Golf Club Atlas
GolfClubAtlas.com => Golf Course Architecture Discussion Group => Topic started by: John Foley on April 28, 2008, 10:19:39 PM
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I don't know how many others are like me, but I love listening to baseball on the radio. When I was young I used to listed to Bob Murphy on the Mets and occasionally the Red Sox, the Orioles or even the Cards if the night was clear enough. I put a lot of miles on in my job now and XM is a savior as I get to listen to all the MLB I want.
Being a huge Red Sox fan I love to catch as many of their games as possible, but I'll listen to many others. One of the announcers I've come to enjoy is Ed Farmer on the White Sox broadcasts. He knowledgeable, tells a good story and paints a great picture.
Bringing it back to GCA - I look tonite, after hearing him on this afternoon's Orioles- White Sox game, and guess what I find out...
He's a Golf Digest rater. Who would have known!!
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John, I can also add that Ed is a former caddy at Beverly CC. He grew up around the corner from the club. As a young man I caddied for Ed when he was pitching for the Sox. A hell of a nice guy plus a good tipper.
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Joe Garagiola — What better announcer does one need to hear?
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I like Ed Farmer so I would have pegged him as being a Golfweek rater instead of GD.
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Nothing better than a vintage Vin Scully Dodger game...
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How Funny!
I just caddied for Ed last week at Calusa Pines. Nice guy with lots of funny stories. He was even supposed to bring Javier Vasquez to play with him but alas he had to pitch that night. :(
He offered to get me tickets to the game in a couple weeks in San Fran when I'll be out there and the Sox will be in town we'll see if he comes through.
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I've been fortunate to listen to hundreds of games from four outstanding announcers:
1. As a young boy outside of Detroit w/ Ernie Harwell on WJR.
2. As a teenager in southern Indiana w/ Jack Buck on KMOX.
3. As a young adult in SoCal w/ Vin Scully.
4. Now w/ Harry Kalas in Philly.
Saying which is best is like debating which of the top ten classic golf courses is the best. All of them are fantastic, IMO.
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I miss Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy...the voice(s) of the NY Mets.... :-[
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The Philadelphia Phillies were more often than not a sorry bunch of ballplayers, at least in my 45 years of watching and listening to them on the radio. We've had some excellent broadcast teams with Harry Kalas, the Hall of Fame announcer, as the one remaining connection to the splendid past. Now it seems that modern broadcasters need to talk all the time and treat every play like it is the equivalent of the D-Day landing, especially the basketball announcer in this town.
I grew up in an era when baseball games were only on TV once or twice a week. It was the radio that connected us to the teams. They were transistor radios that gave off a faint but pleasant odor of a sort of electrical way when warmed by the 9-volt battery inside. We had Byron Saam, Bill "Soup" Campbell and one of the first ballplayers turned announcers, Richie Ashburn who joined the team after his retirement in 1962 as MVP of the worst team in major league history. For the longest time he was the last man to retire having hit above .300 in his last season. He wanted to retire while still on top having seen too many men hang on too long. While he would surely have gotten his 3000th hit in the next 3-4 years, he decided to hang up the spikes (he was the fastest man in baseball in an era of Mays and Mantle) and go back to Nebraska to run for Congress. If he stuck around long enough to get to that magic number, he wouldn't have had to wait another 32 years to get into the Hall of Fame, but he couldn't stand to lose a card game let alone a baseball game and the Mets were not going anywhere (at least not for another 7 years). Well, it turns out a friend of his was running for Congress, so he decided to back off that plan and called up the TV producer for the Phils and asked him for a job. He stumbled a bit for most of the first year but started to get the hang of it, being brought along by Saam and Campbell. Being the most beloved athlete in Philadelphia history, and remaining so today, certainly helped.
Anyway, as a boy listening to those three and later after Saam retired and as a young adult when Kalas (a Chicagoan that worked in Houston) came on board, it was magic to listen to them no matter the score, which was usually a lopsided losing one. Even the heartache of 1964 was a bit more bearable because of the broadcasters sharing the pain with us exactly as we were feeling it.
Harry and Rich became great friends and that comradery came through loud and clear. One thing Bill Campbell told Rich when he first came on air was, if he didn't have anything to say, don't say anything. So there'd be times when there was silence on the air. When you dialed in the station (no pushbuttons) and heard nothing, you knew that in a bit, you'd hear something wonderful fromHarry's perfect voice or Rich's perfect timing or humorous comment. You could hear Rich strike the match to light his pipe and the slow draw and exhale and it was calming, just like the pace of a ballgame.
People used to deliver food all the time to the announcer's booth and Rich loved pizza. A wonderful pizza parlor, Celebres, is near the stadium and he used to ask them to bring food over during the game. Well, one day the producer said they weren't sponsors, so he couldn't mention them on the air. Like many broadcast teams, they used to announce birthdays on the air during the game. Well, Rich wanted some pizza so he announced, "A special birthday wish today for the Celebres twins, Plain and Pepperoni." Well, 20 minutes later, there were 6 boxes of pizzas delivered and everyone in the city had a good laugh.
Rich was an amazing man and my father-in-law. When he passed away, in a hotel room in NYC (he admitted a fear of dying in a hotel room on the road) the whole city went into mourning. His friend, Ed Rendell, then mayor of the city, arranged a closed casket viewing for the city in a beautiful old building left over from the Centennial. His 93 year old mother stood in the receiving line all day. For more than 8 hours thousands of people came by to pay their last respects. He may have been a Hall of Famer with more hits than anyone in the golden era of baseball (1950s) a two time batting champion and the man who Willie Mays called the greatest defensive outfielder he ever saw and a respected baseball writer, but he touched the city as a broadcaster. The love the city had for him was always on display, the family constantly had to share him with everyone, even in mourning. But the outpouring of affection soothed broken hearts and the family came to realize that sharing him was alright in the end.
One elderly man knelt for a long time at the casket, slowly rose and left an old transistor radio by the coffin. In the receiving line he said that radio was his connection to the game he loved and to a man he respected.
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I grew up listening to Jack Buck do St. Louis Cardinal games for KMOX. One of my favorite childhood memories.
It's great how baseball and golf both maintain their connections to the past and traditions through classic courses or stadiums. Walking the same ground as Jones or Vardon brings a similar thrill as seeing a game in Fenway or Yankee Stadium. Even when a ballpark is replaced, it's interesting to see how designers try to include a certain amount of quirk to evoke the great old parks of the past.
Though I've never been a Yankee fan, I'm making plans for a farewell visit before the stadium closes. That's kind of a sad event, but the highlight will come from playing Yale and seeing how much it's improved since my last time there 7 or 8 years ago.
Also, great story Wayne.
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I grew up listening to/watching Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn, so to me that is the best announcing duo of all time. It will be a very sad day for Philly and for baseball when Harry hangs 'em up. I have always liked Vin Scully as well.
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How cool that we've got Ed farmer connections - I'm sure he'd be a welcome addition here.
Forrest - I like Garagiola but Gowdy was better!
I'll also agree that Scully is world class, but the downside of listening to a Dodgers game is that Charley Stiener is un-listenable.
Wayne - great story!
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While I like Vin Scully's work, it always seemed to me that it wasn't spontaneous and from the heart. It was scripted in a sort of Hollywood way, but then again, I've only heard him do national games and not local broadcasts, so maybe that has something to do with it.
The homespun tales and charming living room banter between Whitey and Kalas was of the natural school and one I am very fond of.
Broadcasters such as Mussberger, Michaels, Nantz and others seem so rehearsed and trite, they are of the engineered school.
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Broadcasters such as Mussberger, Michaels, Nantz and others seem so rehearsed and trite, they are of the engineered school.
The engineered school works WAY better in GCA than announcing. I can't stand listening to those guys Wayne mentioned.
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I am a lifelong Cardinals fan and always thought there was no better on the radio than Jack Buck. (This opinion is limited to post-1970.)
And having to suffer through the Scully years doing golf on NBC, I always thought he was overrated.
However, now that I have XM radio and have heard Scully do baseball on the radio, I now realize that Scully is just as great as was Buck. What a treasure it is these days to sit down to the radio and listen the Scully bring a game to life over the radio.
I have to also add that Bob Uecker surprised me with how good he is on the radio.
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Wayne,
One of my earliest memories of listening to baseball on the radio was the day the Phillies clinched the NL pennant in 1950 by beating the Dodgers when Ashburn threw out Cal Abrams at home plate. I was 6 years old at the time.The late Gene Kelly was the Phillies announcer. What a voice.He later teamed with By Saam. Some great stories here:
www.broadcastpioneers.com/bysaambio.html
A good book is "Voices of Summer" by Curt Smith
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Wayne,
Vin Scully is really great on Dodgers local games. Seeing how he does the games himself, I'm sure he has some notes or scripting prepared, but it's very enjoyable. Only problem is that the games don't start till 10-10:30 ET
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Steve,
You should get the new DVD the Phillies put together on Rich. It is narrated by Harry Kalas and includes incredible footage, some of it 16mm color film by Rich in his earliest days in the league. Proceeds benefit Phillies' charities and the Richie Ashburn foundation, which provides baseball camps and equipment to inner city children.
Thanks for the link.
Dan,
Scully does the local games by himself? That is amazing! I'd like to listen to a local broadcast by him. On the flip side, the Phillies have about 6 different announcers...no flow at all. Then you have Chris Wheeler, who thinks he knows everything and isn't afraid to talk continuously trying to convince you until you can't stand it any more!
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Bill & Wayne - the neat thing about Scully is he does the game alone. No co-host just him. On the local broadcasts he's fanastic.
Glen Gefner used to do color for Red Sox and is now broadcasting the Marlin's games is another good up & commer. He started as a high schooler doing the Rochester Red Wings (AAA club) games into a tape recorder. Not sure how many guys knew at that age what they wanted to do , but he did.
I'll agree for the most part the national guys are too vanilla, however Jon Miller is very very good.
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How cool that we've got Ed farmer connections - I'm sure he'd be a welcome addition here.
Forrest - I like Garagiola but Gowdy was better!
I'll also agree that Scully is world class, but the downside of listening to a Dodgers game is that Charley Stiener is un-listenable.
Wayne - great story!
I tried to tell him about it but he had driven down from Tampa to Naples on an hour of sleep so he was a little out of it.
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Here in Wisconsin, we thankfully still have Bob Uecker for radio broadcasts. He may be something of a caricature, thanks to re-runs of "Major League," but he's a very good baseball announcer. Like others cited here, he doesn't feel the need to fill up every second of the game with his voice.
Growing up in the Cleveland area, I had the good fortune of listening to many a game called by Herb Score, a pitching phenom for the Indians whose career was cut short far too early by a baseball hit back at him that struck him in the face. He never truly recovered as a pitcher, but was a wonderful radio broadcaster.
Moving to Minnesota in the late 1970s, I immediately took to Herb Carneal, still one of the best radio voices I've ever heard. He died about a year ago; I'm not sure anyone connected with the Twins or baseball in Minnesota had anything but the highest praise for Herb.
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The Philadelphia Phillies were more often than not a sorry bunch of ballplayers, at least in my 45 years of watching and listening to them on the radio. We've had some excellent broadcast teams with Harry Kalas, the Hall of Fame announcer, as the one remaining connection to the splendid past. Now it seems that modern broadcasters need to talk all the time and treat every play like it is the equivalent of the D-Day landing, especially the basketball announcer in this town.
I grew up in an era when baseball games were only on TV once or twice a week. It was the radio that connected us to the teams. They were transistor radios that gave off a faint but pleasant odor of a sort of electrical way when warmed by the 9-volt battery inside. We had Byron Saam, Bill "Soup" Campbell and one of the first ballplayers turned announcers, Richie Ashburn who joined the team after his retirement in 1962 as MVP of the worst team in major league history. For the longest time he was the last man to retire having hit above .300 in his last season. He wanted to retire while still on top having seen too many men hang on too long. While he would surely have gotten his 3000th hit in the next 3-4 years, he decided to hang up the spikes (he was the fastest man in baseball in an era of Mays and Mantle) and go back to Nebraska to run for Congress. If he stuck around long enough to get to that magic number, he wouldn't have had to wait another 32 years to get into the Hall of Fame, but he couldn't stand to lose a card game let alone a baseball game and the Mets were not going anywhere (at least not for another 7 years). Well, it turns out a friend of his was running for Congress, so he decided to back off that plan and called up the TV producer for the Phils and asked him for a job. He stumbled a bit for most of the first year but started to get the hang of it, being brought along by Saam and Campbell. Being the most beloved athlete in Philadelphia history, and remaining so today, certainly helped.
Anyway, as a boy listening to those three and later after Saam retired and as a young adult when Kalas (a Chicagoan that worked in Houston) came on board, it was magic to listen to them no matter the score, which was usually a lopsided losing one. Even the heartache of 1964 was a bit more bearable because of the broadcasters sharing the pain with us exactly as we were feeling it.
Harry and Rich became great friends and that comradery came through loud and clear. One thing Bill Campbell told Rich when he first came on air was, if he didn't have anything to say, don't say anything. So there'd be times when there was silence on the air. When you dialed in the station (no pushbuttons) and heard nothing, you knew that in a bit, you'd hear something wonderful fromHarry's perfect voice or Rich's perfect timing or humorous comment. You could hear Rich strike the match to light his pipe and the slow draw and exhale and it was calming, just like the pace of a ballgame.
People used to deliver food all the time to the announcer's booth and Rich loved pizza. A wonderful pizza parlor, Celebres, is near the stadium and he used to ask them to bring food over during the game. Well, one day the producer said they weren't sponsors, so he couldn't mention them on the air. Like many broadcast teams, they used to announce birthdays on the air during the game. Well, Rich wanted some pizza so he announced, "A special birthday wish today for the Celebres twins, Plain and Pepperoni." Well, 20 minutes later, there were 6 boxes of pizzas delivered and everyone in the city had a good laugh.
Rich was an amazing man and my father-in-law. When he passed away, in a hotel room in NYC (he admitted a fear of dying in a hotel room on the road) the whole city went into mourning. His friend, Ed Rendell, then mayor of the city, arranged a closed casket viewing for the city in a beautiful old building left over from the Centennial. His 93 year old mother stood in the receiving line all day. For more than 8 hours thousands of people came by to pay their last respects. He may have been a Hall of Famer with more hits than anyone in the golden era of baseball (1950s) a two time batting champion and the man who Willie Mays called the greatest defensive outfielder he ever saw and a respected baseball writer, but he touched the city as a broadcaster. The love the city had for him was always on display, the family constantly had to share him with everyone, even in mourning. But the outpouring of affection soothed broken hearts and the family came to realize that sharing him was alright in the end.
One elderly man knelt for a long time at the casket, slowly rose and left an old transistor radio by the coffin. In the receiving line he said that radio was his connection to the game he loved and to a man he respected.
Stuff like this is the reason I keep coming back to golfclubatlas -- after I keep getting driven away by the bickering about what strike me as teapot tempests.
Thanks, Wayne.
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While I like Vin Scully's work, it always seemed to me that it wasn't spontaneous and from the heart. It was scripted in a sort of Hollywood way, but then again, I've only heard him do national games and not local broadcasts, so maybe that has something to do with it.
My impression of Scully was always colored by his coverage of golf which was never quite right in my view.
His Dodger play by play, however, is a masterpiece. I was in LA with time to kill on the meaningless last day of the season last year and wound up not getting out of the car at Rustic Canyon and listened to the broadcast instead. He so vividly painted the atmosphere of the last day of a disappointing season it was more interesting than either golf or going to the game would have been.
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Here in Houston we have to be tortured by Milo Hamilton's senile ramblings on the radio. It's becoming a running joke that people are sending in "shout outs" to famous movie characters. Some of the best have been Milo's hellos to 'Bud and Sissy Davis of Pasadena', 'Ron Burgundy and Co.', and 'Happy 22nd birthday to Veronica Corningstone'.
Is there some sort of unwritten rule that announcers can never retire? Milo's Miguel Te-HAY-dah is killing me.
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Scully does indeed do it by himself - as he's gotten older there's more and more dawdling in his storytelling, but its that stuff that always made him great. Just a guy telling you what he sees, no color commentator, no useless booth banter, just a guy who really loves the game.
"Hello friends and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be...."
(and for this guy, whose "wherever" is no longer Los Angeles, I miss those games a lot)
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Ryan - buy the MLB Extra Innings package!
This has reunited me with Vin Scully, much to my joy. As a transplanted former Los Angelean, well... I've missed him.
If there is a better baseball announcer than Vinny, well you can have him. I need no more.
BTW tying this back to golf somewhat... I played with a GD rater down in Phoenix... Eric Hanson... former long-time pitcher. Tall, GREAT player (+4 hdcp), nice guy.
TH
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Can you listen to -- or read!! -- what went over the airwaves 9:41 pm, September 9th, 1965 (http://www.doubledogmusic.com/baseball/Scully_Koufax_Perfect.mp3), in the City of Angels and not feel __________?
One game in a chain of thousands called by Vincent Edward Scully.
Mark
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I think the greatest words in sports are Bob Shepard's "good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Yankee Stadium." Absolutely dripping with history.
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Here in Houston we have to be tortured by Milo Hamilton's senile ramblings on the radio. It's becoming a running joke that people are sending in "shout outs" to famous movie characters. Some of the best have been Milo's hellos to 'Bud and Sissy Davis of Pasadena', 'Ron Burgundy and Co.', and 'Happy 22nd birthday to Veronica Corningstone'.
Is there some sort of unwritten rule that announcers can never retire? Milo's Miguel Te-HAY-dah is killing me.
Buddy of mine had fun with ole Milo years ago when he was going TV broadcasts for WGN Depaul basketball games. They visited Evansville for a game. We made up a sign to show in the student section that said:
World's
Greatest
aNnouncer: Milo Hamilton.
Once on camera from a handheld zoom, it was flipped over to say "Just kidding!".
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"Hello friends and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be...."
Vin is a fairly new member of my home course. I've met him a few times and he's seems to be the nicest guy on the planet. I don't want to bother him but I'll bet there's about a million stories in that guy. I hope that some day I get to hear a few.
- Peter
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I would think Joe Castiglione is one of the best radio guys going. It's amazing that he was not that widely known until his 04 WS call, famous because it was the Red Sox-broadcaster call, not the shmoes on Fox.
Castig has been with the Sox since 1983, lead announcer since 1991. He now teams with Dave O'Brien (also of ESPN Wed. night baseball), who also has a great radio voice.
He is probably most well-known in the Boston media for his sarcastic calls when the Sox fail to get the big hit. When the bases are loaded & 2 outs, he expresses the angst of millions in his sarcastic "swing and there's a pop-up" call, which was the root of Nomar's nickname (Garcia-popup) right before he was traded to the Cubs in 04.
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... Lindsey Nelson ...
Lindsey did the Giants for a season or two and it was difficult listening to him when you first heard him on Sunday mornings ... "after an exchange of punts, we move to action further on in the 3rd quarter ..."
I am a fan of Lon Simmons. Many announcers spend too much time talking but you could turn on a Giants game mid-inning, here nothing but the sounds of the fans in the stands and realize that it was Lon's turn at the mike.
Of course, when his broadcasts carry you through the Mays, Marichal and McCovery years, he tends to be come one of your favorites. And of course his homerun call of "you can tell it goodbye" is classic ...
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I grew up a long way from anywhere in western NY and radio was my lifeline to baseball along with the televised "Game of the Week" with Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese. I'd pick up Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and even sometimes Chicago on the transister at night (WOWO Fort Wayne was a favorite for music too). Bob Prince in Pittsburgh was great. So was Jack Brickhouse for the Cubs, though by the time I moved to Chicago in the late '70s he was in his dotage and awful. Cinci had Waite Hoyt pre Marty Brennaman doing the calls from Crosley Field (Vada Pinson era). Then of course the Yankees with Red Barber, Mel Allen and Phil Rizzuto. Phil was one of the original "homers," always cheering on air for his beloved Yankees. The Mets guys Craig mentions--Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy--had a tough job in the early 1960s because the Mets were terrible but they were classy announcers. The great thing about the radio broadcasts was actually the times when these announcers weren't talking and you could hear the noise of the crowd, a constant murmuring undertone that made you feel like you were there.
Following is the top 20 list as voted on by fans for XM in 2005. There are some great names on here, many of whom have been mentioned:
1. Harry Caray
2. Vin Scully
3. Bob Uecker
4. Mel Allen
5. Dizzy Dean
6. Ernie Harwell
7. Joe Garagiola
8. Phil Rizzuto
9. Jack Buck
10. Curt Gowdy
11. Red Barber
12. Jack Brickhouse
13. Al Michaels
14. Chuck Thompson
15. Harry Kalas
16. Bob Murphy
17. Rafael "Felo" Ramirez
18. Lindsey Nelson
19. Milo Hamilton
20. Russ Hodges
Here's a link to the article.
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=3277
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Name this announcer:
"There's a drive!! Deep left field!! This ball might be outa here!! It could be!! It is!! A home run!!"
The exclamation marks I put there understate this announcer's delivery. He's on Doug's list, and is my personal favorite. I expect a number of you know who he is.
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Name this announcer:
"There's a drive!! Deep left field!! This ball might be outa here!! It could be!! It is!! A home run!!"
The exclamation marks I put there understate this announcer's delivery. He's on Doug's list, and is my personal favorite. I expect a number of you know who he is.
I think that has to be Harry "I never turned down a Budweiser" Caray. One of my favorites, but I only heard him on TV broadcasts.
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Can you listen to -- or read!! -- what went over the airwaves 9:41 pm, September 9th, 1965 (http://www.doubledogmusic.com/baseball/Scully_Koufax_Perfect.mp3), in the City of Angels and not feel __________?
One game in a chain of thousands called by Vincent Edward Scully.
Mark
Thanks, Mark, where did you find that clip?
I'd love to hear Vin call the last game of the 1962 playoff game when Stan Williams walked four straight Giants to lose the playoff series....... ;D
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I love listening to Castiglione. He is as good as all of the best that are mentioned here. He is the epitome of the down home New Englander.
I had the following from perviously, it's a little outdated, but has some great details.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/announcers.htm?loc=interstitialskip
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Here in Houston we have to be tortured by Milo Hamilton's senile ramblings on the radio. It's becoming a running joke that people are sending in "shout outs" to famous movie characters. Some of the best have been Milo's hellos to 'Bud and Sissy Davis of Pasadena', 'Ron Burgundy and Co.', and 'Happy 22nd birthday to Veronica Corningstone'.
Is there some sort of unwritten rule that announcers can never retire? Milo's Miguel Te-HAY-dah is killing me.
Buddy of mine had fun with ole Milo years ago when he was going TV broadcasts for WGN Depaul basketball games. They visited Evansville for a game. We made up a sign to show in the student section that said:
World's
Greatest
aNnouncer: Milo Hamilton.
Once on camera from a handheld zoom, it was flipped over to say "Just kidding!".
If Milo had never called Aaron's 715, would he be as revered as he is now?
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Name this announcer:
"There's a drive!! Deep left field!! This ball might be outa here!! It could be!! It is!! A home run!!"
The exclamation marks I put there understate this announcer's delivery. He's on Doug's list, and is my personal favorite. I expect a number of you know who he is.
I think that has to be Harry "I never turned down a Budweiser" Caray. One of my favorites, but I only heard him on TV broadcasts.
it certainly is Harry!
great post Wayne!
and if you really want to get under Milo Hamilton's skin, go up to him and tell him what a great guy you think Harry was....Milo thought he was going to be the lead announcer for the Cubs, but they hired Haray and to this day i think Milo has bad things to say about him...similar to how Joe Frazier used to/still does? dislikes Ali for the what he used to say about him in the 1970s
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I would go out of my way to listen to Vin Scully call a Dodger game.
I grew up in Vancouver and we had, at the time, a AAA team, the "Mounties" in the PCL, who were in the Milwaukee, Baltimore and Oakland systems in the years when I was young. The announcer was Jim Robson who ended up becoming the long time announcer of the Vancouver Canucks.
The reason I raise it is that for road games of any significant difference Jim's call of the game was a reconstruction. He would be sitting in the studio of radio station CKWX in downtown Vancouver, receiving a ticker tape of events in Sacramento, Phoenix, Salt Lake etc. With every sound effect in the book on tape, he would call the game based on what the tape was telling him on the count, location of the hit, etc. etc. and it was incredible. I swear most people never knew he was reconstructing the game. Great voice for baseball as well, soothing like Vin Scully. They used to hold an annual open house when you could go down and watch Jim through the glass.
I am sure there must have been other announcers who were reconstructing games.
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Can you listen to -- or read!! -- what went over the airwaves 9:41 pm, September 9th, 1965 (http://www.doubledogmusic.com/baseball/Scully_Koufax_Perfect.mp3), in the City of Angels and not feel __________?
One game in a chain of thousands called by Vincent Edward Scully.
Mark
My Dad attended that game in person.
And like all true Dodger fans, also listened to Vinny's call on his hand-held transistor radio.
I grew up with that being totally normal and expected... that is, bringing a radio to the game... my Dad's words were "it's not a real game without Vinny."
Imagine doing that today.... sigh.....
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I grew up listening to the voice of the Tigers broadcasting games from the corner while my Dad and I tinkered around doing terrible DIY jobs around the house. I always loved his style. There were long periods of ball park noises and his (what I always thought as rather odd) southern accent drawing out the vowels. He had a few quirks about him like referring to teams as the nickname, but using the city, ie "Bostons" for Red Sox. I know the Tigers lost a dear fan in 1991 after letting Harwell go. I know Harwell came back, but by then I was finished with the Tigers. I always justified no longer listening by telling myself that you can only properly be a fan of one and only one professional sporting team, but how I wished Harwell would broadcast the Wings!
Ciao
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Speaking of Vin Scully and other great announcers....
I swear the funniest bit I have ever heard baseball-wise was Jon Miller (voice of Giants for last several years, does ESPN games also, damn fine announcer for sure) imitating the greatest Japanese baseball announcer, voice of Tokyo Giants. Said announcer learned to do such listening to Scully, so his style was wholly Vinnian. For whatever reason Miller also speaks fluent Japanese. So Miller - who does a MEAN Scully imitation in English, btw - did this in Japanese, and well.... I was dying. Japanese word-ditto-ditto-ditto-ditto-LOWWWWWWWWWW.
If anyone can find that on Youtube I will pay good money (or beer) for the link.
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Kuiper and Krukow for the Giants are hilarious on TV. I swear I will never eat anything at Giants game because as soon as I drip mustard on my shirt my mug will be on TV with those guys making jokes, like the Seinfield episoe of George at the US Tennis Open.
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Kuiper and Krukow for the Giants are hilarious on TV. I swear I will never eat anything at Giants game because as soon as I drip mustard on my shirt my mug will be on TV with those guys making jokes, like the Seinfield episoe of George at the US Tennis Open.
Agreed. I like Kruk and Kuip - and I say this as a Dodger fan.
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I too grew up with Vinnie and there is nothing that says summer better than ' A pleasant good evening to you where ever you may be"
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One of my favorite Scully stories is that so many people used to bring radios to the game to listen to him that he got the spectators to sing happy birthday to one of the umpires.
I wish I had gotten to hear Red Barber in his prime. I loved his segments on Morning Edition.
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Having grown up in NYC in the 50's we had some of great play by play announcers in history-Mel Allen, Red Barber, Vinnie, Russ Hodges. But no one calls baseball like Vin Scully and I'm a diehard Yankees fan. I was a kid but never got Red Barber-he would announce baseball so matter of factly- "there's a fly ball to left field, Woodling back, ....it's a home run'. Of course that's light years better than most of the play by play guys today who have to have a 'catch home run call'-John Sterling, the Yankees radio guy, is probably the worst one ever.
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The best I've ever heard, over a whole season, was Ray Scott -- during the early years of the Minnesota Twins, when he was also the Voice of the Packers.
Absolutely fantastic.
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The greatest baseball call ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMa5eZE5ilE
Vin Scully is very cliched but what makes it great are that the cliche are his. He came up with them and made them popular.
One of my favorite songs from my childhood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnVOZkXDmZc
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Bill G
great catch on TWIB!!!
Remember this was pre ESPN - Had to catch it Sat before the game of the week!!!
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Essentially, we're talking about voices of our youths.
As a kid, I remember going to sleep with Vin Scully in the radio under my pillow. Kinda' sing-songy, but he patented it. The man is timeless, and makes old guys like me feel young.
Red Barber will remain timeless.
Bill King was a total pro covering the Athletics.
In the present day, if you haven't heard Duane Kuiper call a game, you're missing out.
Dolcid tones. Almost as good as Hank Greenwald, who could make grass growing sound interesting.
Most overrated=Jon Miller. He's a vocal narcissist who calls plays in passive voice.
"Catching it is Santiago..."
Please. "Santiago moves in and has it."
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One of my favorite Scully stories is that so many people used to bring radios to the game to listen to him that he got the spectators to sing happy birthday to one of the umpires.
I wish I had gotten to hear Red Barber in his prime. I loved his segments on Morning Edition.
Quite a few Cardinals’ fans also used to bring a radio to the game so as to listen to Jack Buck.
During the 1998 home run race between McGwire & Sosa, during a weekend day game the home plate ump through out McGwire during the 1st inning for arguing balls & strikes. I think it was seat cushion day. A lot of fans from around the Mid-West plan weekend visits to catch a Cards game. So with a stadium full of seat cushions and with quite a few fans attending one of their few visits of the year to Busch Stadium, and with McGwire being the whole story of the season, the fans were on the verge of a riot.
Well supposedly one of the reasons the place did not go completely nuts and the game was able to continue was because of the many fans with radios hearing Jack Buck saying the fans needed to accept the ejection and let the game continue, and to not allow the visiting team to get a forfeit win.
Thank goodness the Cards added John Rooney to their radio broadcast team last year.
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I have to say John Sterling absolved himself of all dislike when he greeted Suzy Waldman's breakdown into tears at the end of last year's Yankee season (still during the broadcast, it was pitiful) with about 6 or 7 seconds of wonderfully sarcastic silence.
Who knew his greatest broadcasting moment would be several seconds of perfectly placed silence?
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One of the many joys of the greatest baseball day of my life (10/15/88) was that each of Jack Buck and Vin Scully made separate calls... Buck on radio, Scully on TV.
Both are very famous, both are great. As is the case with golf courses, one's preference comes down to one's personal preferences.
Buck: I can't believe what I just saw!
Scully: she is..... GONE! Followed by 45 seconds of silence, giving us full access to the delirious crowd.
Now my preference is for Scully in this, but I'm a life-long Dodger fan. I have to say Buck's call gives darn near equal goosebumps.
;D
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Vin is why I have the MLB Extra Innings package on DirecTV.
(oh yeah - and that little factor about being married to a crazy Mets fan, who still rues the loss of Bob Murphy).
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Nice to see so many members of Red Bird Nation mention the late great Jack Buck. As a life long Cards fan living on the west coast most of my life I didn't get to hear him as much as my father, uncles and grandfathers did ,but when ever I hear 'Go Crazy Folks Go Crazy' I definately get chills. Now I just need the Sirius / XM merger to go thru to listen to Cards games on the ride home.
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Dan and all you Phillies fans, here's a preview of Richie Asbhurn: A Baseball Life
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0U1Jqu5g69o&feature=Responses&parent_video=zt982t5aoew&index=0&playnext=1&playnext_from=RL
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Vin is why I have the MLB Extra Innings package on DirecTV.
(oh yeah - and that little factor about being married to a crazy Mets fan, who still rues the loss of Bob Murphy).
Bought it, love it, it's like being a kid again for this transplanted Angeleno.
;D
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Nice to see so many members of Red Bird Nation mention the late great Jack Buck. As a life long Cards fan living on the west coast most of my life I didn't get to hear him as much as my father, uncles and grandfathers did ,but when ever I hear 'Go Crazy Folks Go Crazy' I definately get chills. Now I just need the Sirius / XM merger to go thru to listen to Cards games on the ride home.
I'm not sure if this is one of Jack Buck's best calls -- but I'm quite sure of this:
It still gives me gooseflesh ... as does the rest of this video. And not just gooseflesh; some tears, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ7SVORswUs&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ7SVORswUs&feature=related)
What a player! What a joy!
P.S. My apologies to anyone who catches an earworm from that video. I've had one for most of an hour already -- with no end in sight!
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This is probably the best place for a shameless plug, since it's way OT, but related to the topic at hand.
My second Sam Skarda novel, "Green Monster," should begin showing up in stores the first week of August, with an official Sept. 1 pub date. I thought I'd mention it for Red Sox fans and baseball fans in general here, but particularly because there are many references to the Cardinals, Dodgers and Vin Scully in the book. And a little Ned Martin, too...
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By the way, anybody here remember Earl Gillespie, who did the Braves radio broadcasts in the '50s when they were the best team in baseball? That was my first exposure to baseball play-by-play, and I thought he was terrific. A mostly-forgotten name now.
I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned Bob Prince, who seemed to be beloved by everyone I ever met from Pittsburgh.
And I can't believe the Red Sox fans here are too young to remember and idolize Ned Martin.
As for Harry Carey, he hung on way too long. By all accounts he was a terrific announcer in his younger days, and he became a hilarious character in his final decade or so, but a terrible announcer. I'll never forget him butchering a call on a Cubs game near the end -- Ryne Sandberg lined out to third and the defense started running off the field. Harry obviously missed the play, so after a moment of confusion, he yelled, "Swing and miss, strike three!"
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This is probably the best place for a shameless plug, since it's way OT, but related to the topic at hand.
My second Sam Skarda novel, "Green Monster," should begin showing up in stores the first week of August, with an official Sept. 1 pub date. I thought I'd mention it for Red Sox fans and baseball fans in general here, but particularly because there are many references to the Cardinals, Dodgers and Vin Scully in the book. And a little Ned Martin, too...
Yahoooooo!
I can't wait until then though. I need Skarda updates much sooner.
;D
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I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned Bob Prince, who seemed to be beloved by everyone I ever met from Pittsburgh.
Rick,
I mentioned Bob Prince above. Guess you're a better writer than reader... ;)
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Name this announcer:
"There's a drive!! Deep left field!! This ball might be outa here!! It could be!! It is!! A home run!!"
The exclamation marks I put there understate this announcer's delivery. He's on Doug's list, and is my personal favorite. I expect a number of you know who he is.
I think that has to be Harry "I never turned down a Budweiser" Caray. One of my favorites, but I only heard him on TV broadcasts.
it certainly is Harry!
great post Wayne!
and if you really want to get under Milo Hamilton's skin, go up to him and tell him what a great guy you think Harry was....Milo thought he was going to be the lead announcer for the Cubs, but they hired Haray and to this day i think Milo has bad things to say about him...similar to how Joe Frazier used to/still does? dislikes Ali for the what he used to say about him in the 1970s
Just imagine the possibilities. I wouldn't have grown up loving Harry and the good looking girls that he always pointed out in the crowd at Wrigley...and someone other than Milo would be drinking vodka every night in the corner booth at Trulucks.
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I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned Bob Prince, who seemed to be beloved by everyone I ever met from Pittsburgh.
Rick,
I mentioned Bob Prince above. Guess you're a better writer than reader... ;)
Doug,
Lazy, too. I did a page search for "Prince" but only on the second page of the thread. I didn't remember seeing the name on the first page, so...Doh.
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Who knew his greatest broadcasting moment would be several seconds of perfectly placed silence?
I would have believed it and for his next move he should extend that silence to multiple years.