10557 replies to this topic

[cronox5]

The seasons getting started this morning, so the MLB thread is here.

If you're watching this morning on YES, judging by first impressions, Joe Girardi sounds really natural in the booth. Too bad they can't dump that loser Kay.

[flg8or]

You're missing Harold Reynolds being a shill for the players on ESPN2. Saying the steroid thing has been blown out of proportion. He and Ravetch (makes you long for actual PBP guys like Jon Miller) got into it. Has Reynolds ever had an insightful thing to say at all?

[silentbob]

The only times when Harold Reynolds is remotely interesting are either during the Baseball Tonight commercials or his coverage of the Little League World Series.

[trainman]

My ex-cable company doesn't offer any of the sports pay-per-view packages, but now that I have DirecTV, I was finally able to take advantage of the "free preview" week of MLB Extra Innings. The biggest surprise is that Joe Buck is actually tolerable on local St. Louis telecasts, when he's paired up with Al Hrabosky, not Tim McCarver.

[MsZoid]

I like Joe Buck/Al Hrabrosky the best myself.

Of course, every time I see Joe Buck calling a non-St Louis Cardinal Game I feel like he's being a trator to the cause.

Who's calling Cub Games now, anyway? Is it still Harry Caray's obnoxious son/grandson/whatever?

[BillyShears]

Quote from trainman:

The biggest surprise is that Joe Buck is actually tolerable on local St. Louis telecasts, when he's paired up with Al Hrabosky, not Tim McCarver.

I think the reason for that lies more with ME-Carver than with Buck. Plus, like me, Joe is a born-and-bred Cards fan, so doing Cards games is more of a passion and less of a paycheck.

MsZoid, I think "Chip" Caray is still doing Cubs games for W(e)G(ot)N(othing). Also, putting "Caray" and "obnoxious" in the same sentence qualifies as redundant, no matter which Caray you mean.

[xaxat]

Peter Gammon's tribute to Hank Aaron's career was really good stuff. Way to go Baseball tonight!

[flg8or]

This "Scooter" thing sucks. So stupid they had to run it twice because they screwed it up the first time they ran it.

It's the bastard child of Peter Puck.

Do they think kids are really watching?

[cronox5]

"Scooter" is more retarded than the glowing puck. It has to be the worst CG character ever made.

And I guarantee you Phil Mushnick (NY Post Writer) will rip FOX a new one for missing an out while the stupid thing was playing.

[GoldfishGirl42]

"Scooter" is more retarded than the glowing puck. It has to be the worst CG character ever made.
And I guarantee you Phil Mushnick (NY Post Writer) will rip FOX a new one for missing an out while the stupid thing was playing.

Hell yeah. And the thing is, that time lapse-ball thing ( with the ball in all it's different positions as it went to the plate) showed all the same things Scooter did, without cutting down on the actual baseball.

Oh, and BucCarver? Could you please, quit it with the Johnny Damon hair jokes? I admit , even as a Sox fan, it was funny the first time. Not the 2nd , 3d, 4th, and 5th times. He's still one of the best players out there, so does anyone really care that much about the hair?

Other than that? Kick-ass game. Despite the Boone homer, I am and always will be a diehard Tim Wakefield fan, and he did not disappoint. And though they missed that one out, thank you so much, Camera Guy, for catching A-Rod's ill-advised stealing attempt( and replaying it.) (That's some good baseball schadenfreude right there.)

Edited by GoldfishGirl42, Apr 17, 2004 @ 11:47 AM.

[wdejesus79]

I was just coming over here to post on my Scooter hate. Damn, what an annoying piece of shit. I hope to never see him again.

thank you so much, Camera Guy, for catching A-Rod's ill-advised stealing attempt( and replaying it.) (That's some good baseball schadenfreude right there.)

I loved A-Rod's temper tantrum. It's good to see his cool demeanor crack. It proves he's human. Sometimes.

Edited by wdejesus79, Apr 17, 2004 @ 1:11 PM.

[GoldfishGirl42]

I loved A-Rod's temper tantrum. It's good to see his cool demeanor crack. It proves he's human. Sometimes.

Ah yes. :) Forgot that. That poor cup. (I still don't hate him as much as Giambi, though.)

[wdejesus79]

I still don't hate him as much as Giambi, though

If you saw the game, then you'll remember the lovely "BALCO" chant when he batted. That was truly wonderful.

I didn't understand that little ruler thing when the runners were on first. I get that it was to show us how far off the bag the runner is, but who cares? Unless he gets thrown out because of it, I don't really care.

[GoldfishGirl42]

If you saw the game, then you'll remember the lovely "BALCO" chant when he batted. That was truly wonderful.

Hee. I'm listening to today's game on the radio, and they've moved from BALCO to "You use steroids!" Giambi's just one of those players I have an unexplainable, irrational hate for.

mmmmmm.....Curt Schilling.

[trainman]

I was just coming over here to post on my Scooter hate. Damn, what an annoying piece of shit. I hope to never see him again.

Sorry, the only things Fox ever gets rid of quickly are prime-time shows I like.

The only good thing about Scooter so far was the fact that Conan O'Brien managed to do a nearly dead-on impression of the voice on his show Thursday night, going solely off the description in the Fox press release. "Nearly" dead-on because Conan's impression was only one sentence long.

[wdejesus79]

Sorry, the only things Fox ever gets rid of quickly are prime-time shows I like.

Dammit. The only baseball I like is the one on Baseball Tonite they would show right before today's homerun list, and he would get hit and scream. I loved him so. I even have a little plush one from the ESPN store.

[Senor Audacity]

Beyond the annoying voice of Scooter is the path the knuckleball takes in the demonstration. They show that it moves up and down, but they just retraced the exact same path over and over. Knucklers are supposed to be unpredictable. And sometimes they enter the strike zone; Scooter's didn't. The brain wizards at Fox saw this abomination as an instructional tool for the young; what the hell is this teaching our boys and girls? "Don't hit a knuckleball, it'll bounce up and down, but it'll never, ever be a strike."

[NotTheRock]

I found it amusing to hear the disdain in Joe Buck's voice that he actually was required to talk about Scooter. Buck's a funny, sarcastic guy and you can always tell when he has that "I can't believe I work for this network" thought going on.

[GoldfishGirl42]

Hee.

Watched the Sox-Yankees game on NESN yesterday; I love the little(possibly one-sided) rivalry they've got going on with the YES guys. ( What with standing up and down and all that.) I think when there's nothing really going on in the game, they just switch to gently mocking whatever's going on in the opposing booth. ( Will have to watch some Sox-Yankees games on YES when I get back in their neck of the woods, and see if it goes the other way.)

Watching Toronto-Sox last week on my local UPN affiliate, I discovered an interesting thing to do( and wondered if anyone else does it.) Since a good portion of the games aren't televised, I usually listen to Joe and Jerry calling the game on WEEI. Watching the game on WSBK, the commentators are considerably more....well, boring. So, I turn down the sound on my little 13-incher, put on my Walkman headphones, and voila! Best of both worlds.

(Finally- dude! The Sox swept the series. Sweeet. / Nemo turtle voice)

Edited by GoldfishGirl42, Apr 25, 2004 @ 3:55 PM.

[wdejesus79]

I think when there's nothing really going on in the game, they just switch to gently mocking whatever's going on in the opposing booth. ( Will have to watch some Sox-Yankees games on YES when I get back in their neck of the woods, and see if it goes the other way.)

Well, can't tell you about Saturday's game, cause I was at the Stadium (good game), but I did watch Sunday's game on Yes. All Michael Kay & Co. do is praise the Yankees for breathing, and make excuses if they missed even the simplest play. On the flip side, they berate the Sox for missing impossible plays and downplay really good stuff they do. Then again, I hate the Yankees, so that's just how it sounds to me.

I wish I had NESN.

[GoldfishGirl42]

Well, can't tell you about Saturday's game, cause I was at the Stadium (good game), but I did watch Sunday's game on Yes. All Michael Kay & Co. do is praise the Yankees for breathing, and make excuses if they missed even the simplest play. On the flip side, they berate the Sox for missing impossible plays and downplay really good stuff they do. Then again, I hate the Yankees, so that's just how it sounds to me.

Lucky bastard; that was a good game. What did they say about Giambi missing that easy throw from Jeter? (Snerk.) ( I think that was Sunday.) That's what I respect about the NESN guys and Joe 'n Jerry from WEEI; if the Yankees do something great ( like a couple of ARod's catches) , they'll call a spade a spade. Likewise, if the Sox screw up, they'll say so.

I'm gonna miss NESN when I go home. :(

[wdejesus79]

Lucky bastard; that was a good game. What did they say about Giambi missing that easy throw from Jeter? (Snerk.) ( I think that was Sunday.)

I was lucky to get to go, except I bought the tickets from a scalper type, and I had to pay $60 to sit in the upper level tier seats. But it was well worth it.

I do think that was Sunday. I don't remember any glaring errors on the Yankees behalf in Saturday's game.

Did you see Jorge's error yesterday? Please, Kay & Co. just kept saying, "It's a hard catch." Yes, I can see how catching a foul pop up would be hard for major league catcher. HATE (tm Shack) Posada and Yes commentators.

That's what I respect about the NESN guys and Joe 'n Jerry from WEEI; if the Yankees do something great ( like a couple of ARod's catches) , they'll call a spade a spade. Likewise, if the Sox screw up, they'll say so.

I like that about the ESPN commentators, when they cover games, especially Joe Morgan and Jon Miller. You don't really detect bias.

[GoldfishGirl42]

Did you see Jorge's error yesterday? Please, Kay & Co. just kept saying, "It's a hard catch." Yes, I can see how catching a foul pop up would be hard for major league catcher. HATE (tm Shack) Posada and Yes commentators.

Well, actually, the NESN guys took it easy on Posada for that one. But not because it was any type of a hard catch; they said instead that it was an easy catch that Giambi should have been well under, and Jorge shouldn't have had to be out there in the first place.

HATE (tm Shack) Jason Giambi. And even though they're pretty even handed, the NESN guys seem to hate him too. I was watching a game with Travis Lee at first, in which Lee made some great plays, and most of the time they added to the praise "Had Giambi been at first, that wouldn't even have been near being caught" or something to that effect. (Snerk.)

[wdejesus79]

GoldfishGirl42, I should have specified. It wasn't the error that Jorge committed that I meant, but the other foul pop up, the first one Damon batted up. Jorge put his hand out to the side, instead of positioning himself under the ball and catching it with both hands.

But, maybe I'm being a bit harsh since I can't stand the guy. The only reason I like Yes telecasts are because they aren't all gimmicky like Fox's. It's just straight baseball, with a little chitchat, and couple trivia questions thrown in.

[cronox5]

The problem with YES telecasts is Michael Kay. Can't stand the guy at all. If they had a O'Neill/Singleton/Murcer and Girardi/Kaat rotation, I would watch a lot more.

And for the love of god George, get rid of Giambi already. The guy SUCKS.

[wdejesus79]

Even though I'm an East Coaster, I still agree with Colonial Philistine. Fox knows that the numbers wouldn't be the same (but I'm sure the Cubs-Cards game would have better ratings than whatever dreck they show on Friday night.)