Marty Brennaman

[Lyman_Bostock]

He was very good at NCAA basketball. I don't think he does it anymore, which is too bad.

And indeed, even when the Reds suck, it's worth listening just to hear him. Hope he's not planning to retire any time soon.

And, Bubbler, if there's one place where righties and lefties can find common ground, I've found it to be baseball. ;D

"22,304 witnessed tonight's titanic struggle ..."

 

[Bubbler]

Living in the Midwest, it's such an interesting contrast between the Reds and Cubs announcers, or Reds and Indians announcers. After listening to Brennaman, then listening to Santo, I can understand why someone would want to kick Santo's fellatio-giving, orgasm-in-the-booth whenever the Cubs do something good-ass, legs or not.

AND TOM HAMILTON, WHO WAS OK AS A SECOND-BANANA TO HERB SCORE, SPEAKS AT EAR-SPLITTING VOLUME AND IS ABOUT AS OBJECTIVE AS PRAVDA. LOUD NOISES!!

Both announcing teams make Mike Shannon palatable in comparison, even if he does sound like he's gurgling glass and he's had 13 too many clear, crisp Busch Lights.

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

As far as Midwest broadcasters go, I'll give a big thumbs-up to the Brewers. Bob Uecker and Jim Powell are very good. It's funny to hear Uecker play it straight on the broadcasts when he doesn't in just about everything else he does.

Pat Hughes on the Cubs games is very good, particularly when you consider he has to carry Santo.

Denny Matthews and Ryan Lefebvre on the Royals' games are solid.

Don't care much for John Gordon on the Twins games (he's a lot like Tom Hamilton), but Dan Gladden is OK.

Haven't listened to a Tigers game since Ernie Harwell retired.

And the White Sox? Forget it. I don't think there's a worse group of announcers for any big-league team, TV and radio combined, although Ed Farmer isn't awful on play by play.

 

[D-3 Fan]

He was very good at NCAA basketball. I don't think he does it anymore, which is too bad.

And indeed, even when the Reds suck, it's worth listening just to hear him. Hope he's not planning to retire any time soon.

And, Bubbler, if there's one place where righties and lefties can find common ground, I've found it to be baseball.  ;D

"22,304 witnessed tonight's titanic struggle ..."

Lyman, Westwood One decided to perform fellatio on Kevin Harlan and he ended up doing the radio p-b-p of the Final Four. That is a ****ing travesty if there is one.

I love Marty, and this is coming Cubs' fan who'll bribe the HOF committee so that Santo can get in the HOF (if not as a player or broadcaster, but as an unapologetic fanboy). The quote he laid on Griffey Jr. was priceless. It came on the heels of a play the night before. Junior hits a grounder and he dogs it to first, not really trying. Marty rips him a new asshole right on the spot on radio. A few of Juniors' friends hears it, relays it back to Junior and he confronts Marty in the bowels of old Riverfront Stadium the following day.

Junior was more stunned than shocked to see that Marty wasn't backing down and more inclined to whip his ass. Junior goes skulking away as Brennaman bitchslaped him with the "I was here before you got here, I'll be here when you're gone" line.

 

[buckweaver]

And the White Sox? Forget it. I don't think there's a worse group of announcers for any big-league team, TV and radio combined, although Ed Farmer isn't awful on play by play.

The Angels would like to challenge you to a duel. Or maybe Hawk and his ATM sidekick.

Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler are, hands down, the worst team this side of Chicago (and the other side of Chicago, too, for that matter.) It's a running joke in our newsroom that if we're excited about something (or, ahem, "pumped up," as Rexy likes to say), someone invariably goes, "Calm the **** down, Wonder Dog." (OK, I'm the only one that adds the "****." I'm a swearaholic. But we all know how "pumped up" Rexy likes to get.) ... And then there's Stevie Psychotic, who RAISES HIS VOICE if his "Halos" do well, even if the Angels just scored a go-ahead run in the fourth inning of a mid-June game against Tampa Bay.

It's such a fascinating contrast switching between Dodgers and Angels games out here. It's safe to conclude that Rexy and Steve never took any tips from the great, the legendary, the immaculate Vincent Scully. Now THERE's a broadcaster you could listen to, no matter how bad the team was ...

 

[D-3 Fan]

And the White Sox? Forget it. I don't think there's a worse group of announcers for any big-league team, TV and radio combined, although Ed Farmer isn't awful on play by play.

The Angels would like to challenge you to a duel. Or maybe Hawk and his ATM sidekick.

Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler are, hands down, the worst team this side of Chicago (and the other side of Chicago, too, for that matter.) It's a running joke in our newsroom that if we're excited about something (or, ahem, "pumped up," as Rexy likes to say), someone invariably goes, "Calm the **** down, Wonder Dog." (OK, I'm the only one that adds the "****." I'm a swearaholic. But we all know how "pumped up" Rexy likes to get.) ... And then there's Stevie Psychotic, who RAISES HIS VOICE if his "Halos" do well, even if the Angels just scored a go-ahead run in the fourth inning of a mid-June game against Tampa Bay.

It's such a fascinating contrast switching between Dodgers and Angels games out here. It's safe to conclude that Rexy and Steve never took any tips from the great, the legendary, the immaculate Vincent Scully. Now THERE's a broadcaster you could listen to, no matter how bad the team was ...

Sometimes, I think Marques Johnson wants to hang himself anytime Physioc goes ape on the Pac-10 hoop telecasts. No wonder why the Wonder Dog got caught with the hippie lettuce a while back. HE needed to calm the **** down!

No one, no one is as bad as Hawk and Lazy Eye Jackson. My god, as much as I want to see Ozzie's antics and the White Sox play, I can't watch it with those two "wonders of witticism." Ed Farmer and Chris Singleton isn't too bad, though Ed's delivery does irk me several times during the game.

BTW, Brennaman can whip Junior, Ozzie, and Loopy's ass three times without breaking a sweat. Brennaman would kill Mariotti with two fingers. I wish. :

 

[KP]

Living in the Midwest, it's such an interesting contrast between the Reds and Cubs announcers, or Reds and Indians announcers. After listening to Brennaman, then listening to Santo, I can understand why someone would want to kick Santo's fellatio-giving, orgasm-in-the-booth whenever the Cubs do something good-ass, legs or not.

AND TOM HAMILTON, WHO WAS OK AS A SECOND-BANANA TO HERB SCORE, SPEAKS AT EAR-SPLITTING VOLUME AND IS ABOUT AS OBJECTIVE AS PRAVDA. LOUD NOISES!!

Both announcing teams make Mike Shannon palatable in comparison, even if he does sound like he's gurgling glass and he's had 13 too many clear, crisp Busch Lights.

How were Hammy's calls of the two walkoff losses for the Tribe?
Castiglione and Trupiano are brutal, Red Sox are winning they sound like they are about to win the pennant. Sox are losing, they sound like someone just kicked their puppy. Trup has a bad habit of dropping his "Way Back" home run call a little too early and have it die on the warning track - we call that getting Trooped.

Sterling and Waldman suck. They clear can't stand the sound of the other's voice. YES, the Post writer that calls it Al-Yankeezira sums it up nicely. Kim Jones just flat out sucks.

 

[BYH]

I believe Brennaman also challenged Ron Santo to a fistfight a couple years back because Santo called Danny Graves "fat."

Did he also say he looked like a girl? Cause he does.

I heard a Twins broadcast for the first time today. This is not at all intended in poor taste, but did their PBP guy have a stroke? He was unlistenable.

One very underrated team is the DRays. Very relaxed and easy to listen to.

The Tigers' "analyst" (Hockey Goon told me his name) makes me want to slice my ears off. He's awful. The worst homer in the biz. Says "we" every other second.

Rangers guys are pretty good. The call of Gary Matthews Jr's brilliant catch was great.

I could listen to the Orioles guy 24/7. Great, great voice.

 

[pallister]

Ed Farmer and John Rooney were terrific, and while it's chic to not like Hawk around here, he is not above tempering his homerism with legitimate criticism. Can't say the same for Santo, who sounds like any whiny 6-year-old whenever things don't go the Cubs' way.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Hawk Harrelson makes my ears bleed. Cannot ****ing stand that pompous blowhard piece of ****.

Santo's pretty brutal though. There are even a lot of Cub fans who don't care for him believe it or not. I always thought Harry and Steve Stone were a great team. They always seemed to play off of each other pretty well.

 

[HoopsMcCann]

marty's the ****in' best

thing is, a couple of years ago when ken griffey jr. had 499 home runs, he said he wanted marty to call every one of his at-bats so that marty would call his 500th. i always thought that was pretty cool.

and bubbler, i had a similar experience when i did a column on ernie harwell. i was at the braves game and the tigers were in town and there was no other real reason to be there, so i ask ernie harwell if he had a couple of minutes. talked to him for a good 20 minutes, where he treated me like i was doing him a favor by talking to him. i write a column and that day get an email from harwell telling me how great the column was and that he was humbled and i shouldn't have said so many nice things.

it was unreal.

 

[Huggy]

It's such a fascinating contrast switching between Dodgers and Angels games out here. It's safe to conclude that Rexy and Steve never took any tips from the great, the legendary, the immaculate Vincent Scully. Now THERE's a broadcaster you could listen to, no matter how bad the team was ...

I just got back from 10 days in southern California and watched plenty of Dodger games. Scully was awesome, no matter how ****ty the Dodgers were. When the games were a write off he'd tell little stories or anecdotes like how the players kept cool during sweltering day games in the old days that were nice, compact and to the point. He didn't beat it to death or bring it up again three innings later. The BBC broadcasts of the World Cup that we got up here were a reminder that you can do sports with one one person in the booth and Scully continues to be brilliant on his own. I'd listen to Scully read the phone book.

You won't here too much criticism of the Blue Jays from their radio or TV crews. (Mind you, it might be tough to be too harsh when Ted Rogers owns not only the team, but their flagship radio station, the FAN, and the station that shows the overwhelming majority of their games up here, Rogers Sportsnet.)

On radio, Jerry Howarth has always been that folksy, great guy next door and his colour guy Warren Sawkiw (way over his head here I think) rarely has a salient point one way or the other. On TV, Jamie Campbell is just OK but he's big on puns and lame jokes. Rance Mulliniks is by far the best of their trio of rotating colour guys. Somebody needs to put a ****ing muzzle on Rod Black on TSN.

 

[dixiehack]

Brennaman is awesome. I'm amazed he doesn't swear on the air ... the man's language is, to be generous, quite salty.

Eighth inning last night, you can hear Marty chiding Stewart on air.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I just had another appointment ... you want me to do the trivia answer now?"

"Well, if it's a convienent time for you ..."

He also brought up the Nats fleecing trade, noting that the Reds' scoring average has dipped from 5.1 runs a game to 4.3 runs in the games since the deal.

 

[Bubbler]

I heard a Twins broadcast for the first time today. This is not at all intended in poor taste, but did their PBP guy have a stroke? He was unlistenable.

That was probably Herb Carneal, who has broadcasted the Twins since they moved to Minnesota. He's approximately 9,000 years old, at least if the carbon dating is accurate.

I think he only does Twins home games, and as gravely and difficult to hear as he is sometimes, he's a lot better than regulars John Gordon and Dan Gladden. Gordon sounds like a third-string weatherman from Rochester or something. Freaking bad.

 

[D-Backs Hack]

I always thought Harry and Steve Stone were a great team. They always seemed to play off of each other pretty well.

For a guy who for years had of the games he called beamed to every cable TV in the galaxy, I feel Stone has been tremendously underrated. If I'm running a network sports division, he's my first choice as No. 1 baseball analyst. Good for ESPN to have him.

There are really only two baseball commentators that I can say I've learned things from while wathcing a game: Tony Kubek (the best ever, in my opinion) and Stone.

And because I know the guy and like him, I'll stick up for Marty's kid. I know a few people who feel that Thom Brennaman, not Joe Buck, should be Fox's top baseball guy. And he has shown a predilection for criticizing the home team (especially for a lack of patience at the plate), and the other night in Wrigley, he did so with the general manager sitting next to him.

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

I heard a Twins broadcast for the first time today. This is not at all intended in poor taste, but did their PBP guy have a stroke? He was unlistenable.

That was probably Herb Carneal, who has broadcasted the Twins since they moved to Minnesota. He's approximately 9,000 years old, at least if the carbon dating is accurate.

I think he only does Twins home games, and as gravely and difficult to hear as he is sometimes, he's a lot better than regulars John Gordon and Dan Gladden. Gordon sounds like a third-string weatherman from Rochester or something. Freaking bad.

Herb in his prime was very good. He's got to be well on the north side of 80 by now. Gordon just has to learn to modulate his voice.

 

[Bubbler]

I heard a Twins broadcast for the first time today. This is not at all intended in poor taste, but did their PBP guy have a stroke? He was unlistenable.

That was probably Herb Carneal, who has broadcasted the Twins since they moved to Minnesota. He's approximately 9,000 years old, at least if the carbon dating is accurate.

I think he only does Twins home games, and as gravely and difficult to hear as he is sometimes, he's a lot better than regulars John Gordon and Dan Gladden. Gordon sounds like a third-string weatherman from Rochester or something. Freaking bad.

Herb in his prime was very good. He's got to be well on the north side of 80 by now. Gordon just has to learn to modulate his voice.

Yeah, Gordon has at least one Peter Brady voice moment in every Twins game I've ever heard. One of these days he'll hit puberty.

 

[Trey Beamon]

If a performance stinks, you might as well say so. Gives you more credibility when you rave about the good things. But so many teams insist the announcers start shoveling bull**** to cover up the obvious.

For Lanny Frattare and Greg Brown, who I enjoy, it's more like a bulldozer. I'd love to hear what they really think about Pirates' management...

 

[Jackie Treehorn]

Santo is unapologetic about his homerism -- I swear he thinks he's still on the team.
However, when the Cubs are scuffling, he is often critical.
Pat Hughes is very smooth.

I don't recall his name, but I like the guy who went to STL from the White Sox.
His HR call is especially good.

 

[pallister]

John Rooney.