Braves announcers are AWFUL....
- Thread starter DAWG61
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He always said whenDon Sutton said something about pitching, he had the credentials to back it up and you believed what he said.
WhenJoe Simpson talked about hitting, you wondered what a career http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suttodo01.shtml.242 hitter had to offer.
WhenJoe Simpson talked about hitting, you wondered what a career http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suttodo01.shtml.242 hitter had to offer.
Especially for a career. I bet a lot of MLB players would take that for their career.
Joe Morgan is a HOF player- but he was one of the worst announcers I've ever heard. A lot of his problem was that he was too conceited. You could tell that he knew very little about pitching, though. He called everything that was a breaking ball a slidepiece. He is why ESPN now has a pitcher and a hitter in the booth, which really isn't a bad idea unless you have a catcher announcing.
Baseball is kind of weird like that, though- some of the guys with the highest baseball IQ's are guys that were role players or AAA guys. Like Bobby Cox, Sparky Anderson, Tony LaRussa and even our dear old Ron Polk. And since we're talking about announcers- Bob Uecker, who is a HOF announcer and had the most awesome HOF acceptance speech ever, was something like a .200 hitter as a back-up catcher. Mitch Williams is a really good analyst on MLB Network- it's funny to hear him bust guys for their mechanics, though. Most of the guys on MLB Network were average/good MLB players.
Most local networks though- you are going to get homers for the most part with an occasional good insight.
Joe Morgan is a HOF player- but he was one of the worst announcers I've ever heard. A lot of his problem was that he was too conceited. You could tell that he knew very little about pitching, though. He called everything that was a breaking ball a slidepiece. He is why ESPN now has a pitcher and a hitter in the booth, which really isn't a bad idea unless you have a catcher announcing.
Baseball is kind of weird like that, though- some of the guys with the highest baseball IQ's are guys that were role players or AAA guys. Like Bobby Cox, Sparky Anderson, Tony LaRussa and even our dear old Ron Polk. And since we're talking about announcers- Bob Uecker, who is a HOF announcer and had the most awesome HOF acceptance speech ever, was something like a .200 hitter as a back-up catcher. Mitch Williams is a really good analyst on MLB Network- it's funny to hear him bust guys for their mechanics, though. Most of the guys on MLB Network were average/good MLB players.
Most local networks though- you are going to get homers for the most part with an occasional good insight.
is very good. The whole crew they have from 3pm till 1am is great except maybe Jerry Manuel. They go live to whoever the home teams announcers are and that's were you get a feel for all the other teams announcers and their is lots of good ones. Padres, Giants, Diamondbacks, Yankees, Red Sox, Brewers, Orioles, Rays, Blue Jays, Mets, Twins and on and on all have great announcers. The Braves have the worst.
I'm thinking that Jerry Manuel will be gone before long as well. Just like whenever else they have had guys that weren't very good. Lou Piniella would be good to replace him so that they can get someone with a managers point of view. Trey Hillman might be interesting too- former marine, managed in Japan and for the Royals. At least his resume is interesting.
I've never really cared for the Braves announcers either. I always just assumed it was because I was a Cardinals fan and all they would talk about in the 90's is what a first class organization the Braves were ad nauseum. So, I'm not sure how objective I can be about them to be honest.
What's funny is back in the 90's, I remember Peter Gammons on ESPN saying that the Braves had the best announcers in baseball- my reaction was "holy ****".
Vin Scully is still one of the best. And he does it all by himself.
I've never really cared for the Braves announcers either. I always just assumed it was because I was a Cardinals fan and all they would talk about in the 90's is what a first class organization the Braves were ad nauseum. So, I'm not sure how objective I can be about them to be honest.
What's funny is back in the 90's, I remember Peter Gammons on ESPN saying that the Braves had the best announcers in baseball- my reaction was "holy ****".
Vin Scully is still one of the best. And he does it all by himself.
It's difficult enough for me to sit down and watch an entire MLB game prior to October as it is, but Joe Morgan definitely makes it unbearable. The sad thing is that he does have a great broadcasting voice and I'm sure he has a lot to offer, but there isn't a thing that goes on during a 3-hr game that Joe won't break down into granular detail. Whether a player hits a foul ball into the stands or a fan puts mustard on his hot dog instead of ketchup, Joe thinks he knows exactly how it all happened and he'll be sure to enlighten us.
And the nights they bring in Glavine or someone else, Simpson has to do play-by-play, and he's always sounded unnatural doing that.<div>
</div><div>First off, just listen to the radio. Powell (who worked with Uecker in Milwaukee and has a little Ueck in him) and the aforementioned Sutton are great there.</div><div>
</div><div>Second, you haters can't deny that Van Wieren and Sutton were at the top of their game in the 90s. They just got split up between Skip and Joe. I loved all of them as a Braves homer, but those two in particular were exceptional at their jobs.</div><div>
</div><div>When I tune into the local games here (Nats), I can't stand the announcers. It's not because they're homers, but because they're talking over one another then apologizing the whole time, and the play-by-play guy is telling jokes instead of calling the game, and the color guy is sitting there silent even after "soft tosses" and cues from his play-by-play man. They just aren't very good at broadcasting. The O's TV team is one of the best I've heard, though. Gary Thorne is very good at the play-by-play and it makes the entire broadcast better.</div><div>
</div><div>Also, between TBS and now, there was Boog Sciambi that did play-by-play for the Braves, and he was very good and worked well with Simpson. He's now on ESPN radio's lead baseball broadcasts and does some NCAA hoops games on TV throughout the year.</div>
</div><div>First off, just listen to the radio. Powell (who worked with Uecker in Milwaukee and has a little Ueck in him) and the aforementioned Sutton are great there.</div><div>
</div><div>Second, you haters can't deny that Van Wieren and Sutton were at the top of their game in the 90s. They just got split up between Skip and Joe. I loved all of them as a Braves homer, but those two in particular were exceptional at their jobs.</div><div>
</div><div>When I tune into the local games here (Nats), I can't stand the announcers. It's not because they're homers, but because they're talking over one another then apologizing the whole time, and the play-by-play guy is telling jokes instead of calling the game, and the color guy is sitting there silent even after "soft tosses" and cues from his play-by-play man. They just aren't very good at broadcasting. The O's TV team is one of the best I've heard, though. Gary Thorne is very good at the play-by-play and it makes the entire broadcast better.</div><div>
</div><div>Also, between TBS and now, there was Boog Sciambi that did play-by-play for the Braves, and he was very good and worked well with Simpson. He's now on ESPN radio's lead baseball broadcasts and does some NCAA hoops games on TV throughout the year.</div>
Back in the mid-80s, they were solid. And the teams just sucked. Now Skip is dead, Ernie and Pete retired, and John Sterling turned into noise pollution with the Yankees.
The problem is Chip's contract is so bad we can't get out of it yet, so they're milking him for all it's worth.
I really like Joe. I think he does a good job. As the others have said, Glavine is awesome in the booth. Smoltz was pretty good too, before he went back to MLBTV. I also think Ron Gant does a good job.
The biggest problem I see is we have a stable of really good color guys - Joe, Glavine, Gant - but no play-by-play guy that's any good. Boog leaving for ESPN forced us into going back to Chip full time. Hopefully we can find a way to ditch him soon. He's a complete idiot.
I really like Joe. I think he does a good job. As the others have said, Glavine is awesome in the booth. Smoltz was pretty good too, before he went back to MLBTV. I also think Ron Gant does a good job.
The biggest problem I see is we have a stable of really good color guys - Joe, Glavine, Gant - but no play-by-play guy that's any good. Boog leaving for ESPN forced us into going back to Chip full time. Hopefully we can find a way to ditch him soon. He's a complete idiot.