Is Cal a former Oriole or Yankee?

[EddieEddie]

Cal said something about the way they cut grass?????

TEAR THE STATUE DOWN!!!!!!!11!!1!1

[callahan09]

I have not enjoyed his commentary one little tiny bit, but I don't blame him for going out of his way to sound impartial. I just wish it wasn't happening against the Yankees and that the other announcers didn't also sound so Yankee-fanboyish. The combo of it all is overwhelming, but I think he has a future in broadcasting if he can balance his comments fairly rather than try too hard and overcompensate in the other direction.

[waroriole]

I understand Cal's just trying look unbiased (and it doesn't really bother me other than he's a terrible broadcaster), but I think that if he added more insight from an Oriole's perspective it would actually add to the broadcast. He doesn't have to be a "homer" about it either. I'm pretty sure he knows things about this team that would be beneficial to the broadcast, imo.

I agree with this. Ernie has tried to prompt him to talk about details of the Orioles, and for the most part he won't bite. He did give some good info on Chen and Machado, but his insights are few and far between. That said, these guys are way better than the other crews on TBS.

[bobmc]

I agree with this. Ernie has tried to prompt him to talk about details of the Orioles, and for the most part he won't bite. He did give some good info on Chen and Machado, but his insights are few and far between. That said, these guys are way better than the other crews on TBS.

Smolzie knows pitching from both a starter and closer's perspective - the mental aspects as well as the physical. It's amazing how much the mental comes into play. Relax and let your body do the work - works for so many sports.

[waroriole]

Smolzie knows pitching from both a starter and closer's perspective - the mental aspects as well as the physical. It's amazing how much the mental comes into play. Relax and let your body do the work - works for so many sports.

Yeah, Smoltz is pretty good.

[OFFNY]

Really???

It seems pretty obvious that Cal is going out of his way to be complimentary to the Yankees in an effort to be fair. Prob going a bit overboard at times but if you don't think a part of Cal wanted to blurt out ...YESSSS when J.J. got the last K to end the game, I don't think you know Cal.

Cut the guy some slack and just enjoy the playoffs lol

I just hope that that YES doesn't stand for Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, because right about now, he would fit right in there.

[anrynike]

We should all probably just cut him some slack. He has never been good in front of a camera (unless playing on the field) or radio interviews. Any comecial he has ever done, I've always thought to myself, Wow that was really flat/bad.

I was always disappointed by this cause I was hoping one day he'd be doing Oriole games in the booth. He's just trying to hard, and sadly it's not working.

But it's Cal friggin Ripken, I love the guy, always will.

Has he done many games prior to this? Or is this his first series?

[howboutthoseos]

We should all probably just cut him some slack. He has never been good in front of a camera (unless playing on the field) or radio interviews. Any comecial he has ever done, I've always thought to myself, Wow that was really flat/bad.

I was always disappointed by this cause I was hoping one day he'd be doing Oriole games in the booth. He's just trying to hard, and sadly it's not working.

But it's Cal friggin Ripken, I love the guy, always will.

Has he done many games prior to this? Or is this his first series?

I think he did one of the Orioles-Yankees games on TBS in September. Other than that, I don't believe he has any experience.

Yes, let's cut him some slack. He is Cal Ripken.

[anrynike]

I think he did one of the Orioles-Yankees games on TBS in September. Other than that, I don't believe he has any experience.

Yes, let's cut him some slack. He is Cal Ripken.

Yikes, they should have let him work half a season before giving him a playoff series.

[howboutthoseos]

Yikes, they should have let him work half a season before giving him a playoff series.

Not sure Cal would want to do that. They probably need him more than he needs them. My guess is he wouldn't give up every weekend to do the Yankee/Red Sox game of the week on TBS. But if they want him for big pennant race or playoff games, he's happy to do it. This is all just conjecture.

[hoosiers]

I'm really not getting the criticism on here for Ripken and TBS.

Our lineup includes names like Lew Ford, Nate McClouth, Robert Andino, etc, and several key contributors were spare parts on last year's Rangers' 40 man roster.

The NYY come into town with Cano, ARod, Jeter, Granderson, etc - guys with multiple AS games and HOFers who have been there and done that in the playoffs.

Not sure a national audience wants to hear EJ or Cal sing the praises of Lew Ford ... IMO, the announcers are good with the in-game analysis and seem to know plenty of the local stories that should keep fans happy.

[Mondo Trasho]

I don't know if it was Cal's fault or not. But every time a Yankees player did something routine it was all "nice hands, good play there", but when an O's player did the same thing, not a peep. Similarly, errors on the Yankees were excused away (on the Teixeira missed grounder Cal said the wet cross cut grass causes the ball to "spin"). It's par for the course with national broadcasts I guess, so I don't know how much could or should be pinned on Cal.

[btownoriole]

I'm really not getting the criticism on here for Ripken and TBS.

Our lineup includes names like Lew Ford, Nate McClouth, Robert Andino, etc, and several key contributors were spare parts on last year's Rangers' 40 man roster.

The NYY come into town with Cano, ARod, Jeter, Granderson, etc - guys with multiple AS games and HOFers who have been there and done that in the playoffs.

Not sure a national audience wants to hear EJ or Cal sing the praises of Lew Ford ... IMO, the announcers are good with the in-game analysis and seem to know plenty of the local stories that should keep fans happy.

Agreed. I could listen to Ripken & Smoltz talk baseball all day. I love hearing them talk through an at-bat from the perspectives of hitter vs. pitcher. My only complaint about Cal is that he says "um" too much.

[Tony-OH]

I don't know if it was Cal's fault or not. But every time a Yankees player did something routine it was all "nice hands, good play there", but when an O's player did the same thing, not a peep. Similarly, errors on the Yankees were excused away (on the Teixeira missed grounder Cal said the wet cross cut grass causes the ball to "spin"). It's par for the course with national broadcasts I guess, so I don't know how much could or should be pinned on Cal.

I don't know enough about the effects on a ball on wet cross cut grass, do you? Sounds like Cal might though and he played a little bit on that type of environment so I just might take his analysis, regardless of what player made the error possibly because of it.

[Ruzious]

Not sure what you Ripken haters are listening to:rolleyes: Cal is not the most polished analyst in the booth, but him and Smoltz have been great.

Agreed. I'm absolutely loving their commentary. Then again, I grew up both a Braves and O's fan, so that could have just a bit to do with my view.