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Originally posted by nerfan
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LOL. Yes I think most baseball fans use the McCarver button on their remote while watching a FOX game. -
I could run off a list of about 50 guys that I genuinely love listening to; voices from yesterday and today.
When all is said and done, I think Vin Scully is the nonpareil. Nobody painted a more beautiful word picture than Scully in his prime. His call of Sandy Koufax's 1965 perfect game is, perhaps, the best work by a baseball broadcaster...ever. Scully achieves perfection by painting perfection.
That said, I hold Ernie Harwell, the "Gunner" Bob Prince, Jack Buck, Mel Allen, The Ol' Redhead (Barber), and Curt Gowdy in near equal esteem.
Jimmy Dudley was a lyricist in Cleveland, and though he has slipped in his old age, Herb Carneal was a monument of the upper-midwester airwaves. The St. Louis and South Side versions of Harry Caray were stunningly brilliant and equally brash. It is a pity that people best recall his least impressive body of work. Dick Enberg was - and remains - pure class. The combination of Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons in San Francisco was as pleasing as a pair of Willies on the field. Dizzy Dean was a great character, but his personality dominated the game he was broadcasting to, perhaps, too great an extent.
Milwaukee has been blessed by Holy Cow! Earl Gillespie and the 'Catcher in the Wry', Bob Uecker. Holy Cow! Phil Rizzuto was a Yankee institution and, teaming with Bill White, not terrible. The Mets trio of Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner was outstanding.
The late Tom Cheek was superb in Toronto. So, too, was the late, great, Bill King in Oakland. Jerry Coleman in San Diego was good for laughs, and today I still enjoy the work of Denny Matthews and Pittsburgh's Lanny Frattare.Comment
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Haray Caray
Jack Brickhouse was good, too.Comment
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A couple years ago, when I first purchased major league extra innings. I was flipping threw the channels late one night when I first heard Vin Scully. I was awed by his calm, detailed, and yet simple call of the game. I have watched many a Dodgers game just for the pleasure to listen to him.Comment
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Originally posted by bkmckenna
His colorful command of English is what made Diz so popular beginning on the radio and later on TV (CBS Game of the Week). When I first started watching baseball, Dizzy Dean was calling the Game of the Week with his partner, Pee Wee Reese. Dizzy was the colorful character while Pee Wee was the more serious type, but a good partner for Diz.
I think by about the 7th inning though, Diz had a few too many "Falstaffs" in the system.
Diz will always be my favorite.
Curt Gowdy will always be the classiest - a true professional of the broadcasting art - but Diz was.............Diz!Comment
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After very careful deliberation I am going to put down my vote for Dave Niehaus as the best ever.Originally posted by steveox View Post
Even though he did some announcing for the Los Angeles California Angels of Anaheim in the Golden State early on in his career, he was best known as the announcer for the Seattle Mariners.
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Remembering Dave
Sunday was the 3rd anniversary of the passing of the greatest broadcaster who ever lived, Dave Niehaus. He is missed. Here's Dave with a young Ken Griffey Jr. during spring training. My oh My!
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Dave Niehaus' call of Ken Griffey Jr.'s first at bat as a Mariner still echoes in my mind's ear. If memory serves correctly, Jr. smashed the very first pitch hard, long, and out of the park.
On another note, I am extremely glad the airwaves will no longer be polluted by Tim McBlather McCarver ever again. He announced his retirement and I really hope he stays retired. Baseball will benefit greatly by his absence.Baseball is a ballet without music. Drama without words ~Ernie HarwellComment
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Third note-always good to see you post.Originally posted by trosmok View PostDave Bill Tom George Mark Bob Ernie Soupy Dick Alex Sparky
Joe Gary MCA Emanuel Sonny Dave Earl Stan
Jonathan Neil Roger Anthony Ray Thomas Art Don
Gates Philip John Warrior Rik Casey Tony Horace
Robin Bill Ernie JEDIComment
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Ken Griffey Jr. hit a double his first AB off of Dave Stewart in Oakland. He hit his first home run in Seattle on April 10, 1989, his dad's 39th birthday off Eric King.Originally posted by trosmok View PostComment
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Thanks! My mind is often sieve-like when it comes to baseball memories. Gotta love this site, I've stayed away far too long.Baseball is a ballet without music. Drama without words ~Ernie HarwellComment
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If this thread proves anything, it's that we all have our loves and biases. I can't imagine a better baseball broadcaster than Vin Scully. But if you go down the list of Frick Award winners, each one of them--including, yes, McCarver--has something to recommend him. The styles vary. I can enjoy Vin, who avoids getting overly excited, but also Dave Niehaus's enthusiasm (I wish the Mariners had given him more to be enthusiastic about). Vin is a poet, but Bob Uecker is not only a riot to listen to, but an excellent play-by-play broadcaster.
Also, WE change. As a kid, I found Gowdy and Kubek deadly dull. Now, as I look back, maybe they were that way together, but both were excellent broadcasters--the question is who meshes. When I first heard Harry Caray on a Cubs broadcast, I thought he must have come from outer space, but he was really good (and, even when he had gone downhill, as he unquestionably did, he put on a great show).
What I cannot stand is someone who cannot call a play properly, especially on the radio, on a consistent basis. Everybody screws one up now and then. But a couple of radio broadcasters I have heard are not trying to tell me what is happening on the field. I also cannot stand someone who is too busy being a homer to pay attention to what is really happening. Yes, respectively, John Sterling and Ken Harrelson. But I know there are plenty of people who like them and think they're great, and more power to them.Comment
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Excellent points, and a well crafted post. I am partial to the sound of Red Barber's voice as he described the game so well I could almost imagine I was there. Mr. Scully studied and worked with him in perfecting his craft, and I think they both benefited from each other's company. I certainly have changed over time, and have refined my tastes in broadcasters, as well as tempered my disdain for the stinkers. Joe Garagiola teamed with Howard Cosell was unimaginably horrible, but the entertainment value of their shows still strike me as accidentally hilarious. Same for McCarver when he was faced with admitting he was 100% wrong about a rule of the game during a post season contest: all he could muster was a sheepish "I disagree." I have turned the sound down on the tube during the World Series for years, and tuned in a radio broadcast from Boston, St. Louis, or wherever; AFR, and even a spanish language broadcast rather than listen tot he FOX crew. My rule of thumb, as you touched on, is if they can paint a picture on the radio, they are doing their job quite well.Originally posted by Michael Green View PostBaseball is a ballet without music. Drama without words ~Ernie HarwellComment
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Garagiola and Cosell never worked together, Joe was on NBC, Cosell was ABC. It would have been dreadful though although somewhat interesting to hear them compete for airtime.Originally posted by trosmok View Post
Joe was terrible on PBP, but I thought he was ok as a analyst for Scully. He knew Vin was the top dog and kept his commentary to a minimum. I liked Cosell on MNF and boxing, but he was awful on baseball. It's rather amusing to catch him on ESPN Classic doing "Battle of the Network Stars" Cosell was like an awestruck teenager around "stars" such as Scott Baio and a stereotypical lascivious old man around Adrienne Barbeau and Ann Jillian T&A types. It's good for about 15 minutes if nothing else is on.It Might Be? It Could Be?? It Is!Comment
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"Cosell take a double shot from Barbeau!!Originally posted by 64Cards View Post
Cosell doesn't know where he is!!
Cosell doesn't know WHO he is!!"
;^)"If I drink whiskey, I'll never get worms!" - Hack WilsonComment
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