Matthew Grieco wrote:
Actually, I'm hard pressed to name a current color commentator that I like, on any TV network. As far as radio goes, Suzyn Waldman of the Yankees Radio Network does a pretty good job (and on a purely aesthetic level, I think it works well having a woman's voice in counterpoint to allow the ear to easily distinguish the commentary from John Sterling's play-by-play).
Any nominees for Baseball Television Color Commentator Who Isn't Awful? Kind of a small set, as McCarver and Morgan are the only ones with a regular national audience. Hard to believe either network can't do much, much better.
First of all, John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman are execrable. They are by far the worst baseball-broadcasting duo in the 30 years or so that I have been a sentient baseball fan (I'm 38). Sterling is insufferably pompous and is often conducting a talk show from Mars rather than announcing a baseball game, expostulating on subjects that have nothing even remotely to do with baseball ("Down low, 2-0") while treating the game being played before him as a mere annoyance. He never lets the fan forget that he thinks the game is all about him, coming up with ridiculously contrived home run calls ("The Giambino!" "Bam-Tino!" "Alexander the Great conquers again!") that condescend to the baseball knowledge of the audience (comparing Jason Giambi to Babe Ruth is patently absurd) and aggrandize himself.
Suzyn Waldman, while meaning well, comes off as obsequious and insipid, laughing at whatever comes out of Sterling's mouth, even when it's not remotely funny. Her voice is grating and shrill, and her Boston accent is so thick as to be impenetrable at times. (This criticism has nothing to do with the Boston-New York rivalry, trust me.) And the sad thing is that she offers far more cogent baseball observations than John ever does, but John almost never responds to them. She'll say something that will beg for comment from John, and it will be met by silence.
Add these deficiencies to the incessant selling on the broadcasts, and you have an unlistenable station. Every single word John and Suzyn say is sponsored, and the listener cannot escape the live spots. "First-inning pitch speed, brought to you by..." "That was the 15th out of the game, brought to you by..." "At the plate is Hideki Matsui, and if your plate is at [Japanese restaurant name]..." "Seventh-inning pitch speed, brought to you by..." God, almighty, it's beyond the limits of human tolerance. That's why I bought XM radio this year. At least 81 times a year I can listen to a broadcast that isn't cluttered with ads and that features genuine interaction between the announcers and baseball talk instead of promotions.
Now, if you want to know who the best color man in baseball is (possibly aside from Vin Scully), it's easy: Jim Kaat, who works on the YES Network. Yankee fans are so lucky to have his honest, incisive, reassuringly paternalistic voice doing the Yanks' games for however many games a year he works. He's unafraid to criticize the Yankees, unlike the other announcers (all, including Kaat, are Yankees employees); he brings clever, funny, relevant anecdotes from his playing past to game situations; and he's laid back and lets the game tell the story for the most part. He also works very well with Ken Singleton, the former Orioles great, and the viewer gets an excellent balance of the pitcher's perspective on a certain situation and the hitter's perspective.
As for the Yanks' best radio team since '76: aside from Bill White and whoever was working alongside him (Frank Messer, Phil Rizzuto, Bobby Murcer), I'd have to say Tommy Hutton and Hank Greenwald, from 1987 to 1988. They were here all too short a time. They were both very knowledgeable (Hutton was a fringe major league player), friendly, extremely low key and funny.
Greenwald had gone into retirement, but I found to my great delight this summer while watching an A's game on my cable system's out-of-market package that he did some games this year for Fox Sports Net Bay Area. I heard the play-by-play man's voice that night and thought, Boy, he sounds familiar. Sounds like Hank Greenwald! A quick trip to Fox Sports Net's website revealed it was indeed he.
I'm not sure what happened to Hutton.
I still have on audiotape Bill White and Jack Buck calling the 1987 World Series on radio, for CBS, I believe. That was an excellent team too.