Twins hitters in an inning where they scored 3 times: “And for people out there who say ‘don’t get on the umpires,’ the umpires can turn the whole complexion of the ballgame around.” I’d say more of a factor was a foul ball that could’ve been caught by first baseman Konerko, except that he shied away from the stands at the last minute and the ball landed on the flat top of a rotating advertising sign fronting the stands.
After Jackson noted that pitching coach Don Cooper, on the way back to the dugout after talking to White Sox pitcher John Danks, had some words with the home plate umpire, Harrelson bellowed, “He should!” And in the bottom of the 4th: “Well, we’re gonna get some more runs – we just gotta get a consistent called game.”
Meanwhile, back to the non-umpire-related commentary…and yes, I know there’s a lot of this, but I had to suffer through this and I’m not suffering alone. Be glad you only have to read it and not actually hear it…
Top 5th, Minnesota’s Craig Monroe at bat – “Monroe has had his problems with Danks. Hopefully he’ll continue to have his problems.”
Bottom 5th, Jackson’s first words after returning from a studio update are, “We need 5 runs here as we trail by 3.” Then he said that came from the studio guy.
Top 6th , after Danks struck out the final batter of the inning, Jackson said, “Gotta get him some runs.”
Bottom 6th, Konerko at bat: “Here we go, Paulie, get it started.”
Bottom 6th, Minnesota changes pitchers, Jackson reviews Jesse Crain’s stats and adds, “Go get ‘em, guys.” After Jackson mentioned that Dye was 1 for 10 lifetime against Crain, Harrelson said, “Put the hammer down, change things around for yourself, JD.”
Up to this point, one thing that surprised me was that Jackson’s home run call (used twice on Nick Swisher blasts) was just a plain old “going, going, gone.” I was hoping that there would be no homers during Harrelson’s play-by-play innings. I got my wish until the bottom of the 7th, when Hawk really got obnoxious:
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Referring to the runs/hits/errors totals: “5, 9 and 1 for their guys, 4, 6 and 1 for our guys.”
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Orlando Cabrera leading off: “There’s a chopper, that’s a fair ball! Yes!”
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After a hit by Alexei Ramirez: “That’s a bad pitch in that situation – it’s a good pitch for us.”
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After 2 called strikes to Carlos Quentin: “I got a feeling Carlos had better be swinging at anything close, the way this game has gone behind the plate today.” Oh, we’re back to the umpires…
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After Quentin hit into a fielder’s choice to tie the game: “Here’s Konerko – don’t stop now.” Konerko connects. Uh oh…“Hit to deep right field! Stretch! Cuddyer back! Stretch!” And the ball disappeared over the fence, bringing on the infamous “You can put it on the boooooooooooard! YES!” with Jackson chiming in on “YES!”
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Again with the totals: “7, 9 and 1 for us, 5, 9 and 1 for them.”
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On a 1-1 pitch to Thome called a ball: “Now we got the count.”
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Before the 3-2 pitch: “Ball four base hit, big man.”
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After a Nick Swisher swing and miss: “Alright 30, reboot right here, buddy.”
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Before another 3-2 pitch: “Ball four base hit.”
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Swisher walked to load the bases and Minnesota changed pitchers again, leading Jackson to exclaim, “And here we go, here we go.”
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Complaining about the home plate umpire – again — on a high pitch called a strike to Joe Crede: “He hadn’t been calling it all day.”
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After Crede struck out for out number two: “Alright, we got the right man at the right place at the right time right now. Toby Hall, 0 for 3. He’s due.”
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After the first pitch to Hall was a ball: “Yes! 1-0.”
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Before the next pitch: “Get him right here.”
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Before the next pitch: “Need you right here, 44. You da man.”
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When the count went to 3-2: “Right man, right spot, Toby.”
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After a foul: “Ball four base hit.”
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Hall swings. “That ball hit deep! Right man, right spot….NO!!” The ball was caught to end the inning. Thank heavens.
Don’t worry, it’s almost over…
Top 8th: “Awwww man, Toby just missed that grand slam, dad gummit!”
Bottom 8th: Konerko at bat with a runner on first and two outs: “First-and-third him, Paulie. Or just take him on outta here.”
Top 9th, Bobby Jenks trying to close it for the Sox, on a 2-2 pitch: “Right here, Bobby, right here.”
The Twins put runners on first and third, no outs. Joe Mauer hit a sharp one-hopper that was caught by Jenks, who threw to SS Cabrera, who threw to first for the double play. Harrelson declared it “a great play by everybody!” Ummm, no, only 3 players at most. And really it was just a very good play by Jenks. It was well-executed but nothing exceptional.
Mercifully, Justin Morneau grounded out to end the game and allow Hawk and DJ to combine for one more “YES!”
Maybe White Sox fans like this stuff. Honestly, if this were my team’s broadcast, I think I’d be embarrassed.
There were no missed plays or technical problems, and the Comcast graphics aren’t quite as noisy as the Fox graphics. That’s the only thing keeping this broadcast from being an unqualified failure. Grade: D-minus. – Joe Guckin
on Jun 11th, 2008 at 9:41 am
As a lifelong White Sox fan, I certainly agree that Hawk is a shill for management. He very rarely criticizes any move that Guillen makes or any trade by Kenny Williams, the General Manager. That he’s an unabashed cheerleader for the team, doesn’t bother me a bit. It’s a local broadcast, guys, not a national one.
on Jun 11th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Also a lifelong Sox fan in NW Indiana…. I also like the CUBS (a cardinal sin in Chitown sports), but the SOX I love. But I agree.. The Hawk is a pain in the butt often. The CUBS broadcasters are top notch. But the HAWK is a fan just like the rest of us and has been here ever since before Harry Carey left for the CUBS. He will not win any awards anytime soon, but he is SOX.
on Jun 11th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
Do not take a word Hawk says seriously. He’s a joke, and all you can do is laugh at him. All 20,000 people who watch White Sox games on a regular basis can put up with him and don’t care because they’re as die-hard as Hawk is. You’re wasting your time ripping Harrelson and Jackson because a. the Sox would never change, and b. most Sox fans acknowledge they’re awful announcers but like them anyway.
on Jun 12th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Hey Dave2772, I am also from NWIn. and like both teams. I think there is a lot of us from Indiana that like both of them. But will not say anything. I just tell eveyone I am a Cubs fan to keep them shut up.
I want my announcers to be homers. I believe that is why the Cubs have such a huge following when away because of Jack Brickhouse and then Harry Carrey. Can you just see Jim giving a report on Harry Carry.
Anyway, I like hawk and DJ. I also like whimpy before DJ.
I am going to OUT At THE BALLGAME July 27th. at wrigley. I am taking the South Shore in,the Electric train. If going maybe we can meet and say Hi.
Jerry
on Jun 12th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
BareBear, please not that Joe is doing these reports, not Jim.
As I think I’ve made clear, I understand that local announcers are going to be more favorable to their teams. I’m not entirely against that. I just think there should be limits.
Would’ve been interesting to hear Harry Caray do a entire broadcast. Comcast never gave me WGN during the “superstation” days. But here’s an interesting note from Wikipedia about his days with the White Sox: “He wasn’t always popular with players, however; Caray had an equivalent reputation of being excessively critical of home team blunders and for continuing criticism of certain players after even one on-field mistake.”
on Jun 14th, 2008 at 8:13 pm
Hey, where’ve you been. When I used to WGN and got some of the White Sox broadcasts it became necessary for me to turn the sound off rather than suffer those fools.
“The Good Guys” indeed. If I played for the White Sox, I’d have to apolgize to my friends and
family every day.
on Jun 15th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Excellent summary, Joe. Those White Sox broadcasts are a joke, like something you’d expect from a small town minor league team. On the other hand, there’s something endearing about their hokey sayings and “You can put it on the booaard! Yes!” It reminds you that Chicago is more Middle America than big city, neither sophisticated nor jaded like the East and West coasts.
on Jun 17th, 2008 at 9:28 am
The White Sox TV broadcasts are unbearable at times, but I don’t dislike them because of the homering and cheerleading, I can’t stand it because you learn nothing as a fan of the game — I’d rather the guys shut up instead of saying inane stuff like ‘C’mon JD get this thing goin’,’ etc. Fortunately, those of us in Chicago have the option of turning down the sound on the TV and listening to the radio broadcast, with Steve Stone and Ed Farmer. Stone, a former Cy Young winning pitcher, is brilliant. And if you want to hear a truly horrible baseball game, listen to the Cubs’ radio broadcast, where Ron Santo often has to ask his partner who’s pitching or what the score is.
on Jun 17th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
By itself — absent all the other drivel — I wouldn’t mind the “put it on the booooooard” call.