The Orioles have found their announcing team on TV/Radio

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Etch said:

I agree with Tony's assessment. But just one thing: Melanie Newman. He doesn't give his opinion on her PBP.  C'mon man!! She is el stinko at PBP but very good at hosting.  Love Palmer and McDonald. Ever listen to other teams' color guys? Most are just awful. We are lucky to have Jim and Ben. Arnold is good. I gotta admit that I kinda like Scottie. Sure he goofs up a lot but, ya know, he's like an old friend with flaws but you choose to overlook them. BTW, Roy Firestone interviewed Kevin Brown recently. Good stuff.

 

This piece was designed to talk about who I think are the best teams going forward  and the hope they will settle things down and stick with these best teams. My goal was not deride the ones who I don't think are great fits in certain positions. I don't want this to get into a bashfest of anyone, but rather celebrate those who came out of the group as THE duos in my opinion.

[MurphDogg]

Garceau is the only announcer I mute, Brown is the only one I truly look forward to, I enjoy his "little brother" rapport with both McDonald and Palmer. 

Melanie Newman is fine, she just needs more reps.

I like soccer but I don't have a team other than USMNT. I got into the Bundesliga when they were the first league back from Covid in 2020. I rooted for Dortmund because they had Reyna and they used to have Pulisic and I ended up loving watching Erling Haaland play every week, but I need a Premier League team since that is the easiest league to follow in the US.

I don't particularly want to follow Haaland and root for Man City as it feels bandwagoney to root for a team that dominant, same reason I don't want to root for Chelsea despite having Pulisic.

European soccer is a great sport to follow when you have young kids because the games are on super early on the weekends and you are up anyway.

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

This piece was designed to talk about who I think are the best teams going forward  and the hope they will settle things down and stick with these best teams. My goal was not deride the ones who I don't think are great fits in certain positions. I don't want this to get into a bashfest of anyone, but rather celebrate those who came out of the group as THE duos in my opinion.

Love that approach, and your choices.  

Overall, O’s fans have been very lucky over the years with their broadcasters.  I think Kevin Brown is going to be right up there.   He’s very good and will only get better over time.  And Ben McDonald’s folksy charm doesn’t disguise his knowledge of the game.  I love his turns of phrase like “he covers more ground than kudzu” and “it’s not Eastern time, it’s Mountain time!”   Great stuff.  

[spleen1015]

Leeds has an American manager now. You could root for them.

[InsideCoroner]

1 hour ago, DrungoHazewood said:

The in-stadium experience is as good as any sport, the athleticism is great, the strategy is layered and nuanced.  Just like baseball outsiders think nothing is going on, but everything is going on, everyone on the field has to intuitively know what their role in the system is. And once you've watched a good game that has 45 minutes without a commercial break you'll find it hard to go back to other sports.  American football is jarring... flip over on TV... I thought Maryland was on, oh that's right, they are, there's just a thee-minute commercial every four minutes.  If you turn to soccer you know what's on? Soccer. Weird, right?

I'll back up the in-stadium experience thing. I didn't give a damn about soccer when I moved to Dortmund, and overall I still don't watch much on television outside of the World Cup or the occasional Pokal (cup). But if you have tickets and ask me to go to a game? Absolutely. It's a lot of fun, far better than on television since (just like baseball) you see everything going on that's not on camera, and it's hard not to get swept up with 80,000 fans going crazy, and opposing walls of die-hard fans chanting, singing, drumming and taunting each other. I went a friendly match of Germany vs USA once, and even though the US got mauled 4-1, it was great. The other fun thing is when they hold public viewings in the city square of big German matches, usually during the WC. Tens of thousands of people celebrating or commiserating together. 

And I always said even though there is sometimes little to admire in a match that ends 0-0, as a baseball fan I could never, ever call another sport boring. I think baseball is the greatest sport ever created, but I can absolutely see why some people would rather get a root canal or go to the DMV before they would watch a full game.

[Remember The Alomar]

2 hours ago, DrungoHazewood said:

Oh, I don't know.  Jon Miller, John Lowenstein, Mel Proctor... those guys had to get through a fair number of bad years and usually made it fun.

That's fair. I more so just meant that if I had to be strapped into the Clockwork Orange chair and listen to Mike Bordick against my will for days on end, I'd rather it be about a race for a playoff spot than Chris Davis hitting .194. 

[justD]

I just hope Geoff Arnold's "Earls" and "Brendan Hyde" will grow on me and not continue to grate on me, as I listen to the radio pretty frequently.

As for Melanie, I admit to being biased against her only because of the persistent love-fest with anything to do with the Red Sox, clearly still her favorite team. You haven't noticed? Like I said, I have a bias against so I probably look for it. 

Otherwise, I very much agree with your choices and rationale. I do love the back-and-forth from Kevin and Ben. 

[tntoriole]

Agree with most all here that Kevin Brown and Ben McDonald are great.. I like Brown more than Gary Thorne.  
Jim Palmer should stay as long as he wants in my view.. he brings a rich perspective and unique tie to the glory Oriole days.
Do not like Melanie play by play or Garceau

I am of the Chuck Thompson era as the  greatest ever then the great Jon Miller era, so I am spoiled but these two are good!  

[Baltimorecuse]

9 minutes ago, tntoriole said:

Agree with most all here that Kevin Brown and Ben McDonald are great.. I like Brown more than Gary Thorne.  
Jim Palmer should stay as long as he wants in my view.. he brings a rich perspective and unique tie to the glory Oriole days.
Do not like Melanie play by play or Garceau

I am of the Chuck Thompson era as the  greatest ever then the great Jon Miller era, so I am spoiled but these two are good!  

I agree with your current perspective.  Brown is a real pro and he pairs very well with McDonald.  

[Mooreisbetter27]

34 minutes ago, justD said:

I just hope Geoff Arnold's "Earls" and "Brendan Hyde" will grow on me and not continue to grate on me, as I listen to the radio pretty frequently.

As for Melanie, I admit to being biased against her only because of the persistent love-fest with anything to do with the Red Sox, clearly still her favorite team. You haven't noticed? Like I said, I have a bias against so I probably look for it. 

Otherwise, I very much agree with your choices and rationale. I do love the back-and-forth from Kevin and Ben. 

I hadn't  noticed that.  But that's just because anytime she's doing PBP I mute it.  Kinda reminds me of Jen Royle, who is a Yankee fan.  She was insufferable though.  I actually like Melanie when she's doing the post game show.  

[justD]

7 minutes ago, Mooreisbetter27 said:

I hadn't  noticed that.  But that's just because anytime she's doing PBP I mute it.  Kinda reminds me of Jen Royle, who is a Yankee fan.  She was insufferable though.  I actually like Melanie when she's doing the post game show.  

Acchhhkkk Jen Royle, bad memories!

[DrungoHazewood]

2 hours ago, MurphDogg said:

Garceau is the only announcer I mute, Brown is the only one I truly look forward to, I enjoy his "little brother" rapport with both McDonald and Palmer. 

Melanie Newman is fine, she just needs more reps.

I like soccer but I don't have a team other than USMNT. I got into the Bundesliga when they were the first league back from Covid in 2020. I rooted for Dortmund because they had Reyna and they used to have Pulisic and I ended up loving watching Erling Haaland play every week, but I need a Premier League team since that is the easiest league to follow in the US.

I don't particularly want to follow Haaland and root for Man City as it feels bandwagoney to root for a team that dominant, same reason I don't want to root for Chelsea despite having Pulisic.

European soccer is a great sport to follow when you have young kids because the games are on super early on the weekends and you are up anyway.

I'm hopelessly biased but I feel right at home with Tottenham Hotspur.  Not one of the typical superteams owned by unsavory Saudis or Americans, but enough resources to compete and a top, top manager in Conte.  Kane and Son are just great players and solid guys.  Exactly as many championships as the Orioles since 1984, but a history going back to the 1800s.  Unfortunately no Americans right now.

If you're looking for a US-heavy team that could finish anywhere from mid-table to relegation you could hook up with Leeds.  

[Tony-OH]

Hey, no more soccer talk in this thread.

[Hallas]

22 hours ago, DocJJ said:

I'm shocked by how good McDonald is.   I remember hearing him in interviews back when he was a player and I didn't think he was particularly articulate.   I love listening to him.   He does need to ease up on the cliches, but he has a good voice for the job and the southern accent adds a bit of character.   His insights into the game action are great.   Agree that Kevin Brown/Ben McDonald is an awesome combo.

I don't think he was as good before.  I'd say this season, particularly in the past 2 or so months, is when he started actually providing good insight into the game, particularly around pitching.  Before that he was mostly cliches and not really adding much other than to rehash the replays.  But he's figured it out.

[btownoriole]

1 hour ago, Hallas said:

I don't think he was as good before.  I'd say this season, particularly in the past 2 or so months, is when he started actually providing good insight into the game, particularly around pitching.  Before that he was mostly cliches and not really adding much other than to rehash the replays.  But he's figured it out.

And I think Kevin Brown does a great job pulling this out of him.  I love when Brown asks him what pitch he'd throw here and why.