Three Calls of J-Roll's Walk-off Double

Courtesy of mlb.com, here are the three different calls of the last play of the game last night -- TBS's announcers as well as the Phillies' and Dodgers' radio announcers. Larry Andersen going wild in the background is awesome. On the flip side, it's sad to hear Vin Scully sounding so old.

about 1 month ago David S. Cohen 42 comments 0 recs |

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The TBS call

What the heck was Caray doing? “The throw to the plate is… not in time!”. Except.. there wasn’t a throw to the plate. And Ruiz scored easily.

by wildcatlh on Oct 20, 2009 11:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I had the same reaction. It would be one thing if he were on the radio and trying to make it sound closer than it was. But, he was saying that as the images were being aired that showed he was just making stuff up.

by David S. Cohen on Oct 20, 2009 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ruiz was seriously on third by the time a dodger got to ball

I R 5

by say hey nation on Oct 20, 2009 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is Chip Caray, he of the infamous “single” in the Twins/Tigers game that was actually a liner that settled into Ryan Raburn’s glove. That he would totally mis-narrate events isn’t even a minor surprise.

by PhillyFriar on Oct 20, 2009 2:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Was it fisted?

by Steve J on Oct 20, 2009 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

those fake Chip Caray tweets are pretty funny.

by Wet Luzinski on Oct 20, 2009 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hear his father drank!

by Wet Luzinski on Oct 20, 2009 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Good job by Franzke.

When L.A. screams “YEAH!” and what not in the background of these calls, it’s too much even for me. I don’t mind a little homerism from my local announcers but that’s a bridge too far for my tastes. L.A. should at least copy off of Whitey with a slightly toned-down “WHOA! WHOA!”

Caray is horrible. That he’s one of Scully’s modern-day successors as one network’s lead national TV broadcaster is an utter travesty.

by taco pal on Oct 20, 2009 11:39 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I am perfectly okay with it. What grates on me about L.A. are his racial moments and his often uneven bitching about the umpires and or the play of division rivals.

by FuquaManuel on Oct 20, 2009 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The umpire comments

Almost universally preceded by, “And I said I’d lay off the umpires, but…”

by Steve J on Oct 20, 2009 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

its acceptable to be a homer on the home team broadcast in the playoffs. I mean..c’mon…..everybody knows who LA is pulling for.

For the TBS crew to have an LA slant isn’t acceptable.

If I were listening to Vin Scully, I’d fully expect him to be excited when the Dodgers make good plays (although he’s so silky smooth, he probably doesn’t!)

by Bilzo on Oct 20, 2009 3:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, personally. And I have a particular love for those two guys – they’ve been my eyes for this whole season. Larry has some utterly ridiculous tendencies, though.

by Steve J on Oct 20, 2009 3:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

awright...I'll bite

I’m not saying he isn’t….but I’ve never noticed anything LA says to be racist. If you can cite me an example, I’d like to hear it. Maybe he is, and I just don’t notice it…..

He is quite curmudgeonly at times, I’ll give him that.

by Bilzo on Oct 20, 2009 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You could maybe call it cultural-ist, if you want, though that’s drawing a very fine line. L.A. clearly doesn’t like black youth culture (guys who wear their hats crooked, play with “flash”, etc.). I don’t doubt that L.A. has no hostility to old-school black guys though, like the guys he played with.

by taco pal on Oct 20, 2009 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What a poorly constructed last sentence. What I was trying to get at is, if L.A. were to tell me that some of his best friends were black, I would actually believe him. Although that doesn’t necessarily absolve him.

by taco pal on Oct 20, 2009 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and?

i cant particularly stand the crooked and flat brim hat with stickers on em. I think it looks downright retarded and that ain’t racial in the least… it just looks plan stupid.

I love listening to LA and Scott Frankse. I’d listen to those two over Wheels and Tom any day. They have amazing passion and LA often says the things I’m thinking.

I also enjoy when JJ fills in as well. He’s great. On the caliber of Vin.

by glitched on Oct 24, 2009 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I didn’t say racist. I said he has his “racial moments.” i.e. his incessant ranting and raving about players like Lastings MIlledge is really cringe worthy…especially when you consider that he rarely directs the same vitriol to similar white players.

I don’t think he is a racist though. I agree with taco pal, I see him more like a grumpy old man who doesn’t get black youth culture. A bit like Bill O’Reilly. It is clearly a problematic racial discourse, but it is not overtly racist.

by FuquaManuel on Oct 20, 2009 5:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ok

i see your points.

I don’t see LA as racist, but I’ll concede that he’s not a fan of hip-hoppers.

by Bilzo on Oct 20, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

And to be honest, I’m a young black woman and I understand some of his complaints because this crap going on today (Soulja Boy, etc), even I don’t get.

"Want a donut go to dunkin donuts, want a linebacker go to Penn State."
- Cris Carter, NFL Draft, 4/25/09

by kmblue on Oct 20, 2009 7:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I had to google “superman” to find out what that reference was to.

I’ll credit that song with introducing me to urbandictionary.com, which I’ve found to be a pretty good resource, and quite entertaining at the same time.

by Bilzo on Oct 20, 2009 8:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who are the best play-by-play announcers in America today who are in their primes? And why aren’t they the national announcers?

In the ’80s, the conventional wisdom was that Scully and Jack Buck were the best in the business. And behold, those were the national TV and radio announcers. Nobody thinks Joe Buck and Chip Caray are the best in the business today, so what are they doing there?

by taco pal on Oct 20, 2009 11:59 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I like Duane Kuiper and Jon Miller

/homerism

I R 5

by say hey nation on Oct 20, 2009 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t know Kuiper, but I like Miller. Sunday Night Baseball would be phenomenal if he were teamed with somebody other than Joe Morgan (and Steve Phillips).

by phatj on Oct 20, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

From what I’ve heard, Kuiper is excellent.

"It was almost like if Harry didn't call it, it wasn't real." - Jayson Stark

by Chris Haines on Oct 20, 2009 1:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Krukow and Kuiper are really good. Probably my favorite non-national crew (which makes them my favorite crew, period).

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Oct 20, 2009 5:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Here’s a random discussion thread I found where a bunch of schmos talked about their favorite and least favorite announcers.

The ones who mentioned Kuiper disliked him. Then again, one nitwit listed “the dude that does Phillies games” (presumably Harry Kalas) as one of his worst announcers, so whatever.

by taco pal on Oct 20, 2009 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nepotism?

Being honest here.. would Buck or Caray really be in their current positions without the family legacy?

by wildcatlh on Oct 20, 2009 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No.

by Steve J on Oct 20, 2009 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Definitely not. I don’t think “nepotism” is the right word exactly, but your point is well taken.

by taco pal on Oct 20, 2009 12:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

you know whats said? I actually enjoyed Buck for about 5 innings of Game 1 of the ALCS after hearing Caray.

I R 5

by say hey nation on Oct 20, 2009 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

They are opposites in many ways. Caray strikes me as somewhat hyperactive while Buck always sounds like he thinks there are more important things he could be doing.

by FuquaManuel on Oct 20, 2009 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m in the minority, but for some reason, I don’t mind Buck. Maybe it’s like you said: because in comparison to Chip Caray and the bevy of idiotic color men in the game today (Joe Morgan, Tim McCarver, Buck Martinez, Steve Phillips, Joe Simpson, etc.), Buck isn’t so bad after all.

by PhillyFriar on Oct 20, 2009 2:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have no problem with Joe Buck. He’s not his Dad, but neither is anyone else. Caray is beyond terrible though.

I listened to a Rays game before and thought Kalas’ kid is pretty good.

by Cormican on Oct 20, 2009 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t really have a major problem with Buck, though he seems to lack any enthusiasm for the game and he lets McCarver talk too much.

I like Todd Kalas quite a bit from the little I’ve heard of him.

by phatj on Oct 20, 2009 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I find Buck pompous and aloof. McCarver is crotchety, and I often disagree with his strategic commentary.

I like Miller, Scully, and Costas.

by Bilzo on Oct 20, 2009 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have always liked Miller.

I used to listen and watch a lot of Oriole games when he was there(so was I). As far as the others, Buck is OK but because he is with McCarver, he has to clean up his messes, so he sounds worse than he is. As for Todd K, I think he is very good, we live in Orlando area and get both Rays and Marlins coverage which is just average except Todd.

by SmilingJPhilsPhan on Oct 20, 2009 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Charlie Manuel

I watched some MLB Network on TV earlier and they had Manuel doing a press conference. I haven’t seen him do these before, only caught the odd clip or two, but today I’d use the word giddy to describe his tone. There was just so much happiness bubbling out of the guy that you had to wonder – if he feels this way a lot of the time how it must rub off on his players. Another memorable moment: the way he described looking over into the Dodgers’ dugout in the ninth inning when Rollins was up and making a signal to Jim Thome that Rollins was going to blast one into the outfield. Charlie Manuel and Babe Ruth, calling the shot.

by phillyinportland on Oct 20, 2009 3:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs