Yeah...and probably spend their time spouting useless statistics like "PPIAS."

(Pinstripes Per Inches of Ass Squared)

"Gracious, two of them are here in the same outfit. How mortifying that must be."

Oh my God, a lady Yankees announcer. Why she'll just go on and on about how WUNNNNDERFUL Derek Jeter is and not even call the game.

So, she won't be any different than the announcers on Fox and ESPN.

If MLB actually did ban female broadcasters, I'd be more than willing to donate to the "Give Jeff Brantley an Involuntary Sex Change Operation" fund.

Dear Neutrino-

Can we get a two for one deal if we throw in Joe Morgan?

Kisses,

Neil

I think the more valid question is, "Should John Sterling be allowed to broadcast anything, anywhere, at any time?" Or, "Should anyone be allowed to spell Susan that way?"

Wait, and she's a RADIO commentator?! How can she be objectified eye candy if you can't even SEE her? Somebody has to get her in touch with Melissa Stark and Jeanne Zelasko!

Ridiculous. All a woman should know about baseball is the best way to be quiet while her man watches the game.

I've listened to Sterling & Waldman, but never for longer than a few innings. I tend to picture them as Tevye and Golda from Fiddler on the Roof. Fine for an ethnic musical, but not the first choice for a ball game.

I miss Herb Carneal. I also miss Halsey Hall.

Bat-girl, keep up the good work. You keep me in touch with my roots!

Yours from Minnesota, now on the east coast
JOE

First of all, keep in mind that this isn't really a new development, as she was broadcasting all of last season.

Secondly, I have to say that Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling are one of my favorite broadcasting duos (behind, at least, Chad Hartman and Billy McKinney of the Wolves). In fact, usually when I watch Yankees games on MLB.tv, I purposely put on the radio stream for the audio. They have a good chemistry (although i've heard Sterling is hard to work with), good radio voices (to me, at least), and they tell it like it is -- even if that means ripping on the yankees.

Thirdly, in spite of the phrase "when I watch Yankees games" (gasp!) in the previous paragraph, I am a Twins fan in Minnesota.

It is sad that it has come to this. Suzyn Waldman is a great baseball mind, and a wonderful baseball reporter. She is not, however, a good radio announcer. Coupled with Sterling (who I love, incidentally -- he essentially has become a parody of himself and other announcers - high comedy) she is left with almost no role and limited mobility. It is a shame that such a progressive step is being wasted because of a poor selection. Unfortunately, Waldman is not a good radio announcer -- she doesn't make me feel like I can see the game (something that, for all his faults, Michael Kay was excellent at).

Question: Should girls be allowed to broadcast major league baseball games?

The answer from my point of view is (no pun intended) YES, but not Waldman. I have been to Yankee games with women who would make great announcers. When they can find a woman who can call a game the way it should be called, and no doubt there are many of them out there, then it is going to be great. Until then, we should work on replacing all the maroons that are calling games as we speak, and that includes both men and women.
Non-Sexistily Yours,
YankeeFan

Anyone else watching the Twins-Red Sox game? Anyone else notice that Manny Ramirez' new(est) hair makes him look a bit like Santino Rice?

Ron Davis watches Project Runway?

He sure does. Us guys get together at Buffalo Wild Wings on Wednesdays and watch Runway on one big screen and pro rasslin' on the other. Gotta problem wit' that, bubba?

//they tell it like it is -- even if that means ripping on the yankees.//

this is true and very much appreciated by this red sox fan trapped in Fairfield County, CT.

//Suzyn Waldman is a great baseball mind, and a wonderful baseball reporter. She is not...a good radio announcer -- she doesn't make me feel like I can see the game (something that, for all his faults, Michael Kay was excellent at). //

this is also true. i don't feel she has a handle on what her role is supposed to be about- she's just a reporter on the radio instead of being an announcer.

but I like her, despite the fact that she's a traitor (born & raised Boston Red Sox fan). I don't see any reason why women shouldn't be sports broadcasters - but then again, I'm a woman; my opinion on this may not matter. The question is: what percentage of men disregard sports analysis if it comes from a woman?

also://Manny Ramirez' new(est) hair makes him look a bit like Santino Rice?//
Noooooooooo!

Maybe BatMom, Batgirl and Sooz could be the new Twins announcers?

I was just checking out pre-season stats and there is some guy named D Deeds listed on the website. When I clicked on him there was no given first name, so I can only assume the D stands for Dirty. I hope he makes the team cuz I think Batgirl could have some fun with a player named Dirty Deeds, and I bet we could sign him and get a deal done dirt cheap.

Totally off topic...

Inspired by the World Baseball Classic, I just found out they have a Baseball League in, of all places, Germany. And much like us, they appear to be dreaming of that first pitch... although something seems to be lost in translation through Google.

From the Regensburg Legionäre baseball club website....

"Even if the snow masses in the arm in wolf arena do not permit a thought to baseball and the forthcoming season 2006, the season start is no longer far. Therefore it is to be made at the time, a few thoughts over our team and their opponent."

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.legionaere.de/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DRegensburg%2BLegion%25C3%25A4re%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

Baseball... all around the world, "the season start is no longer far", if only those damn snow masses would melt. Perhaps Regensburg would be interested in a slightly used dome?

It is high ! It is deep ! It isss.... GONE ! The Yankees win ! Thhhheeeeeeeeee Yankees Win !

I liked Charlie Steiner when he did the games with John. Where is Charlie at now ? Bring him back. Maybe we can go back to the days of Bill White and Bobby Murcer.

As far a lady answers I think they could do the job, Robin Roberts on ABC has always sounded good, I think she could do a baseball game. It might be fun though to find a chinck from Brooklyn with a NYC accent as thick as a brick to call the Yankee games with John.

And, quite possibly the coolest Baseball team name ever...

the Dohren Wild Farmers

Maybe we could like, replace the Royals with them or something.

http://www.wildfarmers.de/

I have to agree with a previous poster who pointed out that the real question should be, "Should she be allowed to spell Susan that way?" Other than that, chicks know nothing about baseball and should only be allowed into the stadium when accompanied by a male who can tell them when to cheer and when to jeer.

I'm all about equality for all. Women want to call a game? That's great. As long as you do a better job than the White Sox TV crew, which shouldn't be too hard. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but there is nothing that says a woman, should she possess the right skills, can't play baseball at the Major League level. Does Joe Mauer have any switch-hitting sisters that hit for power and average? If so, sign them up!

My personal stance on baseball announcers is that they must have a voice that would be annoying outside of announcing baseball.

My guess is that four-fifths of the female correspondents to this website could do a more insightful job of broadcasting than the ever-banal Gordon and Blyleven.

Hooray for D Deeds! Thanks for alerting us to this wonderful possibility, soccerfan.
I hope he makes the team as well, perhaps as a reliever or maybe just make him the closer so that he can enter the game to a certain AC/DC song. I don't think we'd get to hear enough of the song if it was just his theme music coming to bat. Not nearly enough, come to think of it. And come on, Joe Nathan isn't so good as to trump the comedy of D Deeds. What's really important in baseball anyway, wins and losses? Sheesh.
Time to break out the record player and dream of a new twins closer.

Dear mr. goatboy,

I recall that at least one woman has been drafted by an MLB team. And on purpose too! She never made the show, unfortunately.

cheers
-cdi

Oh, Opposite Field - taking shots at our beloved John Gordon and Bert Blyleven? Come now. I don't know what your frame of reference is, but the LAST word I would use to describe Bert is "banal". A bit goofy at times, perhaps, and grammatically challenged to be sure, but banal? And Gordon, while not flashy, is rock-solid at his craft, knows what he's paid to do, and does it very well - hardly "trivial" or "commonplace" (which is how Mr. Webster defines "banal"). All I can say is that anyone who thinks that being a broadcaster is easy, or that "four-fifths of the female correspondents to this website" could do it well and make it consistently interesting over the course of a 162-game schedule, clearly has no concept of the demands of the gig.

Of course, four-fifths of the males on this site (or five-fifths, for that matter) would be no better than the ladies. I wasn't trying to make a gender-based point there.

Chiming in to agree with adidasman about Dick and Bert. Opposite field, you sound rather difficult to please. As an out-of-towner who has to rely on mlb.tv to catch the games, with which half the time you are watching the game with the OTHER team's announcers, I can attest that our guys our top of the line. Occasionally, I can see where one might say they're banal, but like adidasman said, it is probably mainly due to the fact that they have to do this for 3 hours at a time 162 times a year.

I enjoy Bert's combination of goofiness and knowledge of the game as well as Dick's articulacy and enthusiasm.

It's true there are other announcers that have more energy than our guys. But not by tons, and usually when they get excited they get all tongue-tied and/or incoherent. Our guys can be excited and still make sense. Dick and Bert really do call an excellent game.

(D Deeds name is Doug. We can call him whatever we want, though.)

Just one night watching those idiots who do the White Sox games (I can't even bring myself to mention their names - and the thought of having to suffer through them several times this year on my MLB Extra Innings package is almost too much to bear) should convince anyone how lucky we are to have Bert and Dick - and what about the Red Sox TV guys? Yawn. Painful, to say the least.

I completely agree with adidasman about the dopes who do the White Sox games. That doesn't make some of our guys good. Gordon's "touch 'em all" hasn't worked for me since Kirby hit his Game 6 dinger in 1991. As for Bert, I love the "circle me" schtick, but I can't remember anything he's said about the game itself that struck me as being particularly insightful. The guy was a terrific major league ballplayer. He knows more about the game than I'll ever know. The fact that he can't seem to articulate it seems a terrible waste. Anybody remember Jim Kaat? He'd tell you stuff about the game that you couldn't figure out for yourself. So does Tim McCarver, though every time I hear his voice I think of ducks quacking. In sum, when I'm painting the back fence on a nice summer afternoon, with a bottle of beer in my hand, I'd rather be listening to Herb Carneal than "Touch 'em all, Lew Ford!" (Except for the fact that if Lew's touching them all, our guys are probably winning.) By the way, I do like Dick Bremer--he doesn't get in the way of the game. And by the way again, this is a lovely website. I've been reading it off and on for about a year now, and finally couldn't resist jumping into the pool. I was a pre-teen when the Twins came to town, and this site, plus all the interesting controversies that arise on it, have helped to rekindle my interest in the game. Thanks to all of you. And thanks, BG!

I've done sports broadcasting at relatively minor level, but high enough to know it's very challenging and a lot of fun. There's no question in my mind a woman could do it.

Rebecca mentioned something I always look for in strong broadcasters -- can they paint a picture of what's happening at the game, both on the field and around the park? The catch phrases can be annoying or endearing, but they don't matter too much in the whole picture.

I've heard Waldman before. She's alright, but not fantastic IMHO. My biggest beef with her is that she seems so pro-Yankee (despite her Boston roots) that she sort of shuts down when the Yankees are losing. She is supposedly a fantastic singer though.

Public Enemy Mike, Steiner was doing Dodger games last year. He was on the same broadcast team as Vin Scully though I never heard the two on the call at the same time.

Bill Veeck hired a woman announcer back in 1977, Mary Shane. Sadly she was not well received and went on to become a sportswriter before her tragic death at the age of 39.

I listened to Waldman and Sterling on XM last year. She only does color and seems to know the Yankees well.

Mr Goat Boy-

There is baseball in many countries around the world where you wouldn't expect it.

I, myself, played at the AA level. In England.

And no, it wasn't Cricket.

I was color commentator for about 13 college basketball games (Winona State!:D) last year. That was a lot of fun. But baseball would be hard. And my New York friend doesn't like her. At least I think that's what she said. Eh, I don't remember.