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Post by batman66 on Jun 14, 2021 8:05:26 GMT -5
After reading through the game thread and seeing all the complaints about the ESPN crew I thought it might be an interesting topic to talk about.
I know most ESPN crews can be brutal.
But I happen to really like Matt Vasgersian as a baseball broadcaster and his call on a Baez play vs SF in the playoffs is one of my favorite calls of all time. " A ridiculous play , come on , thats barely humanly possible . "
I also really like Smoltz.
And I know this is going to be a VERY unpopular thing to say on here and I would bet I'm going to be the only person , but I don't really care for Pat Hughes.
I can't stand his Willson CONE -TRERAS and I think he has one of the worst home run calls there is.
When a ball is clobbered 455 feet , time to drop the "this ones got a chance" and come up with something else.
I just find him boring and think he tires too hard to sound like an old school radio guy.
Im my opinion , no real personality to his broadcast.
And Boog , I loved the hire, I even liked him on ESPN and thought he was a great choice and I think he's growing into the team well.
The HUGE surprise to me , I really like Dempster in the booth a lot , and think him and Boog have great chemistry together. More so than Boog does with JD who I never cared for that much.
I always thought Dempster tried too hard to be funny , and he does. But in the booth the conversation with Boog is quick and it flows.
With JD it's a bit awkward at times and it seems like JD needs time to think about what he's going to say.
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Post by tedw on Jun 14, 2021 8:42:59 GMT -5
I love Pat Hughes, but I am right with you on your critiques of him. The "this one's got a chance" can get to be annoying, especially for the obvious ones as you said, but my real annoyance is the "Cone-treras" pronouncement. This will sound silly, but I find myself, when he starts to say his name, going "CON-treras" to override his pronouncement.
That said, besides those annoyances, I still really like Hughes, I think he's a great announcer overall and I like his banter with Coombs.
Probably my favorite announcer was Harry Caray. He was truly a bad announcer. He would forget counts and outs. I don't know how many times I heard "He struck him out!!" and then he would realize it was only strike two. But for how undependable he was, it was part of that undependability on why he was fun to listen to. And it was evident he loved the Cubs and you could feel his energy.
I would say the announcer I hated the most was "Hawk" Harrelson. His "You can puuut this on the board...Yes!" was grinding and anytime he said "He gone!" I grumbled "You need to be gone." He also was way too emotional. Having his tantrums, yelling at the umps. Still blows my mind the time he just up and left the booth when Frazier got injured on the field. Stone was a professional, as always, but I'm sure he was thinking "What the hell.."
Fortunately he's retired now, and I didn't watch/listen to him too much as he was a White Sox announcer, but he is the one I hated the most. Although Joe Buck is definitely a close 2nd (if not tied).
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Post by batman66 on Jun 14, 2021 9:16:29 GMT -5
I love Pat Hughes, but I am right with you on your critiques of him. The "this one's got a chance" can get to be annoying, especially for the obvious ones as you said, but my real annoyance is the "Cone-treras" pronouncement. This will sound silly, but I find myself, when he starts to say his name, going "CON-treras" to override his pronouncement. That said, besides those annoyances, I still really like Hughes, I think he's a great announcer overall and I like his banter with Coombs. Probably my favorite announcer was Harry Caray. He was truly a bad announcer. He would forget counts and outs. I don't know how many times I heard "He struck him out!!" and then he would realize it was only strike two. But for how undependable he was, it was part of that undependability on why he was fun to listen to. And it was evident he loved the Cubs and you could feel his energy. I would say the announcer I hated the most was "Hawk" Harrelson. His "You can puuut this on the board...Yes!" was grinding and anytime he said "He gone!" I grumbled "You need to be gone." He also was way too emotional. Having his tantrums, yelling at the umps. Still blows my mind the time he just up and left the booth when Frazier got injured on the field. Stone was a professional, as always, but I'm sure he was thinking "What the hell.." Fortunately he's retired now, and I didn't watch/listen to him too much as he was a White Sox announcer, but he is the one I hated the most. Although Joe Buck is definitely a close 2nd (if not tied). I think Pat is a great announcer too. Just not the type I prefer. Glad I'm not the only one annoyed with the CONE -treras thing because I kind of felt weird mentioning that. I loved Harry too. As brutal as he was butchering names and calls and forgetting whats going on the field he was entertaining and made a broadcast flow. I never liked Stone though. Just too whiny and self centered for my liking. Hawk was brutal and had become a cliche of himself by the end. But his dead air tantrums when things went wrong were classic. |
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Post by rvn11 on Jun 14, 2021 9:41:24 GMT -5
Man I would listen to Hughes read the dictionary. He's so smooth and mild mannered, just listen to other teams radio guys once in a while and you'll appreciate how good we as Cubs fans have it with Hughes. He tells the story of the game and doesn't interject too much of himself, his brand or his ego into it as others tend to. I've also come to appreciate that he'll tell it as it is, not be a local homer that tries to bend the narrative to what he wants to have happened rather than what actually did. So many other teams announcers will complain and moan about getting screwed and calls not going their way, but Hughes is pretty mild mannered and I appreciate that. Even if the umps make a bad call he'll relate that it happened, but he won't portray that he's personally offended and jilted as others do.
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Post by skokiejoe on Jun 14, 2021 9:50:05 GMT -5
I am big Pat and Len fan. I can not stand the ESPN crew. I agree there is no chemistry with Boog and JD. Boog JD Demp were all terrible for the late night games in SF. I actually had to turn the sound off they were so annoying. Boog has been better at Wrigley especially on Friday against the Cards.
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Post by jpepitone on Jun 14, 2021 11:03:05 GMT -5
I agree there is no chemistry between Boog and JD. JD seemed to have a lot better chemistry with Len. Len was more of the straight guy and JD came across as more of the “character”. But now Boog is such a “character” that JD seems somewhat lost. Just my take on it anyway.
Harry is still the GOAT announcer despite his flaws. So much passion and enthusiasm. Stoney was a little bit too much of a know-it-all.
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Post by Clark Street on Jun 14, 2021 13:31:45 GMT -5
Favorites:
Radio: Jack Quinlan
TV: Jack Brickhouse
These were the Cub announcers when I was young. Brickhouse later became a friend. Quinlan was a truly marvelous describer of games, similar to Hughes. Unfortunately, he was killed in a 1965 Arizona car crash while covering spring training, shortly before he attained enough tenure for HoF consideration.
Quite low on list:
Harry Caray
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Post by batman66 on Jun 14, 2021 13:34:41 GMT -5
I agree there is no chemistry between Boog and JD. JD seemed to have a lot better chemistry with Len. Len was more of the straight guy and JD came across as more of the “character”. But now Boog is such a “character” that JD seems somewhat lost. Just my take on it anyway. Harry is still the GOAT announcer despite his flaws. So much passion and enthusiasm. Stoney was a little bit too much of a know-it-all. JD and Len were a good combo , but just too ....don't know the right word for it , maybe generic. They were ok to listen to , but pretty much boring and sounded too alike. Harry was just one of a kind in both a good and a bad way , but he was just an electric personality that you didn't mind that he missed calling an entire inning because he was announcing everybody's name that was in the park. Or was salivating over all the "Ms Chicago's " in the crowd. Stone , appreciate his knowledge for the game , but I only need to hear the proper way to field a ground ball so many times. And you nailed it with your comment. Know it all's with a whiny voice don't go over well with me. |
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Post by bryzzobrist on Jun 14, 2021 15:13:06 GMT -5
Hawk was as bad as it gets IMO. Not being good at something for a very long time doesn't make an announcer special. I also can't stand the blonde woman who's always over excited and talking about trivial stuff like Joc's mustache, dance moves, or other stuff not really relating to the game, and uses all the millenial words like "epic" way too often.
I always liked Len, though I know that's not a popular opinion. I don't mind a boring announcer - I mostly just want someone who knows when to stfu and let viewers watch the game. That's lacking these days, for sure. JD has grown on me a lot this year. He's actually pretty dang good at being an announcer.
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Post by batman66 on Jun 14, 2021 16:15:41 GMT -5
Since I've had MLBTV for years I always try to watch and listen to the other teams broadcast at least once out of every series to hear what they have to say about the Cubs.
And this opinion has nothing to do with what they say about the Cubs, but most of them are just brutal.
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Post by trav768 on Jun 14, 2021 16:34:12 GMT -5
Love pat Hughes Harry Carey Ron Coomer Ron Santo Jon Miller
Dislike Hawk Harrelson Joe Buck Tim Mccarver
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Post by lu13cubbie on Jun 14, 2021 18:08:00 GMT -5
Jack Brickhouse was one of the best ever.
Harry Carey was one of the worst ever. A total buffoon, a cheap shill who was an embarrassment to listen too.
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Post by addisondad on Jun 14, 2021 18:18:00 GMT -5
Jack Brickhouse was one of the best ever. Harry Carey was one of the worst ever. A total buffoon, a cheap shill who was an embarrassment to listen too. Harry was something else. He did a lot of good for the Cubs brand. And if you drank along with him, he made sense lol. I grew up on Brickhouse but really liked Vince Lloyd back in the day on radio. Pat Hughes is great. I really liked Boog and Demp together. Nationally there hasn't been a great since Vin Scully and Curt Gowdy. Al Michaels, Joe Buck and just about anyone on ESPN has been awful going on for awhile. Tim Kurgian and company have become bad parodies of their former selves. ARod and Jessie Mendoza are unlistenable. Eric Karros was the last decent voice I heard on ESPN and Rossy was cool too. Oh yeah anyone with the last name Brennaman should be shot, chopped and sold for chum. |
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Post by Reverency on Jun 14, 2021 18:45:27 GMT -5
I've aired my opinions on the present TV crew and its dynamics quite awhile ago. Interesting to see a lot of those sentiments here.
My all-time pick for best baseball announcer: Vin Scully
My all-time favorite baseball announcer: Jack Brickhouse (a childhood substitute father-figure I think)
The person who I think expanded my knowledge of baseball the most: Steve Stone
Favorite radio announcers: Jack Quinlan and Pat Hughes (despite CONE-treras) are just good descriptive radio announcers who don't make you feel cheated that you're not getting the TV broadcast.
Baseball announcers I don't/didn't like in no particular order: Alex Rodrigues, Joe Buck, Hawk Harrelson, Dizzy Dean, Harry Caray (had to listen to him constantly as a St. Louis Cardinal announcer)
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Post by lu13cubbie on Jun 15, 2021 4:42:02 GMT -5
Jack Brickhouse was one of the best ever. Harry Carey was one of the worst ever. A total buffoon, a cheap shill who was an embarrassment to listen too. Harry was something else. He did a lot of good for the Cubs brand. And if you drank along with him, he made sense lol. I grew up on Brickhouse but really liked Vince Lloyd back in the day on radio. Pat Hughes is great. I really liked Boog and Demp together. Nationally there hasn't been a great since Vin Scully and Curt Gowdy. Al Michaels, Joe Buck and just about anyone on ESPN has been awful going on for awhile. Tim Kurgian and company have become bad parodies of their former selves. ARod and Jessie Mendoza are unlistenable. Eric Karros was the last decent voice I heard on ESPN and Rossy was cool too. Oh yeah anyone with the last name Brennaman should be shot, chopped and sold for chum. I did " drink with " Harry. He came into one of the bars we where drinking in after a Cubs game way back when. Also seen him at the Houston Astrodome in '84 when he got there with Steve Stone in their limo. Both where asshats. I didn't mind Chip Carey tho. He was " a little light in the loafers " like Stone, but still id a good job, like Stone. |
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Post by bryzzobrist on Jun 15, 2021 15:44:34 GMT -5
Harry was something else. He did a lot of good for the Cubs brand. And if you drank along with him, he made sense lol. I grew up on Brickhouse but really liked Vince Lloyd back in the day on radio. Pat Hughes is great. I really liked Boog and Demp together. Nationally there hasn't been a great since Vin Scully and Curt Gowdy. Al Michaels, Joe Buck and just about anyone on ESPN has been awful going on for awhile. Tim Kurgian and company have become bad parodies of their former selves. ARod and Jessie Mendoza are unlistenable. Eric Karros was the last decent voice I heard on ESPN and Rossy was cool too. Oh yeah anyone with the last name Brennaman should be shot, chopped and sold for chum. I did " drink with " Harry. He came into one of the bars we where drinking in after a Cubs game way back when. Also seen him at the Houston Astrodome in '84 when he got there with Steve Stone in their limo. Both where asshats. I didn't mind Chip Carey tho. He was " a little light in the loafers " like Stone, but still id a good job, like Stone. I think it was at the Harry Careys restaurant in River North area that has his old drink diary. Man would drink waaaaay too much. Anyway, here's a quick link in case someone is interested in his drunkedness: bleacherreport.com/articles/2084912-harry-carays-diary-from-1972-contains-log-of-288-consecutive-days-of-barhopping |
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Post by batman66 on Jun 15, 2021 15:55:39 GMT -5
I did " drink with " Harry. He came into one of the bars we where drinking in after a Cubs game way back when. Also seen him at the Houston Astrodome in '84 when he got there with Steve Stone in their limo. Both where asshats. I didn't mind Chip Carey tho. He was " a little light in the loafers " like Stone, but still id a good job, like Stone. I think it was at the Harry Careys restaurant in River North area that has his old drink diary. Man would drink waaaaay too much. Anyway, here's a quick link in case someone is interested in his drunkedness: bleacherreport.com/articles/2084912-harry-carays-diary-from-1972-contains-log-of-288-consecutive-days-of-barhoppingLol, thanks for posting that . Although I loved Harry with the Cubs, he was very tamed down . His WSox days were epic. I remember a DH when he was so drunk he fell off the stool in the booth and all you heard was loud mumbling and the stool clanging and then Jimmy Piersall hysterically laughing . I remember Chicken Unlimited being a sponsor and he would take a bite out of a chicken leg and throw it into the crowd. And an incident were LaRussa and his coaches came into the booth threating to beat Harry and Jimmy for ripping on them and the players. |
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Post by happtobehere on Jun 16, 2021 7:14:11 GMT -5
After reading through the game thread and seeing all the complaints about the ESPN crew I thought it might be an interesting topic to talk about. I know most ESPN crews can be brutal. But I happen to really like Matt Vasgersian as a baseball broadcaster and his call on a Baez play vs SF in the playoffs is one of my favorite calls of all time. " A ridiculous play , come on , thats barely humanly possible . "
I also really like Smoltz.
And I know this is going to be a VERY unpopular thing to say on here and I would bet I'm going to be the only person , but I don't really care for Pat Hughes.
I can't stand his Willson CONE -TRERAS and I think he has one of the worst home run calls there is.
When a ball is clobbered 455 feet , time to drop the "this ones got a chance" and come up with something else.
I just find him boring and think he tires too hard to sound like an old school radio guy.
Im my opinion , no real personality to his broadcast.
And Boog , I loved the hire, I even liked him on ESPN and thought he was a great choice and I think he's growing into the team well.
The HUGE surprise to me , I really like Dempster in the booth a lot , and think him and Boog have great chemistry together. More so than Boog does with JD who I never cared for that much.
I always thought Dempster tried too hard to be funny , and he does. But in the booth the conversation with Boog is quick and it flows.
With JD it's a bit awkward at times and it seems like JD needs time to think about what he's going to say.
I wouldn't say that I love to hate him but I cannot stand John Sterling. I want to mute the MLB.tv feed every time there is a commercial break because their music is annoying as fuck and then I run into the high likely hood that I have to hear "A STANTONIAN blast... Giancarlo go somegibberish that rhymes with lo"
MLB.tv is the most UN-user friendly program there is. It's like they do not want people to purchase their product. The same crappy baseball moments over and over again... not to mention during commercial breaks they won't let you change game feeds... One would think that when you select the Cubs as your favorite team, it would fucking default to the Cubs broadcast for starters but after that, a commercial break is the perfect opportunity to do things like change the broadcast feed and blow the screen up... oh no, not MLB.TV
Sorry, went down that rabbit hole... as for "Boog"... I'm fine with him announcing games but I don't want to see his face and his stupid looks into the camera... I don't know why but every time he makes a comment and looks into the camera it annoys me and makes my blood boil. While I'm ranting about the Cubs broadcasts, can we please have Taylor McGregor STOP doing interviews with random ass people no one cares about in the middle of the inning? Please? I'm not trying to watch baseball through a split screen while she stumbles her way through an interview with some local charity or the boys and girls club chairman. I watch baseball to watch baseball...
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Post by carryonmyheywardson on Jun 16, 2021 18:15:23 GMT -5
Love- Pat Hughes, Ron Coomer, Chip Caray, Steve Stone, Vin Scully, Bob Uecker, Jon Miller, Hollandsworth, Brian Anderson, Steve Lyons.
Hate- McCarver, Hawk, any Brennamen, A-Roid, Bob Costas, Al Hrabosky, Mike Shannon.
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Post by bryzzobrist on Jun 16, 2021 22:18:14 GMT -5
Love- Pat Hughes, Ron Coomer, Chip Caray, Steve Stone, Vin Scully, Bob Uecker, Jon Miller, Hollandsworth, Brian Anderson, Steve Lyons. Hate- McCarver, Hawk, any Brennamen, A-Roid, Bob Costas, Al Hrabosky, Mike Shannon. I actually think a-roid is a solid announcer. His baseball knowledge is thru the roof. I miss seeing him annoyed af with pete rose on those broadcasts. |
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