Twins Broadcast Team

[Warning Track Power]

Good God...Talk about being unaware of the current situations in baseball.

 

As I live outside of Wisconsin, I have to rely on XM for radio broadcasts of the Brewers games and since it was the Twins home games, I had to listen to the Twins broadcast team. Two incidents caught me completely off guard and dumbfounded as to how they could not be aware of situations around baseball. I was very surprised about the lack of knowledge in the league from John Gordon, Dan Gladden and Jack Morris.

 

The first was Trevor Hoffman. During the Saturday game when Villanueva blew the save, they had no clue as to why the all-time saves leader wasn't in the game. I mean no clue. They were questioning it throughout the entire inning as to why he wasn't in. After hearing that I thought well, they are an AL team and maybe they don't follow the NL and don't know about Hoffman's struggles, as shocking as that would be. But the second was unforgivable to not know.

 

The second was an email to the booth question during Sunday's game about realignment. Not sure who it was but he was asked with all the realignment talk, if the Twins would want to go to the NL as they play the game like an NL team with hit and run, sac bunts and the like. The response to the question was "There hasn't been any realignment talk and I'm not sure where you are hearing all this realignment talk but..."

 

Really?? I think that has been a pretty topic of Bud Selig's committee about making the game more competitively balanced. I'm just glad Uecker and Provus have a pretty solid knowledge of all things baseball and not just Brewers.

[joepepsi]

I think John Gordon is terribly boring.

[Paulus88]

I was in the cities last weekend and tried to listen to the radio guys but they were insufferable in expressing the infallibility of the Twins combined with a complete lack of knowledge/appreciation about the Brewers. It was refreshing to hear Provus call a game professionally on the way back to WI.

[8brewcrew]

I was in the cities this weekend. Noticed a small error as I was listening to the Sunday broadcast on my way back to Milwaukee. Don't know which guy it was but he was commenting on the Brewers "hit or miss" offense. He stated that the Crew scored 22 runs in 2 games against the Dodgers then turned around and scored 2 in 4 games against the Padres. When in fact it was the other way around.

 

To be fair, our current radio team isn't the greatest either. Cory does a fine job but listening to Davey is as painful as sticking needles in my ear. I still can't figure out why they stuck him on the radio, he doesn't even belong on TV.

[Invader3K]

I don't think Davey Nelson is that bad, but he is just a fill in guy anyway. My understanding is the three Twins guys cited are the permanent broadcasting team. Sounds like I'm not missing much by not tuning in to their games.

[8brewcrew]

I don't think Davey Nelson is that bad, but he is just a fill in guy anyway.

I'm aware that Davey is only a fill-in for Uecker while he's recovering from surgery but how can you say he isn't bad. He stumbles on his words all the time and he takes too long to make his point which is usually irrelevant anyways. I think the guy knows a ton about baseball but he just shouldn't be paid to talk about it.

 

I forget who he was talking about yesterday but he said they were "working out in the bullpen".

[hawing]

To some degree, it's a matter of personal preference. Davey has some interesting insights, but is the opposite of a smooth talker, which in radio is problematic. Still, I find it easier to listen to Cory and Davey than to either Brian/Rock or (definitely) Coshun/Rock, so I accept Davey as a short-term sub.

[davego]

The Twins TV team is equally as bad. I use to think Bert should be in the hall. After hearing him for years on TV, I actually root against his induction.

[RockCoCougars]

To some degree, it's a matter of personal preference. Davey has some interesting insights, but is the opposite of a smooth talker, which in radio is problematic. Still, I find it easier to listen to Cory and Davey than to either Brian/Rock or (definitely) Coshun/Rock, so I accept Davey as a short-term sub.

Having lived up there, I concur that John Gordon is brutal. He should be working the state fair circuit hawking the newest gadget. Dan Gladden- "Dazzle" is also pretty clueless and annoying. Herb Carneal was good though, when he was south of 80 years old. Like the Brewers with Bob Betts, the Twins also had a great P.A. announcer at the stadium, his name escapes me at this point, but he died a few years ago.

[8brewcrew]

hawing wrote:Still, I find it easier to listen to Cory and Davey than to either Brian/Rock or (definitely) Coshun/Rock, so I accept Davey as a short-term sub.

What bad could you possibly have to say about Brian and Bill? From what I hear they are one of the better TV teams in the league. I just don't understand how you guys can stand listening to Davey.

[hawing]

I have nothing particularly bad to say about Brian and Bill. My personal preference is to follow games by radio, and maybe that's why I prefer the Brewers' radio team, even as it stands during Bob's absence.

[thablingster]

Brian and Bill are good, but I think the nice part about listening on the radio is the lack of clicheness. A lot of times Brian and Bill will just fall into cliches and the same old talk. Doing games on the radio they always have to fill dead air with something, be it interesting or not. Cory has stepped up admirably since Uecker has been out, and while Davey is no where near smooth in his delivery and he and Cory sometimes trip over each other, it is evident Davey does have some insightful things to say if he can string the right words together.

[ELCABALLO45]

Whoever mentioned the Twins TV crew being even worse is correct.

 

Dick and Bert are THE worse play by play guys in the league.

[MNBrew]

I was in the cities this weekend. Noticed a small error as I was listening to the Sunday broadcast on my way back to Milwaukee. Don't know which guy it was but he was commenting on the Brewers "hit or miss" offense. He stated that the Crew scored 22 runs in 2 games against the Dodgers then turned around and scored 2 in 4 games against the Padres. When in fact it was the other way around.

Are you referring to the offense's output being reversed, or simply the order in which they played the 2 teams? The output is correct. I wouldn't fault them much for flipping the order.

 

Dick & Bert are actually quite good. They're all I get to listen to these days, but I've heard plenty of teams' TV guys over the years. But the Twins' radio folks have always been bland. Folks up here hold Herb Carneal in high esteem, God rest his soul. But all he really had was longevity -- annoying voice, boring delivery, etc., etc., etc. I thought no one could ever beat Ueck & Pat Hughes, but the Uecker/Powell combo proved me quite wrong. I've driven all over the country and listened to tons of teams' radio broadcasts. The Brewers' gents simply are the best. But on the TV side, Dick & Bert up here in The Cities sure do a solid job.

[Schlitz001]

I listened to Dick and Bert this past series and they actually made me laugh out loud a few times with their comments which I rarely get from Bill and Brian.

 

With regards to their radio team, I would think that the Hoffman situation would have been printed in their game notes, and if they are doing the broadcast without game notes and no knowledge of our closer situation then I feel sorry for Twins fans without a TV.

[DHonks]

Warning Track Power, I also was frustrated when they sort of scolded the fan for suggesting their was talk of realignment.

[8brewcrew]

I was in the cities this weekend. Noticed a small error as I was listening to the Sunday broadcast on my way back to Milwaukee. Don't know which guy it was but he was commenting on the Brewers "hit or miss" offense. He stated that the Crew scored 22 runs in 2 games against the Dodgers then turned around and scored 2 in 4 games against the Padres. When in fact it was the other way around.

Are you referring to the offense's output being reversed, or simply the order in which they played the 2 teams? The output is correct. I wouldn't fault them much for flipping the order.

I was talking about the order of the games. And, I did say it was a small error.

[JoeHova]

Dick and Bert are THE worse play by play guys in the league.

Close, but not quite. The D-Backs, Reds, Mariners and White Sox all have worse announcing teams. That said, I can't even watch a Twins game because of Blyleven and Bremer. They are execrable and they don't cross over into unintentional comedy the way the Mariners and White Sox teams do. I would rank the bottom announcing teams as:

 

30. D-Backs

29. Reds

(nothing redeems these 2, listening to either makes me wish baseball had never existed so I wouldn't have to be subjected to their maundering fatuousness. Sometimes, listening to them, it seems like all life, not just baseball, would have been better off not existing.)

28. White Sox

27. Mariners

(both of these teams are awful but it can sometimes be entertaining listening to them pretend that various awful players on the home team are somehow worthwhile. One has to be in a certain self-hating mood to put oneself through the ordeal of a game called by either of them but at least they (usually) don't make one contemplate the bliss of nonexistence.)

26. Twins

(not quite as bad as the previous 2 but they don't have the unintentional comedy, at least in my opinion. Of course, my disapprobation for Twins fans (and Minnesotans in general) may be why it's hard for me to see the lighter side of their idiotic commentary. Living in the Twin Cities, I have to actually interact with a vast number of imbeciles who have been influenced by their doltishness.)

25. Brewers

(this team is closer to run of the mill inane and trite than they are to abhorrent like the previous 5. The next time I hear someone say anything interesting on this broadcast will be the first. I had high hopes for Anderson but Schroeder has dragged him into the morass. I fail to understand why Schroeder apparently has a job for life despite having no apparent interest in following baseball beyond what he sees happen in front of his face. Surely there must be somebody out there who could actually look up a park factor now and then rather than judge whether a stadium is a hitters park by how many home runs the Brewers have hit there in the past few games. Schroeder defines the term anecdotal, and not in a good way like Uecker.)

[davego]

I'm sure it's just a mater of taste (well, I'm not sure of that but trying to be nice). I cannot stand Bret. He comes off (to me) as a smug, self-centerd tool.

[Invader3K]

The media is often a "good ol' boys club." Guys get entrenched because they are former players and have been around long enough that they can coast by on their names and familiarity. I think a lot of these guys just show up, do their thing, and go home. They leave any research to their producers or others. I would say Schroeder falls under this category, though I don't hate him as much as some here. I think Anderson does seem to delve into the numbers a bit more. As far as our radio team, I think Provus and Uecker both do an excellent job. Uke seems to do some studying, or maybe his supporting cast just does a really good job feeding him info. Provus seems to know what's going on around baseball quite a bit.

[joepepsi]

I think Davey seems like a great guy that everybody would call a friend. But I'm often embarrassed for him during radio or TV broadcasts, because he has such a hard time stringing together a coherent thought. Since he's been on the radio though, there's been a few times I was pleasantly surprised with a comment he made. He spoke passionately about the Hanley Ramirez incident and I respect his opinion.

 

Mostly though, when I hear ex-jocks stumble around on broadcasts I just feel sorry for all those sports broadcasting majors who dreamed of landing a job with a professional team, but can't find work because some incompetent good old boy was handed the job.

[davego]

Agreed on the comments on Davey, I wish that the powers that be would have used this opportunity to rotate thru some other talent. Years ago when Uke was doing TV, they brought in guys from around Wisconsin and had them team with Pat Hughes. It was pretty neat.

[Oldcity]

Agree with all the thoughts on Davey. Every game I almost forget he's there because sometimes he'll literally go a couple minutes without saying a word. It's to the point that Provus actually brings him into the conversation. "Well Davey, would you say that..."