I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

I voted for Jim Kaat.
Joe Buck won't make it....neither will Bert Blyleven.
Herb Carneal was inducted in 1996. The people that are in are quality people.

They forgot to include Ass-face the animated baseball.

It's nice to see that John Gordon is eligible though...

Done

John Gordon does not even watch the game.I think Joe Morgan would be confroble in the hall.

A few people would be worse than Buck--namely Joe Morgan and the Hawk who are both on the ballot.

I voted for Dick n Bert along with Kaat.

I expect that Kaat will get it as he just retired.

DAM

I think 'flawed' is putting it mildly. I would have selected a different f-word.

Kaat is a good choice, but I blank on others deserving of an "excellence in broadcasting" award. I love John Sterling, and wouldn't trade a game called by him for one called by most others, but "excellence in broadcasting" is not why I like him... I would have voted for Al Trautwig, if available...

Is it February yet? Please?

So why do you like John Sterling, YF? Is it the subtlety of his broadcasting style? His fervent commitment to being an unbiased observer of the game? Honestly, I think that, even if I were a fan of your team (which is as close to unimaginable as anything I can conjure up), the guy would drive me insane. Next to Hawk, who is, hands down, the most insufferable homer ever to sit behind a microphone, Sterling is at the head of the class. So what say you 'splain it to us?

no one I have ever heard do the broadcast of a baseball game is ever anything less that atrocious. It's only low expectations that makes us put any of them over anyone else.

The only good baseball broadcaster is The mighty Todd Macklin :-)

Come on!!!

Gotta vote for Dizzy Dean and Phil "I recorded a song with Meatloaf" Rizzutto!!!!!

Since no one has yet said it, and it really must be said, let me register my total disgust that Tim McCarver is on this ballot.

There's also Killebrew. (Tony O should've done some
broadcasting.) :(

If Gordon ever gets in, it soils Herb and all the others who deserve the arward.

Kaat deserves it. As do a half dozen other names on the list, many of whom would win it posthumously.

Tony O does do broadcasting--the Spanish language version of Twins games.

Chip Carey? Chip Carey? Why in the world is he on the ballot? I like Chip and I think he's a cutie pie, but he has no right to be on a Hall of Fame ballot alongside Joe Nuxhall.

This has to be some kind of cruel joke...?

OH MY GOSH. AND JON MILLER?!?! No. This is not happening. He is one of the least intelligent people on the planet. Same with Tim McCarver.

Thanks for the link BG -- a nice lunchtime diversion. I went a little further to check out the Baseball HOF site, which I had never thought to visit.

On the HOF site, I wonder why they have a photo of Rod Carew as an Angel, when he went in as a Twin?

Also, the images on some of the HOF plaques could double as Halloween masks. Check our Rod and Kirby! Scary.

HeeHee

Jon Miller isn't that bad of an announcer - he is just paired with Joe Morgan that's all - Miller has one of those great throw back voices like Vince Scully and Jack Buck =)

So if Joe Buck gets in do we play It's the End of the World as We Know It - on a continuous loop??

Much Love
Wonder Woman

Jon Miller!!!?? He's so bad!

Over the years he's gotten just a little more senile. He's one of the regular Giants broadcasters and doesn't know the names of some of the players, he rarely interrupts his obscure commentary to actually call the game, and half the time he doesn't remember that the west coast city he broadcasts from is not on the Chesapeake Bay.

That's disgusting!

I am just a confused about some of the inclusions on this ballot as you all seem to be, but especially over the lovely FOX team of Buck and McCarver. The hell?

OMGbrilliant, "Randy."

I'll come out of lurkdom to say Joe Buck is fine. You've not been tortured until you've had to listen to Mike Shannon.

"I think I just threw up a little in my mouth."
He-he
"So if Joe Buck gets in do we play It's the End of the World as We Know It - on a continuous loop??"
Yes, Wonder Woman we do, yes we do.
Here's 50 more for Joe and 50 for Johan.

I completely agree with Yankee Fan.
First of all, a team's radio guy is *supposed* to be a homer, so that's no problem. The positive is, well, his style. He's got a syrupy thick old-fashioned radio voice, and he plays it to the hilt. Maybe more 'stylized' than 'style'.

I like the Red Sox' guys, too, for different reasons, even though they're both 'homers'.

Agreed. How disgusting. My dad always says, "Joe Buck is a great announcer!" Sorry, Dad. I have to disagree with you there.

I for one think it's pretty hilarious that Bert is up for the Frick award.

Maybe if he would have kept that honor in mind this summer, it wouldn't have been a big frickin' deal.

I like Joe Buck. I've never figured out what the objection to him is. And I love Mike Shannon. He gets a little loopy at times, but he knows what he's talking about, unlike most current broadcasters. Can't stand John Rooney. Or any Chicago broadcaster. I think everyone brodcasting was nominated for the Frick award, anyway.

adidasman,

Slider Away touched on it a little. First, I have no problem with a radio announcer showing emotion on both sides, and when it comes to announcing great plays for either team, the emotion is there. What I mean is, although Sterling shows a complete bias for the Yankees, I think he should -- he is calling 162 games for me every year. His target audience is still (at least until his broadcast is always available nationally) Yankee fans. On top of that, if (for example) Punto makes a great diving stop and throws out Jeter on one of those "no, he didn't!" plays, Sterling is likely to point out how great a play Punto made (as opposed to other announcers who push the whole "X was robbed by..." angle.

As for Sterling particularly, I like his voice, and I listen to him for entertainment. That he has become almost a parody of himself is quite enjoyable. He, like all baseball announcers, is prone to saying some of the stupidest things ever uttered, but I find that he ends up calling himself out on them. I have heard him say, a number of times, something to the effect of "and that's how you know I know nothing about baseball."

Sterling is perfect for radio because (1) he describes the action and atmoshpere very well, including the tension/excitement in the building -- if you can "see" and "feel" the action based on the radio announcer's voice, he's good; (2) he is clearty biased toward the home market team and isn't afraid to show it - but at the same time will point out flawed plays by the Yanks and great plays by the other team; (3) he is knowledgable about the game and its nuances and can occasionally enhance the product being sold (talking about the game here, not the ads which we'll get to in a sec); and (4) he rarely speaks just to speak.

Expanding on (4) for a second, in recent years, with the addition of Waldman (who clearly hasn't found her groove yet) and the incessant ads, there has been little extra time for the obnoxious banter that usually occurs. I have found that Sterling is one of the few that will choose to let the relative silence pass when given the opportunity. Whether it's because he needs to breathe once in a while or a conscious choice is debatable, but sometimes it is nice to have someone deftly paint a picture of what is going on* and then sit back and let you experience it over the radio. This type of broadcasting was rampant in the 50's and 60's (so I hear) but with TV able to give a picture, the broadcasting skills seem to have declined in recent years.

Oh, and Sterling's fun to imitate...

Again, love him, but didn't vote for him for the HOF because he's not Rizzuto :)

YankeeFan

*notably, the great hockey radio announcers are much more talented than the baseball announcers. The game moves so fast and there are many motions occurring at the same time, a guy like Marv Albert (seriously) or Howie Rose can really show you what is going on. Something like "Leetch picks up the puck and starts out of the Ranger zone, moving right to left, has Graves on his wing as Gartner drops back to cover. Pass to Messier at the blue line, onsides as Messier comes down the middle and dekes right, passes across the crease to Graves who taps it by Brodeur!" You get the point...

Buck and McCarver suck the joy out of ballgames.

Here's how I picture them them doing the Bobby Thomson "shot heard round the world" (aka "The Giants win the pennant!"):

Buck: That ball is...out of here! Light-hitting Giant outfielder Bobby Thomson improbably has hit a home run, and the Dodgers have completed one of the worst implosions in baseball history.

McCarver: Joe, I just don't know what Dodger manager Charlie Dressen was thinking, sending in Ralph Branca to pitch to Thomson with two men on, one out, and first base open. The obvious move here is to walk Thomson and pitch to the rookie, Mays, to hopefully force the double play. Dressen's move in this situation just astounds me.

Here's what Gardenhire said about them in the PiPress on 10/13:

I do have a tough time listening to announcers. They make it sound different than it is on the field. It's not as detailed and complicated. Goodness gracious, listening to some of the comments they make … it's amazing.

Well, I have a newfound respect for Gardenhire.I think hall of fame eligibility for announcers is has he done it for 5 years? If the answer is yes, he is a hall of fame candidate. If they applied that to players, L. Rivas would be "eligible".

Buck is terrible. This fact is not as obvious when you've got McCarver ruining my decent IQ score by calling Endy Chavez "Andy" and Bronson Arroyo "Brandon".

I hope the post-season gets taken away from FOX soon, but I doubt it...

(At least I don't have to listen to Steve Lyons any more!)

What's wrong with Gordo? I've grown up listening to him so he holds a certain place in my heart . . . right next to PB and J sandwiches and Legos.

OK, I know this has nothing to do with this post, but I just sent this question in to the Twins' mailbag, and I'm sure it wont get answered. So I figured I'd ask all of you what you thought about it.

With a void in the DH position, should the Twins give any thought to bringing Shannon Stewart back under a one year deal? The Twins chances of landing a big time free agent is obviously thin. Although he now seems to be often injured, I think he would be a better option than resigning Rondell White(also injury prone) or wasting 4-5 million on another washed up veteran(Tony Batista). I know he doesn't like to DH, but wouldn't he provide a solid run producing righthanded bat to stabalize the back end of the lineup?

How does one say Boyfriend of the Day in Japanese?

Joe got a key single in the MLB v. Japan game early this morning.

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061102&content_id=1729404&vkey=japan2006&fext=.jsp

Please no Shannon Stewart. Even the Twins seem to see the futility here.

Eric -

?????????

(at least according to Babelfish)

OK, so the character thing didn't work out...

Oh, well...

I like John Sterling, too, and he has never struck me as even close to one of the worst "homers" in broadcasting. In fact, on many occasions he and Suzyn have duly ripped on the Yankees for poor play -- I distinctly remember this as a refreshing change from most broadcasters (although Dan Gladden is good for this, too). I think the two of them have a good chemistry, they tell it like it is, and they have great radio voices that when combined create that perfect summertime audio zen that is a radio broadcast baseball game. At the very least, I would never dream of lumping them into the same group as "The Hawk"! *shudder* ;)

Twins: Hunter wins sixth straight Prettiest Outfielder award. http://www.startribune.com/509/story/784354.html

Torii won his 6th Gold Glove!!!!! (ok, now i see it right above mine, but still!

Augh... Ken Harrelson is also eligible for the fricking award.

Well, he won it before, so why not? Did Kaat win it for pitchers? I think he has won the last 35 or so. It is all just so wrong.

Nailbiter, the Buck and McCarver narration of the shot heard 'round the world was priceless! I read it aloud to my husband and we laughed for a full five minutes. Thank you!!!

Buck is terrible. Drives me nuts, but he did do a very good job with Chavez's catch in the NCLS.

I like John Sterling of course, he can be an over the top homer, but it works for me.

Jim Kaat is one of the best I ever heard do a game, right up there with Harry Kalas, Jack Buck, and Vin Scully.

I used to really like Tom Seaver and Bill White.

And I miss Charlie Steiner doing the Yankees games. He and Sterling were a good pair, I'd like to hear him do a Dodgers game. I might have to get XM to match my Sirius next year for the baseball

And lastly I would like to say Congratulations! to Derek Jeter on his 3rd Gold Glove.

p.e.m.

"That's just a DISGUSTING act by Randy Moss..."

"That's just a DISGUSTING act by Randy Moss..."
I was waiting to see a response like that. Although the play was not the most glorious, it really wasn't as bad as was advertised. It's not like freak-show 'actually' depansed himself. Voted for Killer and Bert, who although does the show well seemed bitter the day we stopped by before airtime for an autograph....

They can keep giving Jeter gold gloves but it won't stop me saying he's not that good adefensive shortstop. Because I'm right :-)

EE - when you say "Chicago announcers" I assume you mean Hawk & Wimpy. Pat Hughes (Cubs play-by-play) is one of the best in the business, in my opinion. Ron Santo is exactly what others have described - a true homer, lives & dies with the team he played his heart out for (and earned the Hall Of Fame - players wing - in his own right, in my opinion).

To me a potential HOF'er has to be compared with obvious greatness - Gary Thorne, Bob Costas, Vin Scully. The calls that still give you goose bumps: "We'll see you tomorrow night!" Raymond Bourque hoisting the Stanley Cup. Cal vs. Stanford.

The truly great ones are not debatable. I'd put Jon Miller there, eventually. Maybe Joe Buck, someday. He ain't Jack yet, though. No more than Chip Carey is his grandpa.