tv announcers?

[Daniel H]

Why do the tv announcers keep changing?

[ChipTait]

Kevin Brown & Ben McDonald are "on assignment."

Kevin has been calling the Women's College World Series for years for ESPN.  Ben does a lot of men's college baseball for ESPN/SEC.

Melanie Newman is covering the Europe stuff for MLB Network.

And I'm speculating that Jim Palmer has no desire to work TV games with the radio B-Team announcers.

So, we get to put up with a lot of "colorful" fill-ins this time of year.  Have patience; thank goodness it doesn't last that long.

[Frobby]

They’re all doing a respectable job IMO.

[Billy F-Face3]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

They’re all doing a respectable job IMO.

I'm just content I haven't had to put up with another Melanie Newman with Dave Johnson pairing.

[Spy Fox]

Brach has a major case of, instead of adding analysis from a neutralish perspective, he’s shoehorning every comment to be about how great and awesome something is. I don’t even mean Orioles favoritism, just a general overenthusiasm that makes his comments land inauthentically.

Something great about Jim Palmer is that he’s more willing to call a mistake a mistake, and on the flip side his amazement is genuine when it comes out. Good former player analysts on other teams (Ron Darling) and other sports do this too. It comes from a deeper confidence of understanding the game and not needing to fluff up every comment. 

[Goober Noodles]

2 minutes ago, Spy Fox said:

Brach has a major case of, instead of adding analysis from a neutralish perspective, he’s shoehorning every comment to be about how great and awesome something is. I don’t even mean Orioles favoritism, just a general overenthusiasm that makes his comments land inauthentically.

Something great about Jim Palmer is that he’s more willing to call a mistake a mistake, and on the flip side his amazement is genuine when it comes out. Good former player analysts on other teams (Ron Darling) and other sports do this too. It comes from a deeper confidence of understanding the game and not needing to fluff up every comment. 

While I tend to agree, I don't think it's egregious and it hasn't really bothered me.  I think the announcers have been doing a solid job with the A team out.

[Spy Fox]

3 minutes ago, Goober Noodles said:

While I tend to agree, I don't think it's egregious and it hasn't really bothered me.  I think the announcers have been doing a solid job with the A team out.

Something I appreciated about Brach in the booth is, since he is a pretty recent player, he could actually talk about a bunch of experiences playing with/against specific guys who are still in MLB. You don't get that super often since usually color guys are from a prior era. He has some potential, but I think to get there he needs to relax a bit. 

I thought BRob was pretty decent, and improved from last year. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

I hope Brach isn't the color analyst for the Rays series.

[interloper]

54 minutes ago, Frobby said:

They’re all doing a respectable job IMO.

Brach is terrible. He comments on every single pitch. Exhausting. And the first 4 words of every sentence are a tangled mess until he straightens the sentence out. 

Edited June 6 by interloper

[Brian88]

Brach is unbearable 

[Sydnor]

28 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I hope Brach isn't the color analyst for the Rays series.

It will be Brian Roberts (who I think does a good job).

[InsideCoroner]

I think Brett Hollander and Brian Roberts did a very respectable job for a few games in the Rays series. That’s a solid “B” team. Olson was okay. 

I admittedly struggle with Brach, Geoff Arnold and/or Dave Johnson. 

[OriolesMagic83]

1 hour ago, Brian88 said:

Brach is unbearable 

Pair Brach with Newman and it might replace waterboarding as a torture method.

[dystopia]

32 minutes ago, InsideCoroner said:

I think Brett Hollander and Brian Roberts did a very respectable job for a few games in the Rays series. That’s a solid “B” team. Olson was okay. 

I admittedly struggle with Brach, Geoff Arnold and/or Dave Johnson. 

Don’t really have an issue with Arnold or Johnson. 

[dtk9119]

Arnold is good (better on radio than TV)

Hollander is okay (best paired w/ Arnold on radio)

Wagner (new guy this year) should get more time on radio. He's very good from the little I've heard him

Brach talks to much (but as recently retired, one thing I do like are his stories about competing against current players)

Olson is meh

BRob is probably the best of the 3 players

Newman needs to stick to Pre/Post, terrible on radio PBP

Long and Garceau tolerable in pre/post only

I can do without Johnson

I actually like Melewski when I've heard him do games on radio. He should also get more time.

I think WCWS is over this weekend so hopefully Brown will be back next week w/ hopefully Palmer.