The Orioles have found their announcing team on TV/Radio

[DrungoHazewood]

18 hours ago, ledzepp8 said:

I miss Gary Thorne, probably always will. But I like Kevin and Ben and it would probably be cool if they just added Palmer to those broadcasts as well. I think he’s just being facetious with the soccer talk because he’s just trying to mess around with Ben, who obviously can’t stand soccer. 

All I know is I heard an Oriole broadcaster mention Tottenham Hotspur, which is something I never thought I be able to say. #COYS

I don't care what @Moose Milligan says, he's going to love-hate this post and probably only mentioned soccer to spin me up.  But I get up at 7am and fire up the Spurs match or the TSV 1860 Munich match and it's awesome.  Just to annoy him I might post three paragraphs on Jimmy Greaves, Glenn Hoddle and Danny Blanchflower.

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?

[DrungoHazewood]

15 hours ago, Remember The Alomar said:

I also think having a good, interesting product generally begets better insight from commentators. When the team is garbage, they basically just have to put lipstick on a pig. 

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.

[bpilktree]

I was watching the little league series regional games last night and noticed that former Orioles pitcher Greg Olsen was calling those games for ESPN.  I didn't realize he was doing any broadcasting.  Maybe another guy to fill in for Ben once Palmer can no longer do it.  

[drdelaware]

Still a Jim Palmer guy.  The line about "that pitch is ok if you want to throw the worst slider of all time" cracked me up.  

[drdelaware]

43 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

All I know is I heard an Oriole broadcaster mention Tottenham Hotspur, which is something I never thought I be able to say. #COYS

I don't care what @Moose Milligan says, he's going to love-hate this post and probably only mentioned soccer to spin me up.  But I get up at 7am and fire up the Spurs match or the TSV 1860 Munich match and it's awesome.  Just to annoy him I might post three paragraphs on Jimmy Greaves, Glenn Hoddle and Danny Blanchflower.

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?

"Layered and nuanced"  This is why I hate soccer.  

[spleen1015]

52 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

All I know is I heard an Oriole broadcaster mention Tottenham Hotspur, which is something I never thought I be able to say. #COYS

I don't care what @Moose Milligan says, he's going to love-hate this post and probably only mentioned soccer to spin me up.  But I get up at 7am and fire up the Spurs match or the TSV 1860 Munich match and it's awesome.  Just to annoy him I might post three paragraphs on Jimmy Greaves, Glenn Hoddle and Danny Blanchflower.

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?

#COYS indeed

I used to be like Moose Milligan with soccer then I watched the All or Nothing on Tottenham and instantly became a fan. Now I watch Premier League every week.

This is a very good point. Once you get in and understand it, you get hooked.

[86this]

30 minutes ago, drdelaware said:

Still a Jim Palmer guy.  The line about "that pitch is ok if you want to throw the worst slider of all time" cracked me up.  

And who else will speak ill of Pedro Serverino catching prowess?   So happy to have have played badly for Adley.

[byrdz]

49 minutes 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 primarily watch these two sports as well and this is about as best a description as could be said. I think if Brown does talk about soccer he could mention it from the “strategy is layered and nuanced” angle rather than individual teams and it might be more interesting to someone who doesn’t watch soccer a lot. 

[Moose Milligan]

57 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

All I know is I heard an Oriole broadcaster mention Tottenham Hotspur, which is something I never thought I be able to say. #COYS

I don't care what @Moose Milligan says, he's going to love-hate this post and probably only mentioned soccer to spin me up.  But I get up at 7am and fire up the Spurs match or the TSV 1860 Munich match and it's awesome.  Just to annoy him I might post three paragraphs on Jimmy Greaves, Glenn Hoddle and Danny Blanchflower.

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?

No, Drungo, no, I love ya but it's not always all about you.  Sheesh.

And like I said, I'm fine with soccer.  I'd rather watch it before hockey, that's for sure.  In fact, as far as team sports/ball sports go, I'd probably rank it 4th.  And yes, it's awesome that the go 45 mins at a time without a commercial, this is true.  

[glenn__davis]

42 minutes ago, bpilktree said:

I was watching the little league series regional games last night and noticed that former Orioles pitcher Greg Olsen was calling those games for ESPN.  I didn't realize he was doing any broadcasting.  Maybe another guy to fill in for Ben once Palmer can no longer do it.  

Olsen did a number of games for us a few years ago as well.  I thought he was pretty good.

[DrungoHazewood]

2 minutes ago, byrdz said:

I primarily watch these two sports as well and this is about as best a description as could be said. I think if Brown does talk about soccer he could mention it from the “strategy is layered and nuanced” angle rather than individual teams and it might be more interesting to someone who doesn’t watch soccer a lot. 

There may be some reason to bring it up with the soccer jersey giveaway, but a baseball broadcast isn't the most natural place to talk about other sports.  Especially since Baltimore doesn't have a high-level team. I love soccer, I actually watch more than baseball but most baseball fans don't have that emotional connection to it and have this mindset that it's nothing they'd ever like.  That will change over time as more and more kids grow up with soccer just being one of the big sports.  But no need to evangelize on baseball broadcasts.

I just think it's funny that both baseball fans and soccer fans refer to the other sport with disdain, saying nothing is going on and it's boring, but it takes a deep understanding of their own sport that they posses to understand all the strategy and layers.  But like a lot of things in life one is not objectively better, it's all about what you have memories of and an emotional connection to.

[DrungoHazewood]

4 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

No, Drungo, no, I love ya but it's not always all about you.  Sheesh.

You've hurt me deeply. 

Edited August 11, 2022 by DrungoHazewood

[DrungoHazewood]

12 minutes ago, spleen1015 said:

#COYS indeed

I used to be like Moose Milligan with soccer then I watched the All or Nothing on Tottenham and instantly became a fan. Now I watch Premier League every week.

This is a very good point. Once you get in and understand it, you get hooked.

Nice.  So prior to Mourhino being hired I hated the man, such a narcissistic jerk. When they hired him I was deeply skeptical.  The whole time he was there the team was generally disappointing. But All or Nothing made me kind of like the guy. 

Very glad you watched the Tottenham All or Nothing prior to the Arsenal one coming out. 

And while I'm taking this far afield... Harry Kane is so Cal Ripken. The straight-laced hometown kid who almost grew up in the stadium, became a big star, almost left when the going got bad but stuck it out and looks like he might be a career one-team guy.  Baseball fans don't sing songs, but "Harry Kane is one of our own" is 100% applicable to Cal. 

[DrungoHazewood]

34 minutes ago, drdelaware said:

"Layered and nuanced"  This is why I hate soccer.  

It equally applies to baseball.  Some people just like being at the park and seeing their favorite player.  Some people know every guy on the roster's optimal launch angle.  Some folks like the hot dogs and beer, some know the spray charts of the other team's shortstop.  Why is Odor on the roster instead of Westburg?  Well, there's a lot of nuance involved. Why is Gunnar not up, but Vavra is? There are many layers to a GM's job.

Also, it's really weird to hate a sport.

Edited August 11, 2022 by DrungoHazewood

[Tony-OH]

8 hours ago, Sydnor said:

I’ve enjoyed Kevin and Ben for the past two seasons, and thought they did a good job of entertaining when the product was not so entertaining last year. Tony highlighted Ben’s incites into pitch sequencing and reading bats, and the good job Kevin does teeing him up, but I’ve also been impressed with Ben discussing when he would sit on a certain pitch as a batter or when he says he’s fine with a whiff because of the pitch type/location, count, etc. They’re definitely my favorite current duo and I think they’re as good as Thorne and Palmer or Proctor and Lowenstein (who I really enjoyed as a kid).

Thanks for expanding upon the nuances of McDonald's analysis. When he's staying away from discussing the "blue dot" on the slider and getting into these kinds of things, he's excellent. It's like watching a game with a coach who is thinking through the pitcher-batter matchup, something I've always enjoyed doing myself, especially when I know the pitcher's arsenal and the hitter's tendencies.