Fred Manfra's a Lousy Announcer Thread

[Moshagge3]

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.

Yeah, this happens a lot, usually on some kind of tough defensive play where he'll watch the play happen, then proceed to describe it in detail from start to finish, usually not smoothly, "Well J.J. backhanded it, then he... uh, did kind of a spin move thing" and by the time he gets to the outcome the play has been over for 30 seconds. I do think he has a rich, natural radio voice. I just wish he had better skills to go with it.

[OFFNY]

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.

I think that he may be yanking your chain.

I came across this picture from a fat-burning advertisement, which looks very similar to his avatar.

O

O

This is the article it is from:

http://www.fasterfatburn.com/stomach-fat-burning-exercises

Also, if he is indeed telling the truth about having such an awful disease, I have no idea why he would use that picture of himself as his avatar.

[Billy Button]

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.

Specifics? Ever hear him call a triple? He gets lost halfway through the call and instead of the listener being drawn into the play through his mind's eye he's left wondering what the heck just happened. A good broadcaster is able to paint the picture while it's happening, not have to td a post-play anti-climactic post mortum to clarify what just happened. Also, he has a verbal crutch he uses ad nauseum, i.e., pitch count. Updating the pitch count occasionally should be expected. He does it every inning and sometimes multiple times during an inning. He also has a bad habit of calling line drives to the outfield as flyballs. That's a disservice to the listnener. If a batter squared one up the listener deserves to know that. He also fails to understand the subteties of the game. For instance, there's a difference between a short hop and an in-between or half hop. The extra millisecond it takes for a third baseman to field cleanly a half hop may be the difference between a runner being safe or out at first. Jon Miller and Chuck Thompson excelled at such details. Fred hasn't a clue. I could write a book but I'll stop there.

[Billy Button]

I think that he may be yanking your chain.

I came across this picture from a fat-burning advertisement, which looks very similar to his avatar.

O

O

This is the article it is from:

http://www.fasterfatburn.com/stomach-fat-burning-exercises

Also, if he is indeed telling the truth about having such an awful disease, I have no idea why he would use that picture of himself as his avatar.

That's my brother Bobby. While Billy has a genetic medical condition, Bobby's just fat. (Too many Natty Bo's :thumbsup1:)

[24fps]

24fps thinks the mods should create a special section for this nonsense. It could be called "Downerville" or "Troll Town" where gratuitous knocks agains Orioles announcers and gloating over a few bad outings by former Orioles players could have its own special place. There enthusiasts of unrelenting negativity could feel at home, secure amongst their own kind. It would be a satisfyingly gloomy place where speaking one's thoughts in the third person would not only be tolerated, but encouraged.

Or we could cut to the chase, and simply call the section "HEY!!, over here! Look at ME!"

[gallden]

Fred is the worst when you can hear the actual crack of a bat and he's still telling you about the pitchers delivery.

[Chavez Ravine]

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.

Listening to Fred in order to actually garner information about the on field action is what it must have been like to listen to the OG play by play guys who recreated the games from reports coming over the telegraph wire.

[MrOrange82]

24fps thinks the mods should create a special section for this nonsense. It could be called "Downerville" or "Troll Town" where gratuitous knocks agains Orioles announcers and gloating over a few bad outings by former Orioles players could have its own special place. There enthusiasts of unrelenting negativity could feel at home, secure amongst their own kind. It would be a satisfyingly gloomy place where speaking one's thoughts in the third person would not only be tolerated, but encouraged.

Or we could cut to the chase, and simply call the section "HEY!!, over here! Look at ME!"

This is my impression of South Park's Mr. Mackey:

"Jim Johnson...he's just bad, mkay?"

Because, really, what else would he be talking about?

[weams]

24fps thinks the mods should create a special section for this nonsense. It could be called "Downerville" or "Troll Town" where gratuitous knocks agains Orioles announcers and gloating over a few bad outings by former Orioles players could have its own special place. There enthusiasts of unrelenting negativity could feel at home, secure amongst their own kind. It would be a satisfyingly gloomy place where speaking one's thoughts in the third person would not only be tolerated, but encouraged.

Or we could cut to the chase, and simply call the section "HEY!!, over here! Look at ME!"

Troll Town? Has a ring to it.

[weams]

Listening to Fred in order to actually garner information about the on field action is what it must have been like to listen to the OG play by play guys who recreated the games from reports coming over the telegraph wire.

Ronald Regan used to make up action when he had non to report.

[weams]

[scOtt]

I think that he may be yanking your chain.

I came across this picture from a fat-burning advertisement, which looks very similar to his avatar.

O

O

This is the article it is from:

http://www.fasterfatburn.com/stomach-fat-burning-exercises

Also, if he is indeed telling the truth about having such an awful disease, I have no idea why he would use that picture of himself as his avatar.

So he's a troll and a liar... nice!

[Frobby]

They could fix the whole Manfra thing by having him be the color man for the whole game, instead of covering the play-by-play for several innings. He's a decent color guy and Joe Angel plays off him well. He's just not good at contemporaneously describing the action.

[glenn__davis]

Agree completely. Not sure why they don't just do this.

I would have to think the announcers heavily prefer it the way it is. They both get about half the game to kick back and relax and enjoy it, and only chime in if they feel like it. You know they go out and get some snack and relax every now and again.

[Ruzious]

I would have to think the announcers heavily prefer it the way it is. They both get about half the game to kick back and relax and enjoy it, and only chime in if they feel like it. You know they go out and get some snack and relax every now and again.

Exactly. And bottom line - what they do works. Don't try to fix something that works. The complaints here are annoying at best.