A Companion Guide to the MLB.TV Thread: What Broadcast Teams are Must Listens?

[koufax32]

First, all who suggested getting mlbtv, I salute you. It's been so good I got an Apple TV box just to watch on the 50 inch.

I have found myself on the hunt for good broadcast teams. My first foray, other than Dodger home games, was SF. For some reason I assumed the "it is outta here!" guy would be a good listen. I came away disappointed. If you say TB or MIA I will push to have you banned. So who's great? Who's abysmal?
Did I mention I love MLB.TV?

 

[santadevil]

I'm partial to Toronto, because my son is a fan (and so was my Dad), listening to Buck Martinez doing play-by-play and Pat Tabler.
Dan Shulman has joined them for 30 games I believe this year on play-by-play as well, but I haven't listened to any of those games yet.

 

[MuzzyField]

I'm a big fan of SF and most of the rest of the west coast teams. SNY sets the bar in the east. YES has exceptional production value but is a tough listen for obvious reasons.

 

[Granite Sox]

San Diego. Dick Enberg is a legend, and I think the new guy is really good as well.

As for the AL East: it's unpopular to laud the Yankee crew, but they aren't terrible. Baltimore's crew has been solid.

For TV none of the crews in the AL Central stand out. KC is terrible. Blyleven will make you pierce both eardrums with a screwdriver in Minny. Ditto Hawk in Chicago. Detroit is the best of the worst here.

I got nothin' on the AL West.

Mets crew is very good. I enjoy the Cubs, but they aren't extraordinary. I actually like the Pirates team, though a lot of SoSHers do not. Rest of NL East and Central are either non-descript, overly self-important (Cardinal Way), or horrible (Natstown!).

I happen to like the Giants crew. The Pads announcers are far superior to the team itself. No idea about the Snakes or Rocks.

I think Vin Scully lost it about 20 years ago ( heresy!?), and I don't really care for Charlie Steiner as a PBP guy, so I dislike the Dodgers.

 

[MuzzyField]

Spot on!

Isn't it great we can watch ALL the games.

 

[hbk72777]

Palmer and the deep voiced guy (can't remember his name) in Baltimore is probably the best I've heard.

 

[rembrat]

Mets crew is phenomenal.

 

[BrazilianSoxFan]

So, no one is gonna recommend the White Sox crew?

 

[MuzzyField]

I can't watch for a Red Sox game, but I remember when Hawk was ours. I cut him some slack and Stone reminds me of Harry and the Cubs back in the 80's.

 

[MuzzyField]

Don is on for the Padres tonight.

 

[Mugsy's Jock]

Mets crew is phenomenal.

Concise, and accurate.

Not only are Mets announcers really good (I often learn something new from Hernandez and Darling, and Cohen keeps things moving along and uses them well), but their game production is also terrific. You rarely find yourself wishing for a replay you don't get, with the right angle.

 

[B H Kim]

Palmer and the deep voiced guy (can't remember his name) in Baltimore is probably the best I've heard.

Agree to disagree. I hate when the Sox play the Orioles and I'm forced to listen to MASN. I find Gary Thorne (the deep voiced guy) insufferable. He's the guy who claimed a few years ago that everyone knew that the bloody sock was a hoax.

 

[jungleboy]

San Diego. Dick Enberg is a legend, and I think the new guy is really good as well.
For TV none of the crews in the AL Central stand out. KC is terrible. Blyleven will make you pierce both eardrums with a screwdriver in Minny. Ditto Hawk in Chicago. Detroit is the best of the worst here.

I think the Detroit crew is pretty good when Rod Allen is the analyst. In my opinion, he's well-spoken and knowledgeable. On the other hand, Kirk Gibson doesn't have a great voice or delivery. Play-by-play man Mario Impemba seems OK and professional but nothing special.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

I think Vin Scully is still a wonderful listen.

People seem to love the Giants' guys, but I find them to be pretty average, so therefore, overrated.

I like the Mets' broadcasts quite a bit, mainly due to Darling and Cohen. Keith is sort of a dick, so while he's fun in small doses, a little bit goes a long way for me.

I think the MFY guys are pretty solid.

Did someone actually recommend Buck Martinez?

 

[Ted Cox 4 president]

I haven't watched the Pirates yet this year, but in the past I grew to really enjoy listening to Greg Brown and Steve Blass. But not Bob Walk. For Baltimore, I like Jim Palmer but not Gary Thorne. I watched part of the Dodgers-Giants game last night. I'll miss Vin Scully after this year.

 

[Flunky]

I think the MFY guys are pretty solid.

Did someone actually recommend Buck Martinez?

the only positive Michael Kay has is that Sterling is worse.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Yeah, I know it's an unpopular position around here, but I've never really had a problem with the way Kay calls a game.

 

[simplicio]

The "See Ya" bugs the hell out of me.

 

[koufax32]

Something to mention about SF. They seem to have two different play by play guys: Kuiper (it's outta here!) and Jon Miller. Miller is excellent imo. Kuiper is the meh one.

YES does well with Leiter as color guy. Kay is obnoxious. I have no clue how you guys like his work.

 

[derekson]

The Mets crew is great. Vin Scully is obviously still amazing, and the alternate Dodgers crew is really good too with Steiner, Nomar & Herschiser. The Cubs crew is great and progressive with statistics and stuff.

The Giants crew is alright but I find them overrated. They are good but not exceptional or in the top 5 IMO.

The Royals' announcers are undoubtedly the worst.

 

[canderson]

Gary Thorne sucks and MASN with Palmer is almost unlistenable, some of you are nuts.

I really like the Rangers guys. It feels casual and down home, easy listening IMO.

 

[dynomite]

Not sure if this is relevant, but if you do radio broadcasts as well Bob Ueker is still doing the Brewers call and in my opinion is fabulous. He's still funny as all get out, but he also manages to share relevant insights and tips, all while giving a good, easy call. Great background listen for a walk or run when the Sox aren't on.

Will agree that the Mets are the gold standard on TV.

 

[Flunky]

YES does well with Leiter as color guy. Kay is obnoxious. I have no clue how you guys like his work.

Their color guys are okay except for O'Neill and Flaherty. Cone is good, Leiter is okay and I do like Singleton. Kay is just a smug douche. And I mean most Yankee fans agree on this so it's not just me being a miserable prick in MFY territory.

In Oriole country, I like Gary Thorne in isolation as a play by play, but hearing his voice, which I associate with national broadcasts, being non-neutral during MASN broadcasts - it can be sort of off-putting.

 

[Spacemans Bong]

Something to mention about SF. They seem to have two different play by play guys: Kuiper (it's outta here!) and Jon Miller. Miller is excellent imo. Kuiper is the meh one.

YES does well with Leiter as color guy. Kay is obnoxious. I have no clue how you guys like his work.

Three, actually. Dave Flemming also does a fair bit of TV work. It's a borderline miracle the Giants have held on to him for so long given that they have a Frick Award winner in Miller and a long-time established Giants broadcaster in Kuiper. The way the Giants interchange the three is pretty interesting considering the Red Sox decided they needed to run Don Orsillo out of town to keep Dave O'Brien. Says a lot for the Red Sox and possibly Dave O'Brien's ego.

The secret to the Giants is they are the most holistic broadcasting team in baseball. Besides Mike Krukow (who only appears on the radio after the game and during the postseason), all three by-by-play men do stints on radio. It's completely different compared to a team like the Mets, where Cohen does TV play by play, Rose does radio play by play, and never the twain shall meet.

This means that they all have fantastic chemistry together (Kuip and Kruk are best friends in real life). I think Kuiper will grow on people if you give him a chance. He's very economical with words and extremely deadpan, but he also lets a game breathe and gets excited only when he needs to. Krukow's the appointed extrovert and so Kuiper keeps the broadcast on an even keel.

 

[rembrat]

One more thing about the Mets' crew is they're really good at this kinda stuff:

 

[grimshaw]

Fangraphs is on #7 of 10 of a crowdsourcing broadcasters (albeit now on the radio broadcasting) on several different metrics if you want to get an idea of who to listen to.
They are taking Red Sox votes if any are interested. http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/instagraphs/crowdsourcing-mlb-broadcasters-day-7-of-10/

 

[simplicio]

Not sure if this is relevant, but if you do radio broadcasts as well Bob Ueker is still doing the Brewers call and in my opinion is fabulous. He's still funny as all get out, but he also manages to share relevant insights and tips, all while giving a good, easy call. Great background listen for a walk or run when the Sox aren't on.

Will agree that the Mets are the gold standard on TV.

Thanks for this, I came in to extend the question to radio too, cause I've been listening a lot while trying to get my kid to sleep. Any other radio crews worth checking out?

 

[dynomite]

Thanks for this, I came in to extend the question to radio too, cause I've been listening a lot while trying to get my kid to sleep. Any other radio crews worth checking out?

Sorry for the delay.

Don't know the radio broadcasts as well. Former ESPN guy Jon Miller is very, very good on the Giants radio call.

 

[LoweTek]

Sorry for the delay.

Don't know the radio broadcasts as well. Former ESPN guy Jon Miller is very, very good on the Giants radio call.

I assume you know Miller was on Red Sox radio broadcasts early in his career. Some of the best Red Sox broadcasts ever were Miller and Coleman. You looked forward to rain delays.

 

[dynomite]

I assume you know Miller was on Red Sox radio broadcasts early in his career. Some of the best Red Sox broadcasts ever were Miller and Coleman. You looked forward to rain delays.

Before my time, but yes.

I'm really missing DOB on the radio. The Sox broadcasts now are solid but they're still finding their rhythm.

 

[nvalvo]

Three, actually. Dave Flemming also does a fair bit of TV work. It's a borderline miracle the Giants have held on to him for so long given that they have a Frick Award winner in Miller and a long-time established Giants broadcaster in Kuiper. The way the Giants interchange the three is pretty interesting considering the Red Sox decided they needed to run Don Orsillo out of town to keep Dave O'Brien. Says a lot for the Red Sox and possibly Dave O'Brien's ego.

The secret to the Giants is they are the most holistic broadcasting team in baseball. Besides Mike Krukow (who only appears on the radio after the game and during the postseason), all three by-by-play men do stints on radio. It's completely different compared to a team like the Mets, where Cohen does TV play by play, Rose does radio play by play, and never the twain shall meet.

This means that they all have fantastic chemistry together (Kuip and Kruk are best friends in real life). I think Kuiper will grow on people if you give him a chance. He's very economical with words and extremely deadpan, but he also lets a game breathe and gets excited only when he needs to. Krukow's the appointed extrovert and so Kuiper keeps the broadcast on an even keel.

Cosigned. The different combinations are all excellent, on both radio and television. Both Miller and Flemming are maybe even better on radio.

Also, all of their different teams have a very chilled out tone, which I find peaceful when consuming late-night West Coast baseball from Central or Eastern Time.

 

[cjdmadcow]

I take it it's not actually possible to listen to the radio commentary when watching thru Apple TV and it's not just me being an idiot & missing something obvious?

PS. I miss Don and have never liked Scully.

 

[judyb]

I take it it's not actually possible to listen to the radio commentary when watching thru Apple TV and it's not just me being an idiot & missing something obvious?

PS. I miss Don and have never liked Scully.

I don't know anything about Apple TV, would opening 2 tabs and going to the media center on both, putting the tv broadcast on one and turning the volume down, putting the radio broadcast on the other and turning the volume up work?

 

[jateders]

They're usually not highly thought of but the Colorado broadcast is interesting. They often discuss topics around the league that can lead to some good conversations. In addition to the Mets and of course Vin posted above, I'd recommend the Cubs, both TV and Radio (Pat Hughes is outstanding) and the Pads.

 

[cjdmadcow]

I don't know anything about Apple TV, would opening 2 tabs and going to the media center on both, putting the tv broadcast on one and turning the volume down, putting the radio broadcast on the other and turning the volume up work?

Apple TV is physically connected by a box to my TV, you then watch via the MLB app - what you describe is watching via a laptop or PC - and the thought of only having audio through my MacBook whilst watching pictures on a nice TV isn't very appealing. Thanks anyway - I'm just surprised there isn't an option to listen to the radio broadcasts on Apple TV.

 

[Flunky]

At one time you could choose different audio feeds to go with the video feed through the PS3 app (you could also just get ambient with no commentators). Not sure if it's been deprecated there or where else it's ever been implemented.

edit - did some basic research and it seems they have the audio overlay option on Roku.