Fred Manfra's a Lousy Announcer Thread

[AdamK]

I prefer Fred to Joe, actually.

I love Thorne.

Palmer makes weird, barley audible noises when balls are hit deep - listen for it. It is underneath Thorne's calling of the play usually and you can hear Palmer half hum/grunt like he is willing the ball to leave or hoping it doesn't leave the park.

I listened to the 9th inning of Monday's game again this afternoon and the Thorne/Palmer/Bordick booth was very very good. Especially knowing the outcome in advance.

We have it good, Os fans.

[DrungoHazewood]

Rather have Fred than the white socks announcer...if I was a white socks fan he would make me root against the Sox getting strikeouts...I mean there is only so many times I can hear "He gone" without losing my mind.

I'd rather gouge my eardrums out with tent stakes than listen to Hawk Harrelson. He's not even remotely funny in an unintentional comedy way.

[weams]

I'd rather gouge my eardrums out with tent stakes than listen to Hawk Harrelson. He's not even remotely funny in an unintentional comedy way.

He's like a seventies sitcom guy with catch phases.

Only not Archie Bunker.

[OrangeJerseys]

[QU OTE=El Gordo;3415490]I think the rule is you are only allowed to refer to yourself in the third person if you have stolen 1400 bases.

QFT.

[Frobby]

I'm driving home tonight and Fred is calling an Adam Jones at bat. Fred remarks that Lackey is staying outside with his first four pitches. The fifth pitch is clearly thrown, and Fred says something like, "the first pitch was away, the second pitch was away, the third pitch was away, the fourth pitch was away, and the fifth pitch is away, and Adam swings and misses for strike three.". He must have taken six or seven seconds to actually report the outcome of the at bat. Maddening! Baseball on radio isn't supposed to be a suspense novel.

[Billy Button]

I'm driving home tonight and Fred is calling an Adam Jones at bat. Fred remarks that Lackey is staying outside with his first four pitches. The fifth pitch is clearly thrown, and Fred says something like, "the first pitch was away, the second pitch was away, the third pitch was away, the fourth pitch was away, and the fifth pitch is away, and Adam swings and misses for strike three.". He must have taken six or seven seconds to actually report the outcome of the at bat. Maddening! Baseball on radio isn't supposed to be a suspense novel.

Dude. This is what I'm talking about. Billy B. is a baseball broadcasting afficionado par excellence. My standards are high. Not many people are so gifted so I understand why most of you ain't pickin up what Billy's puttin down. I still love you guys. I get frustrated with Mr. Manfra because he makes the same mistakes in substance and style year after year after year. If you can't be good then at least be average. He does seem to be a very nice man. But if I wanted a nice man to broadcast my O's games I'd get the Pope.

[Billy Button]

Maybe you can post your name and occupation and place of work so Fred can post about how you suck about your job on the Internet. If you don't like his announcing than don't listen to him.

Thanks for the reply. I guarantee you sir, that if I made the same mistakes over and over and over that Mr. Manfra makes I'd no longer be employed in my very demanding field.

[Frobby]

Dude. This is what I'm talking about. Billy B. is a baseball broadcasting afficionado par excellence. My standards are high. Not many people are so gifted so I understand why most of you ain't pickin up what Billy's puttin down. I still love you guys. I get frustrated with Mr. Manfra because he makes the same mistakes in substance and style year after year after year. If you can't be good then at least be average. He does seem to be a very nice man. But if I wanted a nice man to broadcast my O's games I'd get the Pope.

What you "ain't picking up" is that your habit of referring to yourself in the third person is irritating and makes you sound very egotistical. Plus, the OP didn't really explain why you don't like Manfra. I've criticized him a lot over the years, but always over specifics, like in my post above. Don't attack the guy, attack what he does, when he does it.

[Billy Button]

Manfra definitely has some bad play-by-play moments, but I think he and Joe have a nice chemistry on the air.

I agree.

[Billy Button]

1) Really?

2) talking in the third person says your pretty self absorbed

3) if that's your photograph .(your avatar) ..I'd suggest a diet in order to avoid the hear attack you speak of in your post.In fairness to Fred he's pushing 70... Even the best announcers aren't as sharp as they age. If you can't deal with it listen to the telecast elsewhere.

I have an eating disorder which causes my stomach gases to not dissipate in the normal fashion. It's not fun.

[Bradysburns]

I happen to like Fred Manfra just fine.

There are FAR worse announcers out there all over major league basebal.

Absolutely agree. I love Manfra's broadcasts. He actually gives detail - he lets the game be the star. I'll take the mph on the fastball, the pitcher's name, the count, the score, the inning... and maybe a dash of OPS here and there. I dunno - I have heard him make mistakes, but generally, I think he keeps a good pace, even if he doesn't make stupid jokes very often.

[Bradysburns]

For some reason BradysB's imagines Billy B talks like James Cagney. Yeah, SHEAAAYYYYY?

[murph]

What you "ain't picking up" is that your habit of referring to yourself in the third person is irritating and makes you sound very egotistical. Plus, the OP didn't really explain why you don't like Manfra. I've criticized him a lot over the years, but always over specifics, like in my post above. Don't attack the guy, attack what he does, when he does it.

Thanks Frobby, seriously, not kidding. If you had not replied to that post I probably would not have ever read it and not had a good chuckle. I think Billy needs to get to know himself even better and post even more!!

[Roll Tide]

I have an eating disorder which causes my stomach gases to not dissipate in the normal fashion. It's not fun.

Well I wouldn't think it is. Either way I wasn't trying to be a smart ass.

[The Wedge]

The whole third person thing reminds me of when I was doing it so many years back, purposefully trying to ape The Rock. It became such a running gag that in exchange for tickets to a game, I would change my handle to The Wedge (which hasn't changed, obviously) from plain ol' Wedge. Nobody seemed annoyed by it back then, I guess because everyone knew, at the the very least anyway, that I was being purposefully over the top and facetious.