Credit where it’s due to Melanie Newman

[24fps]

1 hour ago, owknows said:

I feel compelled to say something nice... so I'll just say I imagine her smelling like warm cookies.

Subtlety doesn't often work on the internet, but this is very funny.

[baltfan]

3 hours ago, Sports Guy said:

The Gunnar HR call was horrific.

She referred to McCann as Adley on a throw to second.

I don’t expect perfection. People make mistakes and misspeak. I get it.

But she’s not good imo. 

It kinda described things properly since the RF seemed to be acting as if they were going to catch it.  It turned out on closer inspection he couldn't find it, but that definitely wasn't clear.  

[Spy Fox]

13 minutes ago, Malike said:

It's not just you. She was fine. Ben calls Irvin Irving, they all make mistakes. Is she the best announcer we have? Not even close. Is she as bad as people are making her out to be? Not even close. Hive mind is strong on this type of subjective topic.

Ben is pretty mistake prone when citing facts. Yesterday during all the streak talk he said that the Orioles haven't lost a series since Adley Rutschman was promoted. 

[Fiver6565]

2 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

I didn't say they were great.  But I also think people here have different expectations from local broadcasters and what you get on a national broadcast.  

I don't know if I've seen anyone on here be complimentary of a national broadcast crew no matter the situation (playoffs, in-season broadcast, etc).  Like, a national broadcast team is supposed to talk about things at a general level.  They're not supposed to be super in depth about the Orioles, they'll know a few things that they'll have found on some simple research, but overall they're really not here for us...and when I say us, I mean the die hard Orioles fans who are aware of what side Connor Norby leans when he farts in the Tides dugout.  

So, I don't expect great things from the Apple TV broadcast crew tomorrow night because they're not here to cater to people like me. 

And I'll enjoy not listening to Kevin Brown.

I think Ryan Spillborghs is the Apple analyst.  He was there last year, and when they came to Camden Yards, he sat out in the Bird Bath and was really excited about it, really a good sport.  I thought he was pretty good as an analyst overall as well.  Apparently he also works on Rockies broadcasts as his regular gig, so probably just relieved to see a good baseball team play LOL.

[Fiver6565]

46 minutes ago, now said:

Yep, to me it's not about (in)competence but sheerly a voice issue:
"nails on chalkboard" nails it for me. Have to switch it off as soon as I hear it.

And BTW this is not about "being mean." It's just fan feedback, in case anyone at MASN is listening.

The sound of her voice is not an issue for me.  Its the words she says when using her voice. 

Though I'll take this opportunity to revisit her hilarious description of Santander's catch in the gap last night as 'a ridiculous snatch'.

[Philip]

There are three things you want in a broadcaster beyond the technical skill, and the knowledge of the subject: what they say, how they say it, and the voice with which they say it.
Gary Thorne and Joe Angel had wonderful voices. Imagine them reading you a bedtime story. They’re just good to listen to. Melanie’s voice is awful. It’s a bad voice. She could replace Siri on your GPS, and no one would notice. Kevin Browns voice is a thin tenor, there’s no body or depth to it. He sounds like a teen aged kid. Ben has a good voice, the best of the group.

Then there’s how they say it, the inflection, phrasing, pacing that can increase or decrease the excitement of the play, or at the very least keep you interested. Melanie fails here too, but they all do, mostly. Mike Bordick was the worst. I don’t know why he’s gone, but I’m grateful.

Finally, there’s what they say, the ongoing banter between batters between pitches, that deals with baseball history, individual statistics, the ballpark, and other things that maintain listener interest. She’s terrible. But on this, they’re all terrible.

They are all varying degrees of bad. The whole team should be replaced, but she’s the worst.

[Tony-OH]

3 hours ago, Gurgi said:

There is also the sound of her voice when she goes up in energy that is not pleasant to the ear.  Its like nails on a chalkboard.  Its like she is telling me to get off my butt and take out the trash.  

The screech. It's sounds like if someone stepped on my cats tail...

"It's a skyball to left field, (left fielder) goes over (not giving a distance yet) he's on the warning track (still no indication of whether he's camped under it, looking back towards the fans, nothing). SSSCCCRRREEEETCCHCHHHHHHHHHH Run!" 

On the radio, I never know whether a sky ball or high ball is a pop up, a regular fly ball, a foul ball, a long fly ball, or a no doubter home run."  Basically I just wait for the crowd reaction and make my own mental call.

[gamiliel]

3 hours ago, Ripken said:

She's horrible.

Yeah, I'm with this.....she said something about Cowser looking toward home plate on his sack fly after rounding first to make sure that Westburg scored and she said "That tells you what kind of guy Cowser is." Well, where was he supposed to be looking? 

Then she rambled on about rookies adjusting easier when they can just be "themselves," as if an injustice has been done since baseball begun. Ben was silent on that one.....probably didn't know what to say.

 

[One eyed Bird]

She is bad on TV and absolutely horrible on the radio, to the point of being unlistenable. I watched the Nats feed on MASN just to avoid her this ;past series, kinda like WTH are the O’s thinking , another thing on the list for Mr R to.fix

[Tony-OH]

25 minutes ago, Fiver6565 said:

The sound of her voice is not an issue for me.  Its the words she says when using her voice. 

Though I'll take this opportunity to revisit her hilarious description of Santander's catch in the gap last night as 'a ridiculous snatch'.

Not going to lie, that made me laugh!

[Tony-OH]

Back to the point, she's not good, but tolerable on TV when I can see the action for myself. On radio? i need blood pressure meds to get through more an an inning or two.

[Punchandjudy]

I listened to two games on the radio over the weekend and a couple innings last night.  I’ve never been a fan of her PBP; however, I haven’t heard her do PBP since last year maybe longer.  I hoped she would be better but she butchered at least 5 calls I can remember off the top of my head. The radio was especially egregious.  At times, it was impossible to track the action.  I did hear last night the McCann mixup with Adley…it was like the 7th inning and McCann was behind the plate all game at that point.  I switched over to the Nats broadcast and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of their broadcast team.  Then again, I’d draw a similar conclusion if I ate a burger at Chilie’s right after having one at McDonald’s. 
 

We all are venting as the O’s won’t get rid of her and Amber Theogarris ain’t walking through that door to take over her pre and postgame job.  That being said, I’m sure Disney/Apple can’t wait to hire Newman full time when they get the MLB playoff contract in the next couple of years.  

Edited May 9 by Punchandjudy

[Fiver6565]

It actually makes me wonder who is giving her feedback at MASN, if anybody.  You would think there'd be a director or producer or somebody trying to coach her up.  I mean maybe they are and its just not working.  She has a good personality for the job, her enthusiasm is appropriate.  She just.....says stuff wrong, and she says wrong stuff. A lot.

[drjohnnyfever1]

1 hour ago, Malike said:

It's not just you. She was fine. Ben calls Irvin Irving, they all make mistakes. Is she the best announcer we have? Not even close. Is she as bad as people are making her out to be? Not even close. Hive mind is strong on this type of subjective topic.

The HIVE Five was no match...  Well played, sir.

People need to chill.  The couple errors she made were far less worrisome and noteworthy than Kimbrel unable to close out a game once again, yet this is what some folks latch onto...

 

[Roy Firestone]

44 minutes ago, Fiver6565 said:

I think Ryan Spillborghs is the Apple analyst.  He was there last year, and when they came to Camden Yards, he sat out in the Bird Bath and was really excited about it, really a good sport.  I thought he was pretty good as an analyst overall as well.  Apparently he also works on Rockies broadcasts as his regular gig, so probably just relieved to see a good baseball team play LOL.

I think Spillborghs is excellent...hes informative, funny, and fun..My gripe is that I have to watch the game on Apple, which feels like a rip off because I have MLB Extra innings and I think I pay enough to get the subscription without having to go to Apple or Peacock or whatever the hell MLB decides to allow to broadcast..It seems like a bait and switch to me...I would rather watch and listen to Kevin Brown than anyone else on TV.