Giants Series

[Fiver6565]

48 minutes ago, Frobby said:

The best thing about having Melanie doing PBP on the TV broadcast is that it means she’s not doing PBP on the radio broadcast, where you actually need the announcer to give a concise, timely and accurate description of what’s happening on the field.   On TV she’s not great, but it doesn’t really matter as much, since we can all see what’s happening.  On radio PBP she’s unbearable.  

I will add that I like her a lot on the pre- and post-game shows, and she’s fine doing color.  She’s also a solid interviewer.  Just not good at in-gsme description, which is harder than it looks. 
 

I agree it’s harder than it looks for sure. If nothing else Melanie proves that because as you’ve stated, in other aspects of the job she’s perfectly fine. 
 

Kevin Brown, to me, has a great feel for the drama of each individual at bat, pitch, game when needed. Yes he has his goofy moments, but when the chips are down in a big spot, he treats the situation with the correct amount of gravitas, as well as excitement if it’s the Os doing something good. (Obvious exception is during the innings where they are doing a booth interview). His calls of big plays these last couple years are memorable, whether it’s a play at the plate, big HR, huge Mullins catch, big strikeout, etc. He also talks about each at bat pitch by pitch, speculating about what the pitcher is going to do, and leading the analyst to give his thoughts (particularly good paired with Ben for this - in fact a lot of Ben’s improvement is down to working with Kevin). He’s really good and I think maybe a little under appreciated here. There’s a reason he’s getting National work, even if it’s on lower profile games/sports for now  

Melanie just sounds like she’s chatting with friends in her seat at the game, with the game itself secondary to whatever she’s talking about. Zero feel for the drama of a big moment. Zero feel for any moment that doesn’t involve Jim Palmer and pancakes. 

[Frobby]

55 minutes ago, LA2 said:

Last night:

"Félix Bautista gets the strike-out, gets the side!"

Of fries?

That’s the worst you got?  I’m in the car listening to the bullpen game, Perez in with a 2-run lead and a runner on.   “There’s a line drive that hits the top of the wall!   (Pause, during which I’m wondering where the runners are following this hit.) ….That’s Naylor’s 8th home run of the year and the score is tied at 5-5.”   WTF?  I literally started screaming in the car.   It’s aggravating enough that Perez gave up that homer, without Melanie misleading me into thinking he hadn’t.  It was so bad that I turned the game off at that point.  

[Fiver6565]

This is how she called a DP ball last night:

Hit BACK to Mateo (huh?), he looks at second. He wants 2!  They got it!

No mention of throwing the ball at all, let alone who was covering second and you know, getting the second out at first. 
 

that BACK to…insert infielder here thing drives me crazy. She does it a lot. The only player the ball can get hit back to is the pitcher Melanie!!!

These late games sometimes I like to close my eyes a bit and just listen along for when something starts to happen. Can’t do that at all with this booth. 

[OriolesMagic83]

20 minutes ago, Fiver6565 said:

I agree it’s harder than it looks for sure. If nothing else Melanie proves that because as you’ve stated, in other aspects of the job she’s perfectly fine. 
 

Kevin Brown, to me, has a great feel for the drama of each individual at bat, pitch, game when needed. Yes he has his goofy moments, but when the chips are down in a big spot, he treats the situation with the correct amount of gravitas, as well as excitement if it’s the Os doing something good. (Obvious exception is during the innings where they are doing a booth interview). His calls of big plays these last couple years are memorable, whether it’s a play at the plate, big HR, huge Mullins catch, big strikeout, etc. He also talks about each at bat pitch by pitch, speculating about what the pitcher is going to do, and leading the analyst to give his thoughts (particularly good paired with Ben for this - in fact a lot of Ben’s improvement is down to working with Kevin). He’s really good and I think maybe a little under appreciated here. There’s a reason he’s getting National work, even if it’s on lower profile games/sports for now  

Melanie just sounds like she’s chatting with friends in her seat at the game, with the game itself secondary to whatever she’s talking about. Zero feel for the drama of a big moment. Zero feel for any moment that doesn’t involve Jim Palmer and pancakes. 

Melanie obviously adores Palmer, so the favorite subject is Palmer, also Jim's favorite subject.

[SemperFi]

2 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

Melanie obviously adores Palmer, so the favorite subject is Palmer, also Jim's favorite subject.

Nothing wrong with that, I adore Jim too!!

[OriolesMagic83]

3 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

Nothing wrong with that, I adore Jim too!!

I'm putting you, Melanie and Palmer in the booth together.  The game will never be mentioned.

[SemperFi]

On 6/2/2023 at 9:34 AM, Moose Milligan said:

I don’t feel good about this series, either. 
 

But I’m looking forward to whatever banal attempts Kevin Brown makes in commentating on both teams wearing orange and black. 

I'll take that over Brown's continuous schilling for "the splash zone".

[LA2]

18 minutes ago, Frobby said:

That’s the worst you got?  I’m in the car listening to the bullpen game, Perez in with a 2-run lead and a runner on.   “There’s a line drive that hits the top of the wall!   (Pause, during which I’m wondering where the runners are following this hit.) ….That’s Naylor’s 8th home run of the year and the score is tied at 5-5.”   WTF?  I literally started screaming in the car.   It’s aggravating enough that Perez gave up that homer, without Melanie misleading me into thinking he hadn’t.  It was so bad that I turned the game off at that point.  

OMG--I missed that one; it must have bounced off the top of my head!

Yeah, I've got worse than "gets the side"--I just couldn't run the tape to confirm the exact wording. There's the chopped ground ball that she says the batter "bloops"--to an infielder. And the bloopers that are infield pop-ups.

I remember that when some of us first started complaining about Newman last year there were some suggestions that we just couldn't deal with a woman doing PBP. But that's not it at all: I'm fine with Suzyn Waldman's Yankee games here in NY and I enjoyed Heidi Watney's work with the Red Sox.

I must confess though that Hunter with Palmer was almost as unlistenable. Like our late ScOtt of the Game of Threads, I found both Hunter's hyperbole and Pancakes' endless antagonism toward him to be very annoying and distracting as well. Gary Thorne is often mentioned as being sorely missed, but Manfra and Angel were fine, too.

[LA2]

4 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

I'll take that over Brown's continuous schilling for "the splash zone".

Yes, he's really exhausted that.

[Aristotelian]

I really want a good female announcer but Melanie is not it. She just talks endlessly throughout the AB, then all of a sudden switches to play mode after the ball is in play. I am all for some experimentation but it's like she's never watched/listened to a game or read a job description for the play by play announcer. Each pitch leads up to the outcome of the AB so remind us of the count, tell us when the pitch is coming, was it a strike and where was it located. 

[SemperFi]

13 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

I really want a good female announcer but Melanie is not it. She just talks endlessly throughout the AB, then all of a sudden switches to play mode after the ball is in play. I am all for some experimentation but it's like she's never watched/listened to a game or read a job description for the play by play announcer. Each pitch leads up to the outcome of the AB so remind us of the count, tell us when the pitch is coming, was it a strike and where was it located. 

I find her likeable but think it's very difficult to explain a sport you have never played.  

Edited June 3, 2023 by SemperFi

[dtk9119]

Didn't say much about it in the game thread last night (other than referencing Melanie's HAHAHAHAHAHA Jim HAHAHAHA moments) but that was a BRUTAL broadcast last night. If she is back in the booth tonight, I might just switch over to SF feed (I am assuming Jon Miller still does SF TV). As I and many have said, Melanie is fine on pre and post -- like last night she had a very impactful interview w/ the MLB reporter who has ALS and I think is a spokesperson for ALS awareness. She's fine w/ those type of moments and I genuinely think she loves the game and is knowledgeable. But her PBP is just brutal. Palmer was literally having to fill dead air (which is easy for him to do although he's lost a step but still tells a great story). Not to mention the calls like Gunnar's HR and the DPs. MASN needs to just accept that she's not that great and make a change. It's been what 3-4 years now and she's not really gotten any better. Just cut bait put her on pre and post. If Brown is away, rotate Arnold and Hollander over to TV.

I know -- wishful thinking. They have such a 2nd rate operation. They got very lucky with Kevin Brown who I think is great and is getting better every year.

[Fiver6565]

4 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

I find her likeable but think it's very difficult to explain a sport you have never played.  

I don’t think having never played has anything at all to do with it. Kevin Brown hasn’t played since little league. Most PBP announcers didn’t play, for long at least 

Akso there’s a decent chance Melanie played plenty of softball as a teenager, who knows. 

[SemperFi]

13 minutes ago, Fiver6565 said:

I don’t think having never played has anything at all to do with it. Kevin Brown hasn’t played since little league. Most PBP announcers didn’t play, for long at least 

Akso there’s a decent chance Melanie played plenty of softball as a teenager, who knows. 

Check her biography, she has never played either game unless as a child.  As Frobby and LA note above things like verbage are just off.

It's just my personal experience that it is much easier to explain and comment on something you have physically done.   

Edited June 3, 2023 by SemperFi

[Fiver6565]

11 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

Check her biography, she has never played either game unless as a child.  As Frobby and LA note above things like verbage are just off.

It's just my personal experience that it is much easier to explain and comment on something you have physically done.   

I never played. I have no problem with the terminology. An analyst is much better served if he’s played. I certainly know that a grounder to Mateo is not a ‘grounder back to Mateo’. That a high hopper to third isn’t a ‘looper to Urias’. That a SS doesn’t ‘look to second’ for a DP - he throws to second.  I didn’t have to play to know these things. For a PBP person knowledge of the game doesn’t have to come from personal playing experience. Anyone who has watched baseball can describe action on the baseball diamond, if they are good at PBP. Do you really think Brown’s little league experience at age 9 or whatever has anything to do with him being good at his job?

Never having played baseball or softball has zero to do with Melanie’s issues.