Baseball Needs Some New Color?

[Xanadu Dragon]

OK, I'm no longer a huge football fan - - not like I used to be, around say 1979 to 1993.

But, I still watch the Superbowl - like yesterday. (Don't worry, I'm getting to baseball in a minute.)

And, SB XXXVI reminded me of, IMHO, the importance of a great color man on a national broadcast for a sport.

Madden, after all these years, is still a rare combination of Incredible Sport Specific IQ and Everyman Humor. The guy is a treasure.

Who is his counterpart on national baseball broadcasts - McCarver? Morgan? Please - - that's like trying to match up Bea Arthur to Halle Berry in a beauty contest.

Would you agree or disagree that having someone like Madden brings some interest into wanting to watch a broadcast - - and, ultimately, help promo the sport?

There has to be someone, this side of digging up Dizzy Dean, that would do for baseball what Madden does for football, no?

[sweaver]

Actually, Diz wasn't color, he was play-by-play...the better to have guys "slud" into third, and phantom steals to cover when he didn't see the guy take an extra base.

Morgan is actually pretty good, as was McCarver a few years ago, not so much now. I think the team of Miller and Morgan or Costas and Morgan would match up against the great broadcast teams of history.

[b-ball-lunachik]

I think Madden and Summerall were an awesome team...I will miss Summerall as I miss the days as a Giant fan where they used to do every game...

I think Madden does add a lot to the sport...I have yet to hear someone really say they dislike him...he's got it all -- he's a respected former coach but he doesn't have to repeat over and over that he was a coach (ala who was that ex SF coach -- his name escapes me?)...he can admit when he's wrong (last night when he thought the Pats should take it to OT) and he can be completely unbiased to either team...he's funny and he's interesting because he's a bit quirky with his not flying thing...

I don't think there is an equivalent in baseball and it would be great to have one...I've already stated my opinions on McCarver the other day and I was just talking to someone about Morgan the other day...I don't know if it's because I'm a Yankee fan, and I think despite his protests, he's completely anti-Yankee, but I just can't handle listening to him...even after they received complaints about him being anti-Yankee, he just went on to talk about that and how he isn't -- I think he's too self-centered to be a good broadcaster -- period.

I used to like Costas a lot...he let me down a bit in the game he did when he got back from the Sydney...I'm not sure if he was just tired or what, but he was very flat -- I couldn't believe it was a playoff game - it was devoid of all energy...but usually I like Costas...

[Xanadu Dragon]

Maybe some network should give a guy like Rich Gossage or John Kruk a shot?

[LeGrandOrange]

Krukie!
Actually, he did do a game with Matt Vasgersian (sp?) on FX, so he's perfectly capable of doing it.
It was that Padres...Brewers game?. I dunno, but Mike Darr ended it.
They said he did well, actually, but I was asleep, not like I'd know.

[Xanadu Dragon]

He's on the FOX "Best Sports Show Period" now - so, the Krukster has some camera time, among other things, under his belt.

[gyb13]

As a general rule, I can't really stand most former players doing commentary or 'analysis' on their own sport.
From Morgan and MacFarlane in baseball to Bradshaw and Theismann in football to Barkley and Kenny Smith in basketball...well, you get the picture.
Yes, they bring value to the telecast in giving the 'inside' perspective, but at the same time they are grossly lacking in objectivity and usually seem to be doing this simply for Narcissist reasons.

[LeGrandOrange]

Originally posted by Xanadu Dragon
He's on the FOX "Best Sports Show Period" now - so, the Krukster has some camera time, among other things, under his belt.

This is why I know he did the FX game.
Krukie did studio work for Fox's baseball coverage to start off his tenure with Fox before TBDSSP was formed, so he at least has experience being semi "professional", in addition to his stint with Vasgersian. BTW, Matt seems to have too much fun for his own good in the booth. He's like Kevin Harlan on Red Bull. But back to colour men...

[Duque]

Jim Deshaies does color commentary for the Astros. Though I think his sense of humor might be a little eclectic.

[Xanadu Dragon]

Originally posted by Duque
Jim Deshaies does color commentary for the Astros. Though I think his sense of humor might be a little eclectic.

Never heard him - but, any sense of humor is better than none (Morgan, McCarver). Doesn't even have to be stand-up stuff.

Madden's humor is his natural charm - like when he says things like one knee equals two feet, and stuff like that.

[KCBOOMER]

Never a big fan of the Madden-Summerall combo. Summerall was duller than dirt and you just wondered what monitor he was watching. Madden certainly has a human side that is appealing but he seems like he has lost touch with the technical side of the game for the last five years or so.

I don't know that the broadcast profession will permit their members to show that they enjoy the game. Any sense of enthusiasm is considered a display of non-objectivity.

I do like Joe Morgan, Jon Miller, Al Michaels, and Bob Costas to name a few.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Whoever was announcing a baseball game has never had an effect on whether or not I would watch it.

[mandamin]

I think Tony Gwynn will be a good color man, if that's what he wants to do (although I guess he'd probably have some value as a coach, too ). Bert Blyleven has done the Twins games for the past couple years, and I think he'd be great alongside a really (well, relatively) knowledgable play-by-play guy, like Bob Costas. Blyleven adds absolutely nothing intelligent to the game; he hardly even seems interested in talking about the game itself, except to "make a call " (as in prediction) or make a joke about it, and he knows just enough about the players to make him slightly better at pronouncing the difficult names than Haray Caray. But he's got this great, corny, groan-and-smack-your-forehead-but-laugh-anyway sense of humor. I think if you put him with somebody who's going to give you the information you want, like Costas, Blyleven would be one of the best color men in baseball. If you showed an ability to take a 2000 Twins game and make it fun, you'd be one too...

[Skip]

I wonder about Gwynn as a color guy. He just seems like one of those jolly guys that might not know when to shut up. I dont have a big overall problem with McCarver, although he does irritate me to death at times. Morgan is a bit too pretentious sounding, even though I dont think he neccessarily is that way himself. Costas could have been awesome had he subsumed himself into baseball rather than trying to be some overriding conscience of sports and live in the broader world of "all sports" and get the best of it all.

Baseball doesnt have a Madden. You know who might have done it? Rose has the savvy, the persona, the knowledge, and the brashness - but not the discipline/desire to excel in that area. If he had that missing link, he could have been a very good color guy.

Whaddya think?

[Xanadu Dragon]

I thought about Gwynn - but, he's now a college coach - doubt he's interested in the booth. I've always found him to be a guy that comes across as the kind of guy that you want to hang out with..............Rose? Pass. His speech is on the fringe of rumdum, IMHO.