Worst Announcers -- Sans Underwood Edition

I at least TRIED to say something nice about Hawk.  He can, at times, provide colorful stories and insight.

But I don't think my opinion would change if I grew up a Sox fan.  Screaming, "C'mon AJ!  YES!" is not broadcasting.

Hawk is the obvious target, but I'm curious about the rest of the league.  Who stands out as the best?  Who are as bad as they seem to me in a small sample?

What about Detroit?  Minnesota?  Oh, and I want Michael Kay kidnapped and held hostage for the duration of the season.

But I stand by my comment that Paul O'Neill is very strong as a television analyst.  He doesn't have the classic "broadcaster's voice," but he always has relevant and fair comments to make.

These opinions have nothing to do with who's broadcasting.  I think Girardi does fine, albeit not as enjoyable as O'Neill.

Susan Waldman is truly giving female broadcasters a bad name.  I have a large sample size to declare her dreadful.

John Sterling might not be so grating if he didn't say things like, "You see, that's why you have Miguel Cairo in there -- you've got to have someone who can defend first base.  On this ballclub, his bat doesn't matter."  Oh, and this: "An A BOMB FROM A-ROD!"  Or this: "The GIAMBINO!"  Or try this: "It's a rrrribby triple from Robby Cano, DON'T YA KNOW!"

I didn't want this thread to be an Underwood-bashing fest, but now that it's been brought up:

-He has a long, long history of trying to use anecdotes or miniscule samples and making widespread statements that are baldly wrong.  Worse, instead of just guessing that a recent trend ("The Tribe sure seems to bounce back on offense after a pitcher gives up a bad inning!") is indicative of a team's character, he could actually, you know, LOOK UP THE STATS to find out.

-He very clearly feels that catchphrases are important for broadcasters to use, and they're not.  If they're natural or evolve over time, that's fine.  I liked Corrigan's "touch-em-all time!"  But I simply can't take "He's outta ROOM it's outta HERE!"  Or "GOOD-BYE BASEBALL!"

Whatever happened to Anne Werner, hottest woman on television?

One thing I didn't appreciate about him was that Singleton was absolutely horrible when he started in the booth and Farmer didn't exactly go out of his way to help him out. But now Singleton is a lot smoother and they seem to be pretty good together.

The Oakland guys are decent too. Fosse and Glen Kuiper are pretty good. If Greg Papa ever does the games, look out, he stinks (he's the Raiders play by play; just awful).

As you can tell, I live in the Bay Area.

A large number of fans from another team are only being exposed to them over the last few years.  I imagine that most (except perhaps Hawk) are beloved by their team's fan base.  That's why they're keeping their jobs.

I would like to hear what the fans of other teams think of Hammy and Hegan.  They get emotional during the games.  Tribe fans like it because they are probably expressing the same emotions we're feeling at the time.  Does that bother fans of other teams when they listen in the same way we get upset by someone else's homer?  

Still, I think Hammy and Hegan are honest in their assessment of the game, and are willing to criticize the team or players when they deserve it.  Those are the types of announcers on the other side who I can stand to listen to.

First game of the season featured just a beautiful game-ending call by Hawk.  He did not think for a moment that J-Mike was going to catch that ball (did anyone?) and it was like every ounce of pure joy and excitement was sucked out of him when he had to say, "Caught."

That said, Hawk has been effusively complimentary in the second half regarding the Tribe.  Perhaps that's because he wants fans to think that if the Mighty ChiSox lose, it's only because they're facing Goliath, but it's courteous nonetheless.

And let me wax nostalgic for a moment.  I loved the era of Southern baseball announcers:  Mel Allen, Red Barber and Jimmy Dudley.  There was nothing better on a hot August Cleveland night than sitting on the porch and listening to Dudley to an Indians game.