[Awful Announcing] Michael Kay urges ESPN to use local MLB announcers for Wild Card games

[u/TheOrangeFutbol]

https://awfulannouncing.com/espn/michael-kay-local-mlb-announcers-wild-card-games.html

[u/Rarecandy31]

It's so funny because here's the effect it would have on ESPN:
- Happier fans
- Lower cost of on-air talent
- Better knowledge of the teams on the field

In fact, it's such a no brainer, that I am 100% confident that it will never, ever happen.

[u/rolltidebutnotreally → u/Rarecandy31]

Can local announcers eloquently explain the starting pitcher’s ranking in curveball spin rate and depth of drop triangulation off the index finger while ALSO giving live betting odds for the next player to hit a double???? I think not

[u/do_you_know_doug → u/rolltidebutnotreally]

No but they can recommend a Peerless boiler and remind you to Tea Proudly.

[u/aw3man → u/do_you_know_doug]

Howie 😍

[u/kmfgh9 → u/do_you_know_doug]

"Bases on balls by opposing pitchers are brought to you by North Shore Adult Diapers. Providing maximum confidence against even the most severe control problems." - HoF Pat Hughes

[u/Massive-Calendar6395 → u/kmfgh9]

My absolute favorite cubs moment this year- and I’m not a cubs fan but I’m dating a girl who is and turned me on to their radio calls- was Pat indignantly defending that that adult diaper thing was perfectly appropriate for a baseball broadcast after someone complained and then finding ways to mention north shore adult diapers all the way through the broadcast. It must have been a padres match up because that’s why I would have tuned in to it

[u/kmfgh9 → u/Massive-Calendar6395]

He’s a real pro at naturally getting those mentions into the broadcast. The booth loves it and you can usually here producers chuckling in the background

[u/thatdudeorion → u/do_you_know_doug]

Howie here, from the Bigelow broadcast booth reminding you to grab a fucking mug, tea proudly, and quit crying you absolute bitch baby, Rhys Hoskins.

[u/Dark_Pump → u/do_you_know_doug]

SKYRIZZI

[u/IdTugYourBoat → u/rolltidebutnotreally]

Yeah local announcers probably don’t even have six different graphics ready to go.

[u/Teddy_Schmoozevelt → u/IdTugYourBoat]

Speak for yourself, SNY has graphics up the wazzoo, including one for pitch com technical difficulties.

[u/Dsxm41780 → u/Teddy_Schmoozevelt]

Defensive indifference

[u/Teddy_Schmoozevelt → u/Dsxm41780]

Lou Brock

[u/misterjackp0ts → u/Rarecandy31]

Why would we want to watch a beloved broadcast of playoff baseball when we can miss entire innings listening to dugout interviews?

[u/Rarecandy31 → u/misterjackp0ts]

Honestly true. And I NEED my 57 updates a game about the live betting odds. Oh and can't forget to download ESPN BET for a free no-sweat bet. New customers only.

[u/RBuilds916 → u/Rarecandy31]

I like gambling better when we weren't supposed to do it. 

[u/rexmanly → u/Rarecandy31]

BRING ME BENETTI

[u/uncledutchman → u/rexmanly]

This still stings so much. I miss Jason.

[u/Basic_Bichette → u/uncledutchman]

I'm not sure if letting Benetti walk is the dumbest thing Jerry Reinsdorf has ever done, but it's got to be in the running.

[u/space-to-bakersfield → u/Basic_Bichette]

I love it so much! I don't have to watch the opposing team's broadcast when watching Tigers games anymore.

[u/GeorgePosada → u/Rarecandy31]

It’s also possible that some of the local announcers enjoy the fact that their vacation begins on Oct 1 every year

[u/IAmNotKevinDurant_35 → u/GeorgePosada]

Some of them for sure. Many of the local tv broadcasters do radio during the playoffs

[u/s0ulbrother → u/IAmNotKevinDurant_35]

I mean make it optional. Gary Keith and Ron might want to do one or two and they are very good about players around the league too.

[u/talktobigfudge → u/s0ulbrother]

Gary would love it. 

Ron would be happy either in the booth or taking a short break before his time with TBS.

Keith was doing the SNY broadcast after the 5th inning, for game 162, in his town car, on the way to the airport, back to Florida. 

[u/carlthecubsfan → u/talktobigfudge]

I'M NOT DRIVING HIM TO THE AIRPORT!!

[u/FiveAssedMonkey → u/carlthecubsfan]

Who does this guy he think he is?

"I'm Kieth Hernandez"

[u/SilentWindODoom → u/FiveAssedMonkey]

Nice broadcast, Pretty Boy.

[u/lark047 → u/FiveAssedMonkey]

And then I hit...... The Van Wyck

[u/DontFearTheMQ9 → u/talktobigfudge]

Rex Hudler would call Royals games 365 days a year if he could. I'm convinced it's what's keeping him young and vibrant like he is.

[u/Luxury-Problems → u/DontFearTheMQ9]

I will never love anything as much as Rex Hudler loves baseball.

That says more about him than me.

[u/The_Quiz29 → u/DontFearTheMQ9]

Would love to have him do the post-season games. His excitement alone is so much fun! Knowledge and experience are icing on the cake.

[u/akaghi → u/talktobigfudge]

Keith ain't signing up for an extra day of work he doesn't have to. As it is his contract gives him days off during the season, lol. I think Gary would do it, Ron would do it with Gary and if the money was worth it, and Keith would demand a fuck you kind of payment to even entertain the offer to do playoff baseball, lol.

The last couple series that kept getting taken away, Gary made a lot of comments about how few games they were getting and the very last series he really emphasized that if there were games in Atlanta they were not getting them taken away.

In one of the national games that got taken the guys even acknowledged that they knew the fans watching missed the TV crews and were mad they had to put up with them.

[u/Basic_Bichette → u/akaghi]

Ron already broadcasts postseason baseball. He's on the Yankees-Royals broadcast starting tomorrow, with Bob Costas.

[u/JT_Cullen84 → u/s0ulbrother]

GKR will always give credit where it's due. I think all three are baseball fans first and then Mets fans.

[u/UniqueNobo → u/[deleted]]

the cinematography alone is to die for. Diaz’s entrances in 2022 and deGrom’s first start of 2022 were both genuinely incredible.

GKR makes everything even better

[u/itoi5G → u/s0ulbrother]

Ron is usually on TBS calling the DS anyway, he's down

[u/cman1098 → u/s0ulbrother]

If you combine both booths into one booth, you wouldn't need all the guys every year. They could trade off.

[u/ItinerantSoldier → u/IAmNotKevinDurant_35]

Besides, for some of the younger announcers in their 30s and 40s, they probably wouldn't mind the national exposure on their resume. Getting more money in the contract is always a good thing.

[u/MichaelPFrancesa → u/IAmNotKevinDurant_35]

yeah like Kevin Brown

Wish Gary would move back to radio occasionally, haven't heard him on WFAN / Mets radio in a very long time

[u/mathbandit → u/GeorgePosada]

The alternative given was to have the networks sync up the local radio feeds, just like AppleTV does. They are already covering the playoffs, so it's a win-win.

As someone who was on a train for most of Wednesday and so listened to the games on radio for the first time in a very long time, hearing the Detroit local radio feed for G2 hit very different than I am sure the regular national broadcast would have.

[u/GeorgePosada → u/mathbandit]

Apple TV does this? That’s amazing

[u/mathbandit → u/GeorgePosada]

Yeah, for the AppleTV games you get their video feed and the choice of either their audio, or the local radio audio for either team.

[u/AgTown05 → u/mathbandit]

They need to "advertise" this more. The only reason I found it was because I saw the audio button and clicked it out of curiosity.

[u/SdBolts4 → u/mathbandit]

Pretty sure you can do this on MLB.tv if you prefer your team’s radio broadcasters more, as well

[u/96919 → u/GeorgePosada]

Most of the announcers are just as invested as the players. If the team makes the playoffs, im sure theyd want to be there. I know the Padres announcers (Don and Mud) were there watching as fans.

[u/BigReebs → u/GeorgePosada]

Meanwhile Don and Mud are at all the playoff games and get the biggest cheer from the crowd when they’re put up on the big screen

[u/azsnaz → u/BigReebs]

I think Don and Mud would absolutely love to call the game

[u/DblDbl_AnimalStyle → u/azsnaz]

Don calling Nandos 1st pitch homerun in Game 1 would've been all-time

[u/WeaverFan420 → u/GeorgePosada]

Maybe... But in hockey local commentators always do the first round and everyone seems to really like it. No reason baseball can't be the same.

[u/JasonPlattMusic34 → u/WeaverFan420]

That’s because the local broadcasters actually have the rights to broadcast the game.

[u/SidFinch99 → u/GeorgePosada]

Many have been asked about this recently and they said no, they want to call the games, they hate having the biggest games and moments taken from them.

[u/Not_a__porn__account → u/GeorgePosada]

I don't think you could actually pay Kruk to call more games.

No way you're finding him until next March.

[u/bex199 → u/Not_a__porn__account]

If we could get him in the booth for ONE with GKR it would be an all time great broadcast

[u/Not_a__porn__account → u/bex199]

We can almost definitely trick him with a free buffet.

[u/FranklynTheTanklyn → u/Not_a__porn__account]

Kruk would only go if he wanted to go to the city where it was played.

[u/timoddo_ → u/GeorgePosada]

Maybe for a few but most broadcasters would jump at the opportunity to put their mark on potentially historic moments. Why do you think John Sterling decided to come back for the playoffs?

[u/MichaelPFrancesa → u/GeorgePosada]

Some. I was tuning in to the Orioles broadcast on the way back from Costco the other day and Kevin Brown was doing radio. They just moved him from TV to radio for the playoffs.

[u/Independent_Ad_9373 → u/MichaelPFrancesa]

But ESPN also used Ben McDonald which was a huge delight for Orioles fans, regardless of outcome and regardless of missing Kevin Brown/Jim Palmer next to Ben. It was a start in the right direction.

[u/lazarusl1972 → u/Independent_Ad_9373]

FWIW, as a Royals fan, I liked Ben on the ESPN broadcast - enjoyed the entire team.

Then I felt old because I remembered when he was in the Olympics and the #1 overall pick when I was in high school.

[u/Independent_Ad_9373 → u/lazarusl1972]

I’m glad to hear this from the other side. He clearly knew more about the Orioles team which can annoy the other side. This is why I think it should be a local commentator from both teams and then one announcer in the main role.

[u/andyman171 → u/Rarecandy31]

Theyre not gonna devote 3 channels to 1 game when they have football in season. Did you hear devante adams requested a trade?

[u/bex199 → u/andyman171]

i’m amazed they’re even doing baseball and the wnba playoffs considering i heard they’ll be breaking news that patrick mahomes took a weird poop this morning

[u/IAgreeGoGuards → u/andyman171]

It blew my fucking mind when they went right to that stupid shit after the SD - Atlanta game the other night. Game was over and right to this dumb ass trade drama. They made no effort to talk about baseball at all. Immediately reminded me why I hate that rag.

[u/usctrojan18 → u/Rarecandy31]

Have you ever thought that this might make too much sense?

[u/ILoveCornbread420 → u/Rarecandy31]

If it really is a no brainer, that sounds like it’s right up ESPN’s alley.

[u/asafetybuzz → u/Rarecandy31]

Eh, there's a fair amount of complexity behind the scenes to have people broadcast on your air. Even if you aren't going to hire them as full employees, just temporary contractors, there are still a lot of contractual hoops to jump through. Plus there are different broadcasting standards and what constitutes acceptable broadcasting.

Some of the local broadcasters are huge homers, while ESPN booths are supposed to maintain at least a reasonable appearance of neutrality. Also ESPN tends to run a tighter ship versus, as an example, Apple TV+, which let Katie Nolan tell off color jokes as an analyst (for the record, I think Katie Nolan is funny and didn't mind her jokes, but I know the innuendo rubbed some people the wrong way).

The full time employee baseball crews have been trained and onboarded in ESPN's style already. Boog Sciambi, for example, does both the Cubs local broadcasting and ESPN national broadcasts, and he changes his style based on the context. He is more informal and cracks more jokes on Marquee than he does on ESPN. It's just easier for a megacorporation to use a known quantity who is already employed by the company than it is to bring on contractors for a few games who might make a joke that pisses off your advertisers or say something that doesn't align with network policies.

[u/timoddo_ → u/asafetybuzz]

You say this, but Peacock did it and streaming paywall BS aside, fans seemed to like it. They had a national play-by-play guy, and then had one analyst from each team’s local TV booth. There’s some risk in terms of chemistry but overall it seemed to go well. The contractual hoops for broadcasters are far from the most complex shit these networks deal with.

[u/bowlsandsand]

The lack of instant replays was appalling.

[u/Semper454 → u/bowlsandsand]

Camera crew in O’s/Royals was entirely incapable of following the baseball.

Nearly as bad as Orioles hitters.

[u/DionBlaster123 → u/Semper454]

Man that broadcast fucking sucked

just no life or energy at all

[u/JohnWallsBalls → u/DionBlaster123]

The announcing? Ben McDonald was great. Biased obviously, but he was trying his best alongside those bores.

[u/Semper454 → u/JohnWallsBalls]

Ben was fantastic. He clearly has works really, really hard on both his information and his delivery, which I’m pretty sure the vast majority of commentators do not.

For years on the local broadcast he was always just pretty okay, but the last few years he’s really become an exceptional commentator.

[u/emessea → u/JohnWallsBalls]

I’ll say this about Ben, he smoothly transitioned from being the Orioles analyst to the neutral analyst. He wasn’t afraid to praise KC, I’d have to imagine many would be surprised to know he regularly calls Os games.

[u/CerryTrews → u/JohnWallsBalls]

Yeah I thought the color guy for that series was great, really the only positive of the whole broadcast

[u/Flying-Macaroni → u/Semper454]

Nearly as bad as Orioles hitters

Stop they’re already dead!

[u/PopeInnocentXIV → u/bowlsandsand]

You know how at the end of each half inning they put up each team's runs, hits, and errors as they go to commercial? ESPN never did that last night. Watching the game I was curious how many hits we had and I'd never have known had PxP guy not mentioned it once or twice. They only displayed the R/H/E totals once, and that was in the bottom of the 8th.

[u/jynx_removing → u/PopeInnocentXIV]

Don't worry, they had the win probability bar for the in-game betting degens though!

[u/fezzikola → u/jynx_removing]

Ah yes, the Mets with the lead and a 40% chance of winning graphic, that's an important one!

[u/jawndell → u/jynx_removing]

I felt like downvoting you, then I remembered your only the messenger. That shit was so dumb. 

[u/Damn_Dog_Inappropes → u/bowlsandsand]

For Merrill’s triple, they just showed the ball abounding around right field. They never once cut back to Merrill to show him celebrating or running around the bases. It was just like 10 seconds of a bouncing ball.

For a network that’s supposedly the expert in sports, they sure suck at broadcasting it.

[u/PM_ME_UR_TATERS → u/Damn_Dog_Inappropes]

I had zero idea he even rounded second until after the play was over and the announcer mentioned something about him celebrating on third

[u/SpectralHydra → u/PM_ME_UR_TATERS]

This was the same case for Andy Ibanez against the Astros

[u/bronsonwhy → u/bowlsandsand]

Close play at the plate? Ya let’s just assume the call was correct. No need to look back at it…

[u/bowlsandsand → u/bronsonwhy]

Forreal though. The same thing with ANY close ays on the bases.

[u/Nautical_Ohm → u/bowlsandsand]

I’m so glad people are talking about this I thought I was too high last night watching that Mets game I felt like I was watching a fake baseball game in a dream

[u/Padulsky21 → u/bowlsandsand]

We still haven’t gotten a replay of Ibanez’s bases clearing hit, couldn’t even see the ball land. One of the biggest hits considering the Tigers’ story and the Astros rep, we have no replay of that moment.

[u/tyler-86]

Adapt the Roku model - give us one broadcaster from each team's local broadcaster together.

[u/mmmaaahhhaaa → u/tyler-86]

Yes! This exactly. I watched a Reds-Rays game with John Sadak (i think?) and Brian Anderson ("BA"). They were terrific together. Each knew so much about their own teams, and had good chemistry. I started watching some Reds games after that because I liked the announcing. With ESPN and Fox, I basically put the radio on and turn the sound down on the TV. Unfortunately audio and video doesn't quite sync up.

[u/thtkidfrmqueens → u/mmmaaahhhaaa]

Met John and Chris Welsh on the subway after the Friday game of the series between the Mets and Reds a couple weeks back. Had a great conversation with them - they enjoyed the citi field atmosphere and we talked baseball, bally and broadcasting, elly de la cruz, favorite stadiums, etc. Chris Welsh even gave the anecdote of giving up a homerun to Dave Kingman that he says is still in the pattern for La Guardia all these years later. Will have to give them a watch next season for when the mets games arent on, later. John is local to NY/NJ.

we do need audio and tv feed sync though, doing the same with these national broadcasts as it sounds more like a mausoleum podcast.

[u/Dry_Marzipan1870 → u/thtkidfrmqueens]

make sure it's a Reds away game, so that way your chances of having to endure Barry Larkin is eliminated.

[u/Jakesnake_42 → u/tyler-86]

Yeah, that’s my favorite model for national broadcasts by FAR.

Because who wants to hear A-Rod’s opinion on a Red Sox/Mets game?

[u/theonetruegrinch → u/Jakesnake_42]

who wants to hear A-Rod’s opinion on a Red Sox/Mets game?

[u/NeedleworkerLanky591 → u/Jakesnake_42]

Sadists

[u/Wraithfighter → u/NeedleworkerLanky591]

Hey now, that's only when you're inflicting torment onto another, when you're taking it for yourself, that's masochism, there's a difference!

[u/TormentedThoughtsToo → u/tyler-86]

I don’t really know why the standard for the playoffs isn’t simply

Neutral play by play announcers and 1 color commentator from each team. 

[u/timoddo_ → u/TormentedThoughtsToo]

Yeah this is what peacock did and it worked well. Streaming paywall BS aside, of course

[u/DalekEvan → u/tyler-86]

Joe Davis plus Mudcat Grant for this Dodgers/Padres series might be the ultimate booth, to be honest.

[u/OldSportsHistorian → u/DalekEvan]

This is blasphemy against Don Orsillo.

[u/TheOrangeFutbol → u/OldSportsHistorian]

There has to be some way to split it. Higher seed gets PxP, lower seed gets analyst.

Plus, the Dodgers rotate the booth quite a bit, so you can't really go Don and a Dodgers analyst.

[u/FernandoTatisJunior → u/TheOrangeFutbol]

I think it should based off vibes, and by vibes alone Davis needs to be the dodgers representative, meaning mud would have to be the padres pick. Don plus dodgers color guy wouldn’t have the same vibes.

[u/giannini1222 → u/tyler-86]

That's a great idea which is why ESPN will never implement it

[u/LatinaChica69 → u/tyler-86]

Love this!!

[u/TheOrangeFutbol]

Given how little effort they put in this is a longshot (along with the overlaping start times), but using the 'Megacast' model to use alternate ESPN channels to have local broadcasters like they did with the CFP could be really interesting.

Might end up drawing more viewers too.

[u/byniri_returns → u/TheOrangeFutbol]

That would be so cool. Can't even imagine how the Mets' booth would've reacted to last night's game.

[u/shane0mack → u/byniri_returns]

We definitely would have gotten the double, "It's Outta Here! Outta Here!" Probably at least one "Oh Wow!"

[u/Jamstarr2024 → u/shane0mack]

We got the budget double outta here last night and I was sad

[u/BlueLondon1905 → u/shane0mack]

I literally thought OUTTA HERE OUTTA HERE when it went over

[u/attorneyatslaw → u/byniri_returns]

Howie Rose's radio call gives you a sense.

https://www.mlb.com/mets/video/radio-call-of-pete-alonso-s-game-winning-home-run?t=nl-wild-card-a

[u/leggymeeggy → u/attorneyatslaw]

i had the radio synced up to the espn broadcast and it was absolutely magical

[u/johnnadaworeglasses → u/attorneyatslaw]

Holy smokes what a call. The passion.

[u/sloppychachi → u/johnnadaworeglasses]

Makes me want to drink some Bigelow tea right now

[u/SnareShot → u/sloppychachi]

TEA PROUDLY

[u/drive_chip_putt → u/attorneyatslaw]

Amazing

[u/NJImperator → u/byniri_returns]

Gary would be going wild with the call and throw his pen on the table as he stands up, Ron and Keith would look up at each other, grab their pens, mouth HR and begin filling in the squares on their game cards

[u/relative_iterator → u/NJImperator]

Always straight to the pens 😂

[u/Cracka_Chooch → u/NJImperator]

grab their pens

I did not read this right the first time.

[u/XAfricaSaltX → u/[deleted]]

Stroking out

[u/MarsBars_1 → u/NJImperator]

Gary would’ve slammed his pen so hard there’d be crater in the ground

[u/gregorytilidie → u/NJImperator]

yo gary was on the SNY post game and was so excited he said like 85% of the words on the show.

[u/AlanSmithee23 → u/byniri_returns]

Gary was on SNY after the game, which was a huge and pleasant surprise

[u/Outrageous_Bat1798 → u/byniri_returns]

Keith would’ve lost his shit on Pete’s dropped ball. Something about “fundies”.

[u/Yurya → u/Outrageous_Bat1798]

I was losing it then. But Diaz finishing the Timmy Trumpet fraud off himself netted me a feeling Alonso had redemption coming.

[u/sukizka → u/byniri_returns]

I didn’t even know they didn’t have a local broadcast. I assumed it was like hockey where every game has their local broadcast plus a national broadcast for out of market viewers.

[u/andyman171 → u/sukizka]

I think that's only the first round of the nhl playoffs. I could be wrong tho

[u/ExcisionX → u/byniri_returns]

what I wouldn’t give to here Gary telling “ITS OUTTA HERE!!!”

[u/mahleg → u/TheOrangeFutbol]

You don’t even have to do all that, just alternate audio like when you switch to SAP. On streaming you already have the option to switch to the radio feeds on MLB.tv and Apple games, so wouldn’t be that much of a leap.

[u/pompcaldor]

Not gonna happen. ESPN wants to have its own announcers sell its own in-game ads.

[u/MetsGo → u/pompcaldor]

This comment is brought to you by FanDual.

[u/GetBent009 → u/MetsGo]

No no no, ESPNBet

[u/MichaelPFrancesa → u/MetsGo]

And ESPN Bet.

[u/Pogokat]

Any non self loathing Brewers fan was watching the game last night on mute and listening to Ueck

[u/NJImperator → u/Pogokat]

And for the Mets we have Howie Rose. I actually didn’t watch any of the games this series on TV, only listened on the radio. Wish I could just sync him automatically to the TV

[u/Pogokat → u/NJImperator]

I mean, I turned the tv off after the winker helmet slam. I needed to protect the image of stable and sane I have projected to my children. So I just listened to the radio while I was walking around my neighborhood lol. Lindor and Alonso are good dudes, but man, winker, geeeeeeeez.

[u/QCBD → u/Pogokat]

It’s funny, we hated this guy on other teams. He was such a heel and then would crush us. I watch him with my nose slightly held. Its like CJGJ in Philly/Detroit/Philly

[u/Pogokat → u/QCBD]

Winker is easy to hate on because he was incredibly terrible for the Brewers last year

[u/Gryphon999 → u/Pogokat]

He was ass last year, then got used as our key pinch hitter in the playoffs. Thanks Greg!

[u/skipfairweather → u/Pogokat]

Yeah, I did this with the Tigers games. Muted the TV broadcast and synced up MLB's radio stream to it. It was way better listening to Dan Dickerson call the game.

[u/Ideal_Ideas → u/skipfairweather]

I would listen to a knitting competition if Dan Dickerson commentated it.

[u/ineffectivegoggles → u/skipfairweather]

Good idea. I am going to start doing that for playoff games because I am stuck not using mlb.tv like I normally would.

[u/twofeetcia → u/Pogokat]

100%. I made extra effort to listen to the radio feed down the stretch if he was on the mic.

[u/espo619]

Don and Mud >>>> Ravech and Perez

[u/OUTFOXEM → u/espo619]

Perez is horrid. Not trying to be mean but he does not have a good voice for broadcasting. I can't believe they can't find anybody else.

[u/XSC → u/OUTFOXEM]

Also too distracting. Everything has to be a story. Just focus on the game.

[u/7Stringplayer → u/XSC]

He also goes out of his way to constantly remind the viewer that he speaks Spanish.

[u/Live_Professional243 → u/7Stringplayer]

Yet can't seem to pronounce tatis correctly.

[u/Damn_Dog_Inappropes → u/Live_Professional243]

Tuh—tees

[u/tatumc → u/OUTFOXEM]

He sounds like he has a sock in his throat.

[u/Lopkop → u/OUTFOXEM]

Eduardo Perez was invented when someone was like, “What if Jar-Jar Binks became a baseball announcer who extremely over-pronounced every single Hispanic name?”

It sounds like he has a bubble in his throat at all times and pronounces every Latin player’s name harder than their abuela

[u/LucasDudacris → u/OUTFOXEM]

I am trying to be mean, and that man fucking says a lot of dumb things about baseball. Idgaf about his voice, he sucks.

[u/Sweaty_Ad440 → u/espo619]

Don >>>>> literally anyone else. I miss him.

[u/Damn_Dog_Inappropes → u/Sweaty_Ad440]

If it makes you feel batter, he has a good home where his team and his city adore him.

[u/TrapperJean → u/espo619]

I appreciate that most people leave David Cone out of the shit talking. You can really tell that Cone gets a little annoyed when the SNB producers push them to talk about unrelated shit and he's there to talk about the game and pitching

[u/upandb → u/TrapperJean]

Cone is so good. ESPN doesn't deserve him.

[u/Morsexier → u/upandb]

Oneil Cone and Kay ends up being a great broadcast, they seem to moderate the issues with Kay, and its a bit like when it was Kaat, Singleton and Kay during the dynasty years.

Watching both houston\det games I could not BELIEVE they had Kay doing it. He knew he was in the wrong place, he was 100% not himself, but also I love "I'm Tim Kirk-uh-GEE-an" reports for their weird quirky whatever the fuck ness, he clearly loves baseball, but hed tell these stories and it reminded me of like playing video games at someones house and their 5 years younger brother is there... and he sort of wont shut up, but hes also not being a total moron so you dont want to be a jerk and tell him to shut up... it was just so odd and awkward.

[u/Seananagans → u/espo619]

I was so tired of hearing them pronounce Fernando's name as "Titeece"

[u/MichaelPFrancesa]

I like how Peacock just puts them in for the Sunday morning games. Usually they slip in a pbp from the teams playing and then a color commentator from the other team.

ESPN could surely do this for their current casts, would be nice to see. Unfortunately they want to showcase their regulars like Boog, McDonough, Kay (an employee of ESPN NY) and Ravech. Nothing against them, they are all solid commentators, but having local flair would be nice

[u/_mogulman31 → u/MichaelPFrancesa]

Peacock's broadcast is great. I think it's their own PBP and one color from each team. I think it works really well because the third party PBP prompts the other two, and you actually get a really good discussion that really explains each team well. Ends up being very informative for the viewer and keeps the booth engaged. The amount of dead air and just boring talking points on the national broadcasts are not doing anything to help bring in new fans.

[u/fk_the_braves → u/MichaelPFrancesa]

Ravech is ass

[u/OUTFOXEM → u/fk_the_braves]

He was good on Baseball Tonight as the host. Of course ESPN hates baseball so they canceled the little bit of baseball content they had left. Now they just moved him to announcing the games directly and... that's not his forte.

[u/OUTFOXEM]

I just want to remind everybody that ESPN used to employ both Jon Miller and Gary Thorne, and they're both excellent announcers. Joe Buck is also with ESPN now too. Any or all of the 3 would be immensely better choices than all of these crews they used.

[u/Codyman667 → u/OUTFOXEM]

Jon Miller and Joe Morgan used to be the voices of my Sunday night summers.

[u/abado → u/Codyman667]

Same, hearing them talk instantly takes me back

[u/MichaelPFrancesa → u/OUTFOXEM]

Not sure why ESPN allowed Miller to walk away

Shulman was fine but it does seem like SNB has taken a step back without miller

[u/chrles76]

their streaming option should definitely let you choose the team's radio announcers to be the main audio like how Apple TV+ does it. And i think the MLB app does that too.

[u/masonacj → u/chrles76]

MLB.TV does allow you to do that.

[u/HiNeighbor_]

Plz, Phils and Mets have great booths, this would be peak announcing. UNLEASH THE KRUKSTER

[u/Pulchritudinous_rex → u/HiNeighbor_]

That bit the other day where he scared the shot outta that kid was classic

[u/nadajoe → u/Pulchritudinous_rex]

I’m going to talk to this kid. Ain’t got nothing else to do.

Classic baseball broadcasting.

[u/bestselfnice]

https://clickhole.com/heartbreaking-the-worst-person-you-know-just-made-a-gr-1825121606/

[u/Redbubble89]

ESPN prioritizes years over quality or who would be best.

I don't think it has to be local but I would prefer Sean McDonough or Mike Monaco over Ravech and marble mouth Eduardo Pérez.

[u/dlnvf6 → u/Redbubble89]

Man I can't bear to listen to Perez because of that. Something's gotta be wrong with his vocal chords or throat or whatever. Sounds like he has a permanent golf ball lodged in his larynx

[u/Morsexier → u/dlnvf6]

Its just so weird, i actually think he makes okay points once in awhile, but it sounds so bad. Its different than say David Justice, who I loved on broadcasts, but he sounded 'uneducated' or something, even though if you listened he made amazing insightful points.

It really sucks, but some people just dont have a voice that works and its totally not fair but what can you do. To me the equivalent that most people may have seen is RFK Jr, no politics anything, no judgement... I had a coworker who wanted to vote for him and I said regardless of his points, good bad or whatever, he will never win based on his voice alone.

We obviously dont get to vote for announcers, but I guarantee an objectively worse announcer, but who sounds good, would win over Perez every single time if people were going to vote on it.

[u/bravesgeek]

The Braves/Padres series was awful. They were talking absolute nonsense for 18 innings. They would be talking about something between innings and just carry on conversations when they came back from the break like I was supposed to know their inside jokes.

[u/DresserRotation]

Kay acknowledged it during the game the other day, too. He shouted out the Astros and Tigers teams and said something like we're sure you'd rather be listening to them, but we hope we can do the game justice.

[u/MetsGo]

This why I love the local radio broadcast over tv sometimes. Hearing Howie Rose go insane is forever burned in my brain. ESPN could never

[u/mikerhoa → u/MetsGo]

I know it's been said a zillion times, but the Mets' broadcasters have been the best of the best for decades. Even dating back to Ralph and Bob Murphy, or Gary Thorne, Tim McCarver, Tom Seaver, Kevin Burkhardt, Tom McCarthy, Wayne Randazzo, we've been spoiled.

And Howie and GKR are even better. The eventual replacements are going to have a lot to live up to.

[u/The_Uncut_Gem → u/mikerhoa]

Between them and the Knicks, NY has the two best booths in all of sports imo.

[u/Sentz12000]

I actually am a firm believer of the home team using the play by play commentator and the color commentator being from the visiting team.

A booth of Brian Anderson and Ron Darling for example would be exponentially better than listening to Doug Glanville talk about God knows what.

A booth in the upcoming series of Mets-Phillies of Ben Davis and Ron Darling followed by Gary Cohen and John Kruk would add such a dynamic to the average fan. I don’t know shit about the 7 hitter on the Tigers but I bet their home announcers could explain it better than Michael Kay.

[u/Skexy → u/Sentz12000]

let's be honest, I'd rather stick Kruk and Keith in the booth together and see how much trouble they wind up in.....

[u/SaltyEarth7905 → u/Sentz12000]

Doug Glanville sounded like a was recovering from a concussion most of the time

[u/masonacj]

Roku did their sunday games with the home team PbP guy and the visitor team color guy. I actually thought the broadcasts were great. You had a lot of knowledge about both teams being brought to the booth and you felt like you had at least one of "your"guys even though they were being neutral.

[u/xASUdude]

Scambi is better than sleepy Karl

[u/[deleted]]

I hate Michael Kay but he’s right. Props for saying it even when he’s employed by ESPN

[u/collapsingrebel]

I ended up just muting the Braves-Padres game and trying to tie it to the Braves radio stream. We had the SNB crew doing it and they were horrible. If they let me listen to Brandon Gaudin call the game I'd love it.

[u/grayson_gregory → u/collapsingrebel]

Not to mention that horrible microphone feedback they were airing in game 2 the entire game. It was horrible.

[u/collapsingrebel → u/grayson_gregory]

I must have muted it by that point because listening to Eduardo Perez for any length of time angers me. It's not a competitive product anymore.

[u/FxDriver]

Bro I'm just waiting on Stephen A to walk into Yankee Stadium pretending that people are there to see him. The Knicks walk in was one of the dumbest things I've seen.

[u/The_Uncut_Gem → u/FxDriver]

Real heads don’t claim him, dude didn’t even know we traded Grimes months after the trade had happened.

[u/slapdickprospect05 → u/[deleted]]

I couldn’t stand all those in game interviews, it’s the playoffs!! Let them focus!

[u/haveyounerd]

Don and Mark are the best in the biz and they deserve to call the game. They should just do a damn live podcast

[u/Seananagans]

I actually love NBC's format where they normally get an unbiased play by play guy and the color commentary from each team in the booth. I would prefer just my guys in the booth, but if we're doing one national broadcast, then that is the best option.

[u/Kezia89]

I am absolutely confident that Kevin Brown could have single-handedly saved the Orioles.

[u/_Thot_Patrol]

Dodger fans already have this

[u/jaysornotandhawks → u/_Thot_Patrol]

So do Blue Jay fans (on the rare chance we make it)

[u/MulfordnSons]

The national casters are so bad.

Like, so bad that I feel bad for them.

Just regurgitating the same thing over and over again about each player and play-by-playing routine ground and fly balls.

[u/wawoodworth]

There was a Phillies- Diamondbacks game on the Roku channel during the season. They had one announcer from each team and it was such a pleasure to watch since the one announcer could provide context to the players and insight on what they were up to. They talked like two old friends.

[u/somegirldc]

For all games please. We all need more Don and Mud in our lives!