Levine talks about broadcasting his first game.

[Gurgi]

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-never-forget-your-first-time.html


Greetings from Glendale, Arizona – springtime home of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago White Sox. This is quite a magnificent complex. It’s like Frank Lloyd Wright designed a baseball stadium. In fact, this might have been what he was working on when he died. His last known sketches are of luxury suite designs.

This weekend I will be calling the radio play-by-play for the Dodgers. You can hear it on KABC Los Angeles, the vast Dodgers’ radio network, Dodgers.com, and MLB.COM.

I hope I get through the first batter. I almost didn’t on my very first spring training broadcast.

It was 1991, I had just been hired by the Baltimore Orioles. We were opening Spring Training in Sarasota, Florida against the Chicago White Sox. To say I was nervous is an understatement. I could have been one of those idiot teens at summer camp in FRIDAY the 13th.

I had broadcast three years of minor league baseball but those were on tiny stations with signals weaker than your home wireless router. Now I was to be on a 30 station network that blanketed the entire east coast. Gulp.

I practiced my opening for three days. When the time came I recited it verbatim and probably sounded like Sheldon in BIG BANG THEORY.

My partner was the great Jon Miller. After several commercials, the starting line ups, national anthem – I don’t know, I was terrified – Jon introduced me and I braced myself to begin the play-by-play.

First batter up was Randy Milligan. On the first pitch he hit a ground ball to third. Easy play for Robin Ventura who threw him out.

BUT…

Randy tripped over the bag at first, did a header, twisted his ankle, and laid on the ground for a good twenty minutes. Now I had to fill. I glance over at Jon and he’s just gazing out at the field, mike turned off, a sly little smile on his face. The message was clear: “Okay, kid, you wanted this job? Let’s see what ya got.”

Usually you could recap the game or just reset the stage (talk about the standings, the pitcher’s past performance, the way the team is playing, what happened yesterday, scores from around the league, etc). but this was the first game. There was nothing to reset. We’re here. That’s it.

I have no idea what I talked about. How you need your ankles, the current weather (and ten day forecast), where to park if you should come down here, how far we were from Disneyworld, how successful was Operation Desert Storm – I dunno, it was all a blur. Somehow I got through it and managed to survive that first game.

So just in case, if you tune in to Dodger baseball this weekend and hear me reviewing this week’s AMERICAN IDOL, you’ll know why.

[SteveA]

http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-never-forget-your-first-time.html

So he's still in baseball broadcasting? He was a well known comedy writer who had written episodes of M*A*S*H and Cheers, and had always wanted to do play by play, and he found a team to indulge his fantasy (we were owned by Eli Jacobs at the time, Jacobs probably figured he could save some money rather than hire a proven professional to work with Miller).

It was sort of like the Dennis Miller on Monday Night Football experiment ...Levine was an acquired taste and tried to force too many jokes. He was not too bad at describing the action, but I wasn't sad to see him go after a year.

He never developed that easy going rapport with Miller that Joe Angel and others have had. It was clear he loved the game of baseball, but he wasn't an O's fan. Back in the days when radio was still the primary medium for getting most of your games, the play by play guy was someone you basically invited into your home for several hundred hours a year. Levine tried a bit too hard to be f unny to be someone you wanted to share that much time with.

Compare with another unqualified play by play man we had, Tom Marr. Marr was, at heart, and Oriole fan, and that makes up for a lot. His voice would get genuinely excited when calling something good happening for the Orioles. So when he's make mistakes, and yes he made a lot, it was a lot easier to forgive him. Invite him into your home for a few hundred hours a year? Sure, he's that obnoxious uuncle that you know means well. He's an O's fan. He's family. I always used to say, "he's an idiot, but he's OUR idiot". I got much more enjoyment listening to Tom Marr in his days in the booth than I did Levein in his year.

[Frobby]

I really liked Levine. By the way he wrote a book about his experiences as the Orioles' color man about 10 years ago. He tells two very funny stories about home run calls by minor league announcers that I will do my best to recount.

1. Announcer A always called home runs by saying "Elvis has left the building!" Then one day he had to say "Elvis has ..... hit the wall!" Ouch!

2. Announcer B always called home runs by saying "Touch 'em all, Mr. [insert name here]." One day a guy hit a HR and as the announcer was in mid-call he blanked on the batter's name, thus, "Touch 'em all, Mr..........Baseball Man!"

Ah, the minors.......

[howie14]

Levine didn't work well with Miller in part because of the comedy rivalry. He even pointed out in the book that he and Jon didn't get along that well.

Ken's best work was on Sunday games, when he worked with Chuck Thompson.

[OldNewGuy]

Never cared for his announcing style, his voice, or his attempts at humor. His being unable to get along with Jon Miller says it all. Was glad to see him disappear the next year.