Nineteenth in a series. Broadcast: St. Louis Cardinals on FSN Midwest, Milwaukee at Cardinals, 7/24/08; Announcers: Dan McLaughlin (play-by-play), Al Hrabosky (analyst) With one out in the top of the 9th inning of this game, Cardinals pitcher Ryan Franklin was named the “Budweiser Great Player of the Game.” At that moment, Franklin was on the [...]
Posts under ‘Announcers’
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Cubs and Astros
Eighteenth in a series. Game: Chicago Cubs at Houston Astros, 7/19/08 Broadcasts: Chicago — Comcast Sportsnet Chicago, Announcers: Len Kasper (play-by-play), Bob Brenly (analyst); Houston — FSN Houston, Announcers: Bill Brown (play-by-play), Jim Deshaies (analyst), Patti Smith (reporter – and woman number six out of 17 teams reviewed thus far) You may remember — at [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Tigers
Seventeenth in a series. Broadcast: Detroit Tigers on FSN Detroit, Tigers at Baltimore, 7/17/08; Announcers: Mario Impemba (play-by-play), Rod Allen (analyst) Normally, the MLB Extra Innings package for digital cable provides just one team’s broadcast for each available game. However, for the first few days after the All-Star break, they’ve run a free preview and [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – ESPN
Sixteenth in a series. Broadcast: ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, Colorado at New York Mets, 7/13/08; Announcers: Jon Miller (play-by-play), Joe Morgan (analysis), Peter Gammons (reporter) More than a few people feel that ESPN shows a bias towards New York teams in their sports coverage. If you’re one of those people, this was not the night [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Indians
Fifteenth in a series. Broadcast: Cleveland Indians on SportsTime Ohio (STO), Tampa Bay at Indians, 7/10/08; Announcers: Matt Underwood (play-by-play), Rick Manning (analysis) The bottom of the 4th inning was all about…golf. Brian Whitcomb, president of the PGA, was in the booth (along with a big trophy — why they needed to show the trophy [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Dodgers
Fourteenth in a series. Broadcast: Los Angeles Dodgers on FSN Prime Ticket, Atlanta at Dodgers, 7/7/08; Announcer: Vin Scully Except for a brief pre-game spot by the post-game show announcers, it’s all Vin Scully, all the time. The Hall of Famer works alone (when he works, that is; these days Scully doesn’t travel east of [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Reds
Thirteenth in a series. Broadcast: Cincinnati Reds on FSN Ohio, Pittsburgh at Reds, 6/30/08; Announcers: George Grande (play-by-play), Chris Welsh (analyst) Listening to George Grande, I expected to check his bio on the Reds’ website and find that he’s been with the Reds forever and that he, like Seattle’s Dave Niehaus (see my Mariners’ review), [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Fox
Twelfth in a series. Broadcast: Fox Saturday Baseball, Yankees at Mets, 6/28/08; Announcers: Joe Buck (play-by-play), Tim McCarver (analyst), Ken Rosenthal (reporter) We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this Very Special Episode of Joe’s MLB On TV Report, or JMLBOTVR. Or should that be JMOTR since “Major League Baseball” and “Television” are already [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Blue Jays
Eleventh in a series. Broadcast: Toronto Blue Jays on Rogers Sportsnet, Cincinnati at Blue Jays, 6/26/08; Announcers: Jamie Campbell (play-by-play), Pat Tabler (analyst), Sam Cosentino (reporter) This was another broadcast where the analysis was better than the play-by-play. There was no real flow to Jamie Campbell’s call of the game. It seemed like he was [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Nationals
Tenth in a series. Broadcast: Washington Nationals on Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), Los Angeles Angels at Nationals, 6/23/08; Announcers: Bob Carpenter (play-by-play), Don Sutton (analyst), Debbi Taylor (reporter, and the fifth woman I’ve encountered — on these broadcasts, that is :wink: ) I don’t recall particularly liking Don Sutton in all the years he worked in [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Red Sox
Ninth in a series. Broadcast: Boston Red Sox on New England Sports Network (NESN), Arizona at Red Sox, 6/23/08; Announcers: Don Orsillo (play-by-play), Jerry Remy (analyst), Heidi Watney (reporter, and woman number four so far) Jerry Remy is celebrating twenty years in the Red Sox broadcast booth. We know this because there were at least [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Rockies
Eighth in a series. Broadcast: Colorado Rockies on FSN Rocky Mountain, Cleveland at Rockies, 6/19/08; Announcers: Drew Goodman (play-by-play), Jeff Huson (analyst), Alanna Rizzo (reporter, and woman number three to date) I’m not a fan of intrusions upon a game I’m watching. I don’t need the roving reporters popping in, especially if there isn’t anything [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Brewers
Seventh in a series. Broadcast: Milwaukee Brewers on FSN Wisconsin, Toronto at Brewers, 6/18/08; Announcers: Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Bill Schroeder (analyst), Trenni Kusnierek (reporter – and the second woman on a broadcast thus far) It isn’t news that every sports broadcast is inundated with advertising. Perhaps the event itself is named after a corporation. Often [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Mariners
Sixth in a series. Broadcast: Seattle Mariners on FSN Northwest, Mariners at Toronto, 6/9/08; Announcers: Dave Niehaus, Dave Sims, Mike Blowers There are a certain number of men who have been broadcasting games for a long time. They exude professionalism and class. Instead of needlessly promoting themselves with slick patter or controversy, their personality comes [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – White Sox
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 [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Padres
Fourth in a series. Broadcast: San Diego Padres on Cox Cable Ch. 4 San Diego, Chicago Cubs at Padres, 6/4/08; Announcers: Matt Vasgersian (play-by-play), Mark Grant (analyst) Technically this was mostly a good broadcast – the graphics were eye-catching without standing out too much, and mostly devoid of accompanying sound effects. The use of replays [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Yankees
Third in a series. Broadcast: New York Yankees on YES Network, Toronto at Yankees, 6/3/08; Announcers: Michael Kay (play-by-play), Al Leiter (analyst); Reporter: Kim Jones (hey, they’ve got a woman! I should keep count of how many women work these games – although I’m guessing none are doing play-by-play or color commentary.) What brought me [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Royals
Broadcast: Kansas City Royals on Fox Sports Net-Kansas City, Royals at Toronto, 5/26/08; Announcers: Ryan Lefebvre, Paul Splittorff It seemed strange when, after Ryan Lefebvre called a play in the 2nd inning where the Blue Jays’ Marco Scutaro was safe at second base on a delayed steal attempt, Paul Splittorff said, “Ryan, you might want [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Mets
Broadcast: New York Mets on Sportsnet New York (SNY), Mets at Atlanta, 5/20/08 (game 1 of day-night DH); Play-by-play: Gary Cohen; Analysts: Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez; Reporter: Kevin Burkhardt It figures that the first game I sit down and watch, pen in hand, features the despised “three in a booth”setup. Fortunately, there wasn’t too much [...]
Joe’s MLB on TV Report – Preview
The KISS rule — Keep It Simple, Stupid — can be applied to many things. For me, the telecast of a baseball game is something where this rule should be mandatory. The baseball telecast I like sticks to the basics. I guess I’m old-fashioned this way. I don’t need an overload of graphics that clutter [...]