[EmpireWF]

One thing I dislike about the playoffs is the use of national TV announcing duo's by ESPN and FOX (or any other network which houses MLB or other sports). They don't know the teams that are playing so well and they don't cater to the fanbases of the teams playing.

Yesterday for Dodgers/Mets Game 1, Gary Thorne and Steve Phillips. Phillips should not be a color man on national playoff games. He's awful. Thorne is okay but he too wasn't that great.

Morgan/Miller
Buck/McCarver
Any other combo ESPN can muster up.

THEY'RE AWFUL. And it's not even like you can mute the TV and put on the local radio guys because the TV picture is a few moments behind the radio.

Ugh...but hey, at least my team is in the playoffs again. You take the good with the bad I guess.

[MVB]

I just mute the TV and broadcast the games myself.

[ThePundit]

The worst is Joe Morgan. He's MLB's Joe Theisman. He knows nothing about the teams he covers and often makes up his commentary as he goes along and half the times it makes no sense:

Examples:

1) Yesterday he commented that Mariano Rivera doesn't get many 2 inning saves during the regular season. He had 19 this year.

2) He also said the Yankee fans booed A-Rod all year because he didn't put up the same numbers that he usually puts up. That had nothing to do with why the Yankee fans booed A-Rod. They boo him because he doesn't hit in big spots.

3) And he'll often insist something happened when the video evidence contradicts his point. For example, on that pitch tracker, there was a ball that was clearly out of the box, but Morgan actually said: "Although it looked like it was out of the box, it was really in there. Huh? So I guess it was an optical illusion.

[dhmn]

During the Twins/Oakland first game, Miller repeatedly called *JASON* Bartlett different first names. Around the 7th inning he apologized, and Morgan goes (on air) "I heard you say that and I should have quietly corrected you during break."

K-zone has made a lot of play by play commentators look dumb, though it used to be only used on Sunday Nights.

[legend]

Morgan did note that Inge never saw the ball Cano hit until it was half way to him. He also knew that Sheffield had the best chance of hitting Zumaya, and as it turned out the only chance, as he just embarrassed Giambi and then A-Fraud. Miller drives me nuts with his constant references to the radar gun; he should have been a traffic cop handing out speeding tickets.

But if Yankee fans can listen to John Sterling on the radio, then nothing should bother them.

[dhmn]

The Twin's announcer's Dick Bremer and Bert Blyleven did a lot of radar gun watching this season. They always mentioned how the Metrodome's gun was always different than the 'fox sports net' radar gun. It usually happened when there were curveball pitchers who didn't break 90, and kept the Twins from geting hits.

[MJHMarc]

Originally Posted by MVB

I just mute the TV and broadcast the games myself.

My friend and I sometimes broadcast them over the internet since he has a tape recorder.

A lot of fun since we pretend we are different people and have fake interviews from time to time.

I really just the watch the game and personally don't care what comes out of their mouth.

[JackAigner]

Unfortunately the really great announcers who are still with us have been put out to pasture or retired. I think they should give Vin Scully whatever money he wants to do the World Series every year. Jon Miller, I think, is pretty good, although he does mess up some names. Morgan is an abomination. He thinks he's the ultimate authority. He's also extremely dull. For a more colorful opinion, read Bill James comments in the Abstract. Buck and McCarver are an interesting team, but really nothing special, especially now since Buck spends most of his time doing football.

The other FOX and ESPN guys are terrible. Well, Thom Brenneman has some good days. That's about it. Thankfully, we won't have to hear Lou Piniella next year unless we're in lower box seats at Wrigley.