From: doctor8@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (Jason Abner Miller)
Subject: New York Announcers (was Re: The Mets' All-Time Team)
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Organization: The Johns Hopkins University - HCF
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Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 01:54:00 GMT

In article <1992Dec12.081456.9835@panix.com>, spira@panix.com (Greg Spira) writes...
>In article <1992Dec10.195806.12740@asd.com> scott@asd.com (Scott Barman) writes:
>>
>>In article <8DEC199215392991@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu> doctor8@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu (Jason Abner Miller) writes:
>>
>>>Announcers:  Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, and Lindsey Nelson, the original 3.
>>>		I will not accept Tim McCarver on this list because I don't
>>>		like him; Rusty Staub is the color commentator
>>
>>I like Timmy.  He's good to listen to.  Rusty is OK.  I hate Fran Healy
>>and wish SportsChannel would dump him.  Oh well...
>>
>As Curt Smith says in Voices in the Game, Healy considers it his "martial
>call to reshape baseball in a cast of boredom."  He is awful, terrible,
>etc. and has been since he started doing Yankees radio a decade ago.

	Agreed.  Listening to Fran Healy is like eating sand-covered
chicken.  Not only is his name ugly to listen to, and not only was he
a mediocre player, he has the personality of ripened vinegar.  He's
an adequate play-caller, but I like him better on shows like "Pennant
Chase" then calling Mets and Yankee games ...

>And Staub, I think is only a little better, though he has improved since
>he started - when he began, his broadcasts were like a 3 hour recital of
>cliches.    Virtually everybody on the field under 35 was either "a fine
>young player" or "a fine young man."

	Well, I give Rusty credit for adapting to the job.  He got his
position because he was a retired player and a Name in New York.  And
he adapted to the situation, and is half-decent now.  He's a much worthier
color-man than Steve Zabriskie, and I sort of like him.

>And Kiner tends to flounder without McCarver around.

	I blame this on his near-senility.  Him, and also Bob Murphy on
WFAN telecasts, are old, battle-weary, and the best part of listening
to them call games is their frequent mistakes.  May the Mets keep them
around forever because they're true gents and inseparable from Mets
tradition, but speed the day in which they learn American League players.
	Witness some famous Bob Murphy gaffes heard this summer on WFAN:
"Hector Pichardo started the game for Kansas City"
"...with a game winning single by Seattle's Omar Vizcaino"
"...while Chester Noggie pitched for the Indians" (that's Chuck Nagy, folks)
"If the Pirates score here in the 15th, the win goes to Steve Belinda"
"Braves defeated Pittsburgh 15 to 1, and Brian Harper had a 2-run HR"
	And only Ralph Kiner could say that the Cubs play "Ryne Sandbag",
or simply "Ryneberg" at second base. 

>If only Sportschannel could learn from MSG and put together professional
>broadcasts with professional announcers.

	I don't get MSG, and don't know the Yanks broadcasters, but I like
the WPIX team.  I still love Phil Rizzuto, because nobody goes off on
funnier tangents than he does.  Bobby Murcer is quite colorful, and has
done much better since the departure of Hawk Harrelson and Spencer Ross.
I really miss Bill White, but Tom Seaver tries hard and is learning well.
	I don't care for professional announcers too much; I enjoy the
insight of retired vets.  Note that most of the names above are retired
players who learned as they went.  Now I enjoy Bob Murphy a lot, and he's
learned over his 30 years, but his school of announcing is sort of dull.
Sometimes, I get the feeling that the pro announcers just aren't *fans* of
the game ... better to pair a John Stearns with the guys on ESPN, just
to get that extra insight into the game, and some added fun.
	These are my humble 2 cents ... how about you fans from other
cities who want to gripe about your announcers?

>Greg 
> 

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Jason A. Miller				|		Kill Tanana!
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"doctor8@jhuvms.hcf.jhu.edu"		|		"some doctor guy"
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"Oh Baby!" - Tim McCarver
"It is high ... it is far ... it is GONE!" - Michael Kaye, WABC Yankee games