At the Least I Have The Presence of Mind to use Mute
Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:54 am
I've come to loathe most baseball broadcasting. Part of it is my fault. I watch too much and it seems hardly any of them have anything new to say. All broadcasters are under team control, so broadcasters are not only 'homers', they are unabashed homers.
Yesterday, Atlanta broadcasters lauded AJ Pierzynski for his 'good base running.' Pirzynski hit a single to right field, when the throw was made to home plate, Pierzynski took off for second base. The catcher threw to second base, easily beating Pierzynski who was only half way between first and second base. Devon Travis ran Pierzynski towards first and threw to the first baseman with Pierzynski in the pickle. It was then that both Pierzynski, the first baseman, and the rest of the Blue Jays discovered that nobody was covering second base. Pierzynski was safe at second.
Good base running?
Yeah, right.
Every Major League team has the best catcher at blocking pitches in the dirt. Broadcasters know that this cannot be quantified or argued. So, their catcher is the best at it.
Listen to different broadcasters through the season. Each one will say that 'their guy' is the best at it.
With instant replay, broadcasters are robbed themselves of saying how robbed their team was, over a call. Now, they habitually pick at home plate umpiring. There is no replay for strikes and balls and this is where their team is now robbed. The strike zone is too small, it's too large, or the umpire is inconsistent. It can't be that teams pitcher or hitter.
They are never at fault.
Besides being 'homers', there is the mundane. The 'crap' every announcer spouts.
My biggest peeve is the 'presence of mind'.
A pitcher knocks down a ball and has the 'presence of mind' to nail the runner at first.
PRESENCE OF MIND?
He would have had no mind at all if he WOULDN'T have thrown to first base!
This is his job, no?
The same thing happens in football.
A quarterback gets out of a sack and has the 'presence of mind' to hit a receiver 20 yards downfield.
THAT'S HIS JOB!
If a burger flipper misflips a burger on the grill, he goes back and does it again. There is no big 'presence of mind', he simply does what a burger flipper does.
Sheesh.
A batter gets time out called by the umpire while the pitcher starts delivering the ball.
99.9% of announcers will start in about how this could cause injury. How many injuries have we seen from this action?
Really.
But yet, they feel it is their job to inform us that an injury could be had.
Heck, every pitch could end with a ball in the batter's ear. THAT, is more prevalent than a pitcher getting hurt on a called time out, but we never hear that, do we.
A home team batter in a slump is 'struggling'.
A visitor in a slump is batting a 'pathetic' 1 fer 20.
A home team pitcher has lost command.
A visiting pitcher is wild and all over the place.
A home team's Manager is making the right decisions.
A visiting Manager is making questionable decisions.
Ian Desmond has made eight errors in two weeks. His announcers laud him for his range.
George Springer is hitting .130, but he plays a swell right field. .
They are politicians. Accentuating the positive. Spinning the negative.
In a world where we want truth, we get half truths.
Yasiel Puig has more talent than any player in baseball, says his announcer.
Not many miles away, a different announcer says the same about Mike Trout.
And Giancarlo Stanton is the best player on Earth says his announcer.
Implying that their must really be a good player on another planet.
Living in Colorado and having several Rockies hitters on fantasy teams, lends me to listen to both tv and radio games.
I am put through Hell.
I am not a Rockies fan. So, I hear things with a different ear than those around me.
Rockies broadcasters are like those of the Braves.
They subtly say how wonderful their players and Manager is, while questioning every motive of the opposing team.
It gets to be tedious and hard to listen to.
After the Pierzynski base running goof that was 'good base running', Braves announcers spouted for two or three minutes about how the Blue Jays defense was derelict in not covering second base.
If it had been there team, I imagine a mention and moving on with the game.
Back in the day, announcers described the action like Vin Scully does today. At least in terms the fairness of calling a game.
Afterall, nobody else is like Vin Scully.
That fairness is gone now.
Mostly because of team control. Partially because of tv and radio themselves.
" Billy Hamilton steals second base!"
And fans, that stolen base was brought to you by Edwards Security Company. At Edwards, your secure against robbers!"
Really?
And then there are the stupid contests.
Locally, our minor league team has a board over the centerfield fence. Some 420 feet away from home plate.
on this board is an arrow pointing to a hole about the size of a cantaloupe.
If a player hits a home run through that hole, a lucky fan wins a years supply of something from the advertiser.
So far, the board itself, has gone untouched.
I listened to a Major League game who had an advertisement. If a fan was lucky enough to have a member of the home team hit a grand slam on the 99th pitch of the game, he/she would win big money.
Woo hoo!
Sometimes at home, I watch the games 'bar style'. Putting sound on mute.
I have the presence of mind to do that.
It is my only weapon in not hearing some of the crap.
Like I said, it's not all the broadcasters fault.
I watch too much baseball. I've heard it all and just want the truth.
I can handle the truth.
At the same time, I want fairness. I want the broadcaster to tell me that the home team screwed up.
In these times of political correctness and spin, it seems too much to ask.
Yesterday, Atlanta broadcasters lauded AJ Pierzynski for his 'good base running.' Pirzynski hit a single to right field, when the throw was made to home plate, Pierzynski took off for second base. The catcher threw to second base, easily beating Pierzynski who was only half way between first and second base. Devon Travis ran Pierzynski towards first and threw to the first baseman with Pierzynski in the pickle. It was then that both Pierzynski, the first baseman, and the rest of the Blue Jays discovered that nobody was covering second base. Pierzynski was safe at second.
Good base running?
Yeah, right.
Every Major League team has the best catcher at blocking pitches in the dirt. Broadcasters know that this cannot be quantified or argued. So, their catcher is the best at it.
Listen to different broadcasters through the season. Each one will say that 'their guy' is the best at it.
With instant replay, broadcasters are robbed themselves of saying how robbed their team was, over a call. Now, they habitually pick at home plate umpiring. There is no replay for strikes and balls and this is where their team is now robbed. The strike zone is too small, it's too large, or the umpire is inconsistent. It can't be that teams pitcher or hitter.
They are never at fault.
Besides being 'homers', there is the mundane. The 'crap' every announcer spouts.
My biggest peeve is the 'presence of mind'.
A pitcher knocks down a ball and has the 'presence of mind' to nail the runner at first.
PRESENCE OF MIND?
He would have had no mind at all if he WOULDN'T have thrown to first base!
This is his job, no?
The same thing happens in football.
A quarterback gets out of a sack and has the 'presence of mind' to hit a receiver 20 yards downfield.
THAT'S HIS JOB!
If a burger flipper misflips a burger on the grill, he goes back and does it again. There is no big 'presence of mind', he simply does what a burger flipper does.
Sheesh.
A batter gets time out called by the umpire while the pitcher starts delivering the ball.
99.9% of announcers will start in about how this could cause injury. How many injuries have we seen from this action?
Really.
But yet, they feel it is their job to inform us that an injury could be had.
Heck, every pitch could end with a ball in the batter's ear. THAT, is more prevalent than a pitcher getting hurt on a called time out, but we never hear that, do we.
A home team batter in a slump is 'struggling'.
A visitor in a slump is batting a 'pathetic' 1 fer 20.
A home team pitcher has lost command.
A visiting pitcher is wild and all over the place.
A home team's Manager is making the right decisions.
A visiting Manager is making questionable decisions.
Ian Desmond has made eight errors in two weeks. His announcers laud him for his range.
George Springer is hitting .130, but he plays a swell right field. .
They are politicians. Accentuating the positive. Spinning the negative.
In a world where we want truth, we get half truths.
Yasiel Puig has more talent than any player in baseball, says his announcer.
Not many miles away, a different announcer says the same about Mike Trout.
And Giancarlo Stanton is the best player on Earth says his announcer.
Implying that their must really be a good player on another planet.
Living in Colorado and having several Rockies hitters on fantasy teams, lends me to listen to both tv and radio games.
I am put through Hell.
I am not a Rockies fan. So, I hear things with a different ear than those around me.
Rockies broadcasters are like those of the Braves.
They subtly say how wonderful their players and Manager is, while questioning every motive of the opposing team.
It gets to be tedious and hard to listen to.
After the Pierzynski base running goof that was 'good base running', Braves announcers spouted for two or three minutes about how the Blue Jays defense was derelict in not covering second base.
If it had been there team, I imagine a mention and moving on with the game.
Back in the day, announcers described the action like Vin Scully does today. At least in terms the fairness of calling a game.
Afterall, nobody else is like Vin Scully.
That fairness is gone now.
Mostly because of team control. Partially because of tv and radio themselves.
" Billy Hamilton steals second base!"
And fans, that stolen base was brought to you by Edwards Security Company. At Edwards, your secure against robbers!"
Really?
And then there are the stupid contests.
Locally, our minor league team has a board over the centerfield fence. Some 420 feet away from home plate.
on this board is an arrow pointing to a hole about the size of a cantaloupe.
If a player hits a home run through that hole, a lucky fan wins a years supply of something from the advertiser.
So far, the board itself, has gone untouched.
I listened to a Major League game who had an advertisement. If a fan was lucky enough to have a member of the home team hit a grand slam on the 99th pitch of the game, he/she would win big money.
Woo hoo!
Sometimes at home, I watch the games 'bar style'. Putting sound on mute.
I have the presence of mind to do that.
It is my only weapon in not hearing some of the crap.
Like I said, it's not all the broadcasters fault.
I watch too much baseball. I've heard it all and just want the truth.
I can handle the truth.
At the same time, I want fairness. I want the broadcaster to tell me that the home team screwed up.
In these times of political correctness and spin, it seems too much to ask.
