End of an Era

Les229 2016-09-27 02:12:04 UTC #1

I began following baseball studiously in 1952 as a 12 year old seventh grader. The voice of the Dodgers was Red Barber, who was unusual for Brooklyn, he was a Mississippi guy with a very pronounced southern accent. He made it in New York because he was a great announcer who eventually made it to the Hall of Fame. His secondary partner was a young kid from the Bronx, Vince Scully who had grown up rooting for the then NY Giants. From that time forward, both in New York and Los Angeles, Vince was the voice of the Dodgers. I have for many years thought he was the best baseball announcer in the business. To me, when I think about the great American icon of the baseball announcer calling a game floating through the night, I hear Vince Scully’s voice. He probably was the best prepared announcer for each game of any guy I ever heard.

Trust me, I know more than most, that age catches up to us all, but I for one think the game has become poorer and wish him well.

donaldorc 2016-09-27 09:24:38 UTC #2

I know that I will be a minority voice because of what I've heard others on the board say about Scully. But when he would announce nationally televised games, to me he came off as pompous and condescending. He mostly butchered the pronunciation of the Latino names, while pretending he was an authority. Give me Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn any day--folksy and knowledgeable without the pretentiousness.

zambonir 2016-09-27 09:32:19 UTC #3

I am sort of with you, donaldorc. Granted I really only heard him regularly in his later years, thanks to MLB.TV. But there were definitely times it felt like he actually needed a color man. Or rather, a PBP man! He was definitely one-of-a-kind though, and also for a lot of people the last connection to the radio-only era (I don't know if that's factually true at this point, but obviously his style was best-suited for radio, filling all the silences when there was nothing to look at).

Philsmania 2016-09-27 14:06:58 UTC #4

Scully is the Last of the Mohicans...the last classic baseball broadcaster who was trained and developed to call baseball. Nowadays, they are all just generic sports broadcasters, guys like Tom McCarthy and Joe Buck.

julio 2016-09-27 14:41:31 UTC #5

Scott Franzke?

zambonir 2016-09-27 19:41:29 UTC #6

I'm pretty sure Joe Buck was developed to call baseball (as was Costas), it's just not the best way to make a living.

I do wish I got to listen to Frantzke more.

julio 2016-09-27 19:43:42 UTC #7

Turn on the radio, if you're local to Philly, or one of the network stations. Otherwise, MLB Gameday Audio is inexpensive, and all you need is a computer with an internet connection (or a phone, etc.).

olgrandad 2016-09-27 19:49:17 UTC #8

I heard my first radio broadcast of baseball in 1945 with the Cards-Browns WS and grew up listening to baseball on the radio in the Midwest. But I remember well watching on TV the Phils and Yankees play three tough games in the '50 WS. Those old radio broadcasters didn't translate well on TV. I kinda agree with those who didn't like Scully. He talked too much and waxed too poetic for me--and I didn't care for the Dodgers. I grew up watching Giants minor league games in Minneapolis (the old Minneapolis Millers of the American Association--The St. Paul Saints were a Dodgers farm), especially young Willie Mays who tore up the league as a teenager before being called up.

zambonir 2016-09-27 19:56:03 UTC #9

I have MLB TV, so sometimes I will overlay the radio feed, but that's still not ideal, and I generally can't resist having the video (often with the sound turned down, 'cause I can still get work done).

I do think having the superior announcers work radio makes sense though.

julio 2016-09-27 21:13:11 UTC #10

To me it's not a question of "superior." Radio requires a different kind of announcer - one who can paint a picture with words, because there's no picture without that. It requires a diligence - describing everything that happens - that the TV crew doesn't need.

Harry was good at this - but also an excellent TV PbP guy, where he'd say a bit less, let Richie tell more stories, etc. Harry could change those gears seamlessly. Not all PbP guys really can.

Even with Scottie and LA, there are times (lately, with out-of-hand games in and out-of-hand season), there are times I find myself snarling at the radio, "What about the pitch?! What was it?!" when they're involved in some some back-and-forth banter. I can't fault them - some of these games get long, and when you're getting drubbed... But still, they tend to report every pitch, every pickoff attempt, every step out by the batter, etc. They do a good job, and keep even the really bad games entertaining.

EastFallowfield 2016-09-27 21:41:20 UTC #11

I used to think about Scully the way Donaldorc does, but, yes, the more generic announcer guys you hear, the better Vin gets.

Philsmania 2016-09-27 21:48:23 UTC #12

julio:

zambonir:

I do think having the superior announcers work radio makes sense though.
Harry was good at this - but also an excellent TV PbP guy, where he'd say a bit less, let Richie tell more stories, etc. Harry could change those gears seamlessly. Not all PbP guys really can.

Even with Scottie and LA, there are times (lately, with out-of-hand games in and out-of-hand season), there are times I find myself snarling at the radio, "What about the pitch?! What was it?!" when they're involved in some some back-and-forth banter. I can't fault them - some of these games get long, and when you're getting drubbed... But still, they tend to report every pitch, every pickoff attempt, every step out by the batter, etc. They do a good job, and keep even the really bad games entertaining.

I know this may sound like sacrilege but I actually used to wish that Harry & Whitey would say a little more when they were teamed up on the radio. Sometimes, it was a pain in the neck to tune the dial into the Phillies game just right when they were in one of their stretches of silence. On a number of occasions, I found myself saying "C'mon, guys, say something!" while moving the dial back and forth in the area of 1210 AM!

As for the banter on the radio, it's probably LA. He used to clown around with Scott Graham a lot too.

EastFallowfield 2016-09-27 22:11:38 UTC #13

Used to have the great skill of tuning in the Harry/Rich silence while we were up in Maine. "That sounds like our guys not talking!"

LoneStarPhan 2016-09-28 01:38:28 UTC #14

Boy, that brings back memories. I sometimes could get the Phillies game on radio in upstate New York. Often I could pick them up with the car radio better than one in the house.

Now, I often follow the game in silence, since I'll have it on my iPad or laptop while my wife is watching something else on TV and I'm usually reading or doing something else while following the game.

zambonir 2016-09-28 03:08:56 UTC #15

I'm sure I will be listening and watching games a lot differently in whatever magical season awaits us 2 or 3 years from now, but half-watching or no-sound watching has been easier the past four seasons. In 2007 and 2008 I watched almost every game religiously. Of course I was also not on Twitter then (I joined during the World Series).

I imagine we'll see more changes to the Phillies' TV team sometime in the next three years. Not sure what individual contract terms are, but they work for Comcast now, whereas I believe the radio announcers still work for the Phillies.

Les229 2016-09-28 05:06:20 UTC #16

I did not expect everyone to agree with me. I loved Harry Kalas. I spent 38 years on the road with my job, in 8 different states and cities. In the out of the area cities, I would sit by the strongest radio that I could buy and try to bring in WCAU. Finding Harry, Richie and Andy Musser was like coming home. I realize that we have our own preferences, but as much as I loved Kalas and Richie, to me, Scully was the perfect announcer. I hate to see him leave.

donaldorc 2016-09-28 10:04:38 UTC #17

There have been times when I tune in late to a game, and a Phillie comes to bat and I want to hear what he has done so far in the game. They are so involved in their stories that they forget to give background information. I usually do like their banter, but it needs to be secondary to the actual game.

phillychuck 2016-09-28 12:20:43 UTC #18

donaldorc:

julio:

Even with Scottie and LA, there are times (lately, with out-of-hand games in and out-of-hand season), there are times I find myself snarling at the radio, "What about the pitch?! What was it?!" when they're involved in some some back-and-forth banter. I can't fault them - some of these games get long, and when you're getting drubbed... But still, they tend to report every pitch, every pickoff attempt, every step out by the batter, etc. They do a good job, and keep even the really bad games entertaining.
There have been times when I tune in late to a game, and a Phillie comes to bat and I want to hear what he has done so far in the game. They are so involved in their stories that they forget to give background information. I usually do like their banter, but it needs to be secondary to the actual game.

I think they'd be different if the games mattered in a pennant race. I remember them being different when they first came on the air in 2007 and the team was competitive, but memories can be faulty.

donaldorc 2016-09-28 12:55:43 UTC #19

I must add that for me, baseball has always been a game for the radio. Perhaps because we didn't have TV growing up, perhaps because I was so in love with my pocket transistor radio that I could carry every with me, I have never been taken by watching the game on TV. I remember picking beans or peas in the garden listening to afternoon games when the Phillies played the Cubs. I'd have my transistor radio in the bucket by my side. I remember listening to games with an earbud long after I was to be in bed.

I can, and have always multitasked while listening to games--usually doing a crossword puzzle, or skimming my news feeds on the computer. MLB's AtBat is perfect for me. I can listen to games wherever I am--Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, PA or VA, and currently in Switzerland, although most of the games are past my bed time. This morning when I got up, the Phillies and Braves were still playing, so I could take in the last part of the devastating loss.

Les229 2016-10-01 03:02:11 UTC #20

One of the things that I think is missing today is the uniqueness of the good announcers. In the golden age of radio, the announcers were each different. My job took me to 8 states and in each one I would try to find WCAU through the static and whistling. I could tell which game I had by the sound and style of each announcer. We had Richie and Harry. The cardinals had the great Jack Buck. There was Bob Prince in Pittsburg and Ernie Harwell in Detroit and Harry Carey in St. Louis and Chicago and on and on.

I read recently that Scully said that the one thing that he remembers that Red Smith told him was that every time he entered the booth the announcer brought one thing that no one else had with him. When Vince asked him what? Barber replied "You".

Today's announcers seem to have forgotten that. I seems that they are striving for the generic voice to come out of a computer. I hate it, half the time I turn the sound off.