Baseball season is back! Wheeeeeeeeeeee! The grand spring tradition is here! Hey now, I love all sports (and I don't consider golf, bowling, or race car driving to be sports; they're amusements), but baseball always seems to tug at my heart strings a bit more. My Giants are 4-0--an amazing feat for a couple of reasons. One, well, they are the only undefeated team left (162-0, baby!...oh, yeah, right). But more importantly, compared to last year's DISMAL start, this is positively amazing. I'm not saying we'll go all the way and win the World Series, but you never know. I'm just saying.
This means, however, that the return of the absolute worst TV announcers in all of sports is here, too. Joe Buck is the son of one of the best in the business--
. Joe doesn't have as much talent in sum as his father did in his pinky finger. And then there's Joe's analyst partner, Tim MacCarver, who is positively the most redundant, most unintelligent person behind the mic. He's never been good, ever; I've been listening to baseball since, well, before I was born, and I've never heard anyone worse than MacCarver. He's never improved his style, his commentary or his delivery...he still comes off as the catcher who's been run into a few too many times. Oh wait, he is. And yet Fox Sports puts them on the Game of the Week every Saturday...gah.
On the other hand...
is back...hard as a Giants fan to appreciate ANYTHING from Dodger-land, but Vin might be the best ever. Oh, yeah, and we have our own Hall of Famer,
Jon Miller, who is so incredibly smooth. Of the 'younger generation', he might be the best; there's no question why ESPN has tapped him for over 20 years as the voice of their nationally-broadcasted Sunday night games. There are some great radio and tv announcers all over--the Giants and the A's both have great teams (no, I'm not biased
), and I used to love listening to
(he of the Hank Aaron, homerun #715 call, doncha know) when I lived in Austin. Oooooh, Bob Uecker...he's been underrated for years nationally; I think because so many beer ads and wrestling appearances, people forgot how great he is in calling a game.
Joe Castiglione calls a beautiful game for the Red Sox. And lest you think that sons cannot follow the footsteps of their fathers in the world of broadcasting, let Marty and Thom Brennaman be a reminder of how good you can have it (
although most Cubs fans don't agree). There's something magical about either listening to or watching a game, bringing back so many memories for me.
Memories like...being able to afford going to the game. I can't believe how damned expensive the tickets are. It used to be that the cheap seats might cost you $15, and max for the day you'd spend no more than $30. Um, yeah. Now the bleacher seats (which are no longer the cheap seats; those would be the nosebleeders) are $30 alone at AT&T Park, where the Giants call home. The train ride round trip from San Jos
2 Comments
Recommended Comments