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Best And Worst Local Baseball Announcers???

Markxxx

Markxxx

Living in Chicago, I was fortunate to experience two great sports announcers, Jack Brickhouse for the Cubs and Harry Carey for the Sox (later Cubs). I believe Brickhouse also did Sox games way back.

But I never saw sports announcers from other markets. So in your opinion what were some good and bad local sports announcers? You can also include other pro sports if you want.

Thanks
 
Mark said:
Living in Chicago, I was fortunate to experience two great sports announcers, Jack Brickhouse for the Cubs and Harry Carey for the Sox (later Cubs). I believe Brickhouse also did Sox games way back.
Click to expand...

You've also seen the worst: Hawk Harrelson (Sox) & Milo Hamilton (Cubs & Sox). And yes, Brickhouse called games on both sides of town for WGN-TV between 1948 and 1967, along with Bears games on WGN radio from 1953 to 1976.

Other Chicago greats, in no particular order: Jim Durham (Bulls), Johnny "Red" Kerr (Bulls), Joe McConnell (Sox & Bears), Brad Palmer (Bears), Wayne Larrivee (Bears & Bulls), Lloyd Pettit (Black Hawks), Vince Lloyd (Cubs), Pat Foley (Black Hawks), Steve Stone (Cubs & Sox), Jimmy Piersall (Sox), Bob Brenly (Cubs), Don Drysdale (Sox).

Other Chicago not-so-greats: Lou Boudreau (Cubs), Josh Lewin (Cubs), Jack Drees (Sox), JC Martin (Sox), Irv "Dat's right, Jack" Kupcinet (Bears), Mary Shane (Sox), Gary Bender (Bears)

I should include Ron Santo (Cubs) in the not-so-greats, but I can't. He wasn't paid to be a professional-sounding baseball analyst. He was paid to be Ron Santo, and he did that very well - similar to Myron Cope in Pittsburgh. Dick Butkus (Bears) also falls into this category.


But I never saw sports announcers from other markets. So in your opinion what were some good and bad local sports announcers? You can also include other pro sports if you want.
Click to expand...

Phoenix has/had...

The good: Al McCoy (Suns), Greg Schulte (Diamondbacks), Tom Dillon (Arizona State & Cardinals), Kurt Kielbeck (Coyotes), Charlie Simmer (Coyotes), Bob Brenly (D'backs), Thom Brennaman (D'backs), Dave Pasch (Cards)

The bad: Tim Healy (ASU & Cards), Jim Traber (D'backs), Ron Wolfley (Cards), Gary Bender (Suns)

The ugly: Daron Sutton & Mark Grace, aka "Dumberer and Dumberest" (D'backs)


But nobody alive today can hold a candle to the greatest baseball announcer of all time: Vin Scully. With Ernie Harwell, Phil Rizutto, Harry Kalas, Jack Brickhouse, Harry Caray, and Bob Prince gone, he's the last of a vanishing breed. Jon Miller of the Giants (and formerly of ESPN) is probably the closest right now to Scully.
 
Best: Red Barber (straight). Mel Allen (best homer). Van Patrick. Vin Scully (Barber's protege).

Worst: Harry Caray (obnoxious homer) . Bob Prince (ditto). All ex-jocks.
 
The Braves had Milo Hamilton the first few years they were in
Atlanta (I think he came with the team from Milwaukee), and
he wasn't the greatest. Ernie Johnson was good but too dull
for my taste. Skip Caray was as abrasive in person as he was
on the air; my dad and I once went to Chicago to see the Braves
play the Cubs and encountered him in the airport in Atlanta. When
we told him where we were going he asked, "Why would you go all
the way to Chicago just to see us?" (this is when the Braves were
still perennial doormats). (I wanted to go just to see Harry Caray
and sing along on "Take Me Out To The Ball Game," but I wasn't
disappointed because my then-idol Andre Dawson hit two home runs
in the Cubs' win that day.)

Dallas had Frank Glieber, who I know did Cowboys games and
maybe some Rangers games (Dick Risenhoover, who has since
passed on, did the Rangers when I lived out there). Glieber died
'way too soon. (BTW, Verne Lundquist didn't do play-by-play unless
hosting "Bowling For Dollars" counts; he was WFAA's 6 and 10 PM
sports guy.)
 
In the early 1980s, WUAB-TV 43 carried Cleveland Indians games, and they had the brainchild of having former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Reggie Rucker serve as color analyst.

Now Cleveland is a Browns town, and Rucker was a popular member of the Browns, but...he was a football player trying to break down the intricacies of baseball.
 
In the early 1980s, WUAB-TV 43 carried Cleveland Indians games, and they had the brainchild of having former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Reggie Rucker serve as color analyst.

Now Cleveland is a Browns town, and Rucker was a popular member of the Browns, but...he was a football player trying to break down the intricacies of baseball.
Click to expand...

Dear Lord, was he paired up with Bruce "All Bets Are Off" Drennan? That just sounds annoying.

I like the current TV PBP guy for the Tribe, Matt Underwood.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
In the early 1980s, WUAB-TV 43 carried Cleveland Indians games, and they had the brainchild of having former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Reggie Rucker serve as color analyst.

Now Cleveland is a Browns town, and Rucker was a popular member of the Browns, but...he was a football player trying to break down the intricacies of baseball.
Click to expand...

Dear Lord, was he paired up with Bruce "All Bets Are Off" Drennan? That just sounds annoying.

I like the current TV PBP guy for the Tribe, Matt Underwood.
Click to expand...

No, Joe Tait worked with Rucker, who tried to develop some lame gimmick about using the "Word of the Day." It was about as successful as his phony on-air claim that he had dinner with Sam Wyche the night before doing a Browns-Bengals game. That was the beginning of the end of his NFL network broadcasting career.

Rucker only lasted two years as an Indians commentator, in part because of his tendency to just blow off meaningless weekend games in September for his NBC gig. The guy who took his place in those games, Jack Corrigan, ended up taking his place for good the next year beside Tait, then became television PBP man for the next decade after Tait left after '87.

Underwood is too much of a brown-noser, IMO.
 
As it pertains to Southern California...

Best: Vin Scully (no doubt, THE gold standard), the late Rory Markas (Angels radio and TV--not the greatest, but certainly a lot better than his colleagues in either their radio or TV booth during his tenure)

So-so: Ross Porter (previously Dodgers radio/TV; was way too much of a stat-rattler, but a very technically-sound announcer), Terry Smith (Angels radio), Charley Steiner (Dodgers radio), Steve Physioc (formerly Angels radio/TV, now with the Kansas City Royals)

Bad: Rex Hudler (a younger and somewhat-saner version of Ron Santo).
 
KeithE4 said:
Mark said:
Living in Chicago, I was fortunate to experience two great sports announcers, Jack Brickhouse for the Cubs and Harry Carey for the Sox (later Cubs). I believe Brickhouse also did Sox games way back.
Click to expand...

You've also seen the worst: Hawk Harrelson (Sox) & Milo Hamilton (Cubs & Sox). And yes, Brickhouse called games on both sides of town for WGN-TV between 1948 and 1967, along with Bears games on WGN radio from 1953 to 1976.

Other Chicago greats, in no particular order: Jim Durham (Bulls), Johnny "Red" Kerr (Bulls), Joe McConnell (Sox & Bears), Brad Palmer (Bears), Wayne Larrivee (Bears & Bulls), Lloyd Pettit (Black Hawks), Vince Lloyd (Cubs), Pat Foley (Black Hawks), Steve Stone (Cubs & Sox), Jimmy Piersall (Sox), Bob Brenly (Cubs), Don Drysdale (Sox).

Other Chicago not-so-greats: Lou Boudreau (Cubs), Josh Lewin (Cubs), Jack Drees (Sox), JC Martin (Sox), Irv "Dat's right, Jack" Kupcinet (Bears), Mary Shane (Sox), Gary Bender (Bears)

I should include Ron Santo (Cubs) in the not-so-greats, but I can't. He wasn't paid to be a professional-sounding baseball analyst. He was paid to be Ron Santo, and he did that very well - similar to Myron Cope in Pittsburgh. Dick Butkus (Bears) also falls into this category.
Click to expand...

Well said! I would also include Greats: Bob Elson (White Sox), Jack Quinlan (Cubs) Red Rush (College Basketball....especially Loyola).

Not-so-Greats: Joe Carter (Cubs), Ed Farmer (White Sox)

Out of town, but nearby.....

Greats: Bob Uecker (Brewers), Jack Buck (Cardinals), Mike Shannon (Cardnals), Eddie Doucette (Bucks), Ray Scott (Packers), Jim Irwin (Packers, Badgers), Max Magee (Packers). Two others....already mentioned for Chicago....Wayne Larivee and Joe McConnell for their work with the Packers and Vikings respectively.
 
Corky Marlowe said:
You've also seen the worst: Hawk Harrelson (Sox)
Click to expand...

Do I agree? You can put it on the booooooard, yeah!
Click to expand...

If you thought Hawk was bad, just pair him with Dick Stockton. They did Red Sox games on WSBK 38 in the 70s.

The worst baseball announcer we've had in Boston was Bob Kurtz. By his own admission Bob (now the voice of the Minnesota Wild) is much happier doing hockey. The weirdest booth combination has to be Ned Martin and Bob Montgomery - aka "The Professor and Gomer". I can't count how many times I fell asleep listening to them, or how many times they forgot even what inning they were in.
 
Holy Cow! No one has mentioned Phil Rizzuto -Scouter. What a bunch of huckleberries. The boobirds are out today.
 
Hawk stayed on with Ned Martin after Stockton left for the network and I always hated it when he called Ned "Nedley".

I'd have to agree about Bob Kurtz. Kurtz, I think, came up from minor league announcing and had a bad habit of calling the players "kiddie" names such as calling Tim Naerhing "Timmy" or something like that. I couldn't stand it. He had spent a year or two or three as NESN's in studio host before succeeding Ned Martin on play by play and I really don't think he ever gelled.

Bob Montgomery was probably at his best with Ned Martin on TV-38. I think he really expected to get the play by play job when Ned went over to NESN exclulsively but the job went to Sean McDonough (?) and he felt really betrayed. Monty and Sean were ok for awhile.

And, speaking of Monty, NESN showed a PawSox game a few days ago and Monty was the analyst with Tom Caron calling the action. I saw just a few minutes of it but it was still good to hear Monty.

Dick Stockton and Ned Martin are my two fave picks for best Red Sox play by play. Sean McDonough would be next and would be tied with the other guys but he spent too much time making controversial remarks along with his play by play. Sean, just do your job and leave everything else out of it.

Don Orsillo is good, I have no real issues with him other than he gets too silly with Jerry Remy.

Worst is Bob Kurtz as already mentioned.

RemDawg is ok as an analyst but doesn't say much of anything at times. The best thing, if you can call it that, about his being out sick is that we get to hear different people fill in. Dennis Eckersley is excellent.

The regular Red Sox announcing teams that I can remember:

Dick Stockton and Hawk Harrelson (TV-38)
Ned Martin and Hawk (TV-38)
Ned and Monty (TV-38)
Ned and Jerry (NESN, which started around 1988)
Sean and Monty (TV-38)
Sean and Jerry (TV-38 and eventually NESN too I think)
Bob Kurtz and Jerry (NESN)
Orsillo and Remy (NESN)
 
Me being a Yankees fan since 1981, I have to mention John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman for WCBS-AM 880 of New York. Even John gets on my nerves sometimes. Suzyn is often like nails on a chalkboard "JAWN". (Goodness gracious indeed!) :D
 
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