Brewers hire Joe Block as new radio play-by-play announcer (Latest: Jeff Levering joins radio broadcast team for 2015)

[hawing]

Kind of a dry delivery, way too much dead air as well. Hopefully he gets much better by opening day...

 

I noticed the dead air as well, and what seemed "dead" to me about it was hearing almost no crowd noise between pitches. 6600 fans in an open stadium won't sound the same as 20-40K in MP. I'm not willing to pin all the dead air on Joe.

[jmeks23]

For literally his first game as a Brewers broadcaster, I think we can reserve judgement.

[Dragonbait]

He did seem quite dry,

 

but he wasn't bad in my opinion...

 

Definately has a radio voice though. His style might just be something we have to get used to...

 

plus, give Uke some time to figure out what liquor he likes.

[TracyThom]

It's going to take some time to get used to Joe. Very slow cadence and delivery. He also has a lot of ums and ahs when he speaks. Very baseball-smart though.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I like his voice and baseball knowledge. He knows his stuff. He does need to loosen up a little and join in the banter with Uecker. Provus & Powell were great at that. Uecker is delivering some great jokes and they are sailing right over Block's head.

[TooLiveBrew]

I like what little I've heard of Block as a standalone, and I hope he can get more comfortable & develop an on-air rapport with Ueck, but I have to assume he will.

[CheezWizHed]

He does need to loosen up a little and join in the banter with Uecker. Provus & Powell were great at that.

 

I had the feeling the Provus laughed at EVERYTHING Uecker said like he was front row at a stand up routine. Now, sometimes I can understand it some times, when Ueck is on a role. Other times, I wondered if it was written in his contract. He left me thinking, "Why are you giggling like a school girl at that?"

 

I miss Powell. Ueck and Powell were really good.

 

I've only heard a little of Block, so I'll reserve comment until later.

[Warning Track Power]

They didn't have XM out here in California when Uecker and Pat Hughes were together but I will say that I really enjoy listening to Cubs games called by Hughes. Good voice, good personality and informative. Paints a good picture of the game.

 

I have to imagine Uecker and Hughes were a good match as well.

[CheezWizHed]

I have to imagine Uecker and Hughes were a good match as well.

 

Yes they were. I grew up too far from Milwaukee to see many baseball games (1 or 2 prior to graduating HS), but listened to MANY games on the radio.

[Oldcity]

The only time anything about him stood out to me was how bad his call of Rickie Weeks' home run yesterday was. Obviously I'll withhold any judgment for a while.

[hawing]

It took me a while to get over Pat Hughes' departure - and Jim Powell has since become my primary broadcaster fan-crush - so I'm willing to give Joe all the time he needs. As at least several of you know, I'm already a fan of Joe just for his willingness to interact with fans. As for that home run call last night, the initial FSWI angle made me think it was foul, so I wasn't excited by the play at first myself.

[MadScientist]

I usually like to give a guy the benefit of the doubt for a full season. Usually. Brian Anderson was a golf guy his first season, Provus was a bit forced (and had the knock of following JP). In Block's case I'm having a hard time doing it. I have yet to find anything redeeming about him and I'm hoping he says something on air that gets him canned. I'd rather listen to Kent, or a robot reading the game tracker output. Block makes me want to turn off the radio. His delivery is slow. He softens vowels. He reminds me of the worst of announcers from other teams - boring. He isn't dry, he is deader than the Monty Python Parrot.

 

Stay healthy Bob, this guy cannot be allowed to replace you.

[Baldkin]

Joe got fired up a few times last night (for example, when Marcum ended the 6th with a big K), I think he's still finding his voice with Uke (it took Provus a half season before he was more than a wind-up hyena towards Uke).

[RobDeer 45]

I find him pretty calming, I kind of dig it. Now the only reason it works is because Bob has so much personality. For me, so far, it's working ok. Agreed though, if he was on his own, or with another melow guy, it would not work!

[Warning Track Power]

I actually got to like Provus a lot. I thought he might pass on the Twins solely because he was the heir apparent to Uecker and was still getting his feet under him.

 

Block is ok for the time being but I think he needs to work a little more on his personality. Knows the game and the intricacies so far, but has a very business-like approach, almost like it is a chore. I agree with Hawing though in that I enjoy his interactions with the fans.

[PrinceEatMeat]

I guess Block will have to grow on me. I can't say I've been a big fan so far from what I've heard. Maybe that's just because I enjoyed Provus so much. I thought he was great, and would replace Uecker eventually. Block needs a lot longer though before people make a full judgement on him. It always takes time.

[Bigblast]

I have only heard parts of games with Joe. So far he puts me to sleep. Hopefully he will open up and improved and grow on us.

[Dragonbait]

He's not bad from a meat and potatoes view...

 

but his voice is just in that monotone range.... makes me sleepy...

[RockCoCougars]

I don't like passing judgement on anything this early in the season.... so let's say that I hope that he improves.

 

Did anyone else catch the post-game interview with Rickie on Saturday? Those guys were relentlessly trading 'um's' and 'ah's'. Combined there were more 'um's' and 'ah's' in that 90 second interview than I had in my first real job interview.

[Jaycruiser99]

I am in the "wait and see" camp as well but so far he comes across as pretty monotone to me. We shall see what the season brings...

[CheezWizHed]

As I'm sitting here listening to the game, it occurred to me that he seems to have a much more "formal" approach to calling the game. More business like. I think we are so used to the heavy personality approach, like Uecker and Matty V, or the relaxed, casual types like Provus and Schroeder, its just unusual.

 

And by formal, I mean that he enunciates well, doesn't use slang, uses "bigger" words. He could be on 60 minutes if he wasn't in baseball. More of a formally trained reporter than a former player thrown in front of a mike.

 

Brewer's BB is at its best when you can get Ueck and whomever playing off each other well.

 

he was more than a wind-up hyena towards Uke

bingo!

 

edit - explain "formal"

[Team Canada]

I've only caught a game or 2 so far and I'll certainly give him a year, but I'm pretty underwhelmed so far. His voice just doesn't have the weight and diction that Powell and Provus did, it's just not compelling to me, to the point I'm a little surprised he was the best one they interviewed.

[pitchleague]

my wife commented the other night that he sounds like a mix of Al Michaels and Vin Scully.

 

Except without the stories and general good PBP skills. So the emphasis is on he "sounds" like them.

[southpaw121505]

I miss Provus.

[TooLiveBrew]

I thought Block was fine, & trying to get settled. I won't begrudge people if his voice bores them, that doesn't bother me really. He pulled out some impressive words in a few select situations that I enjoyed. Not cuss words, just unique.

 

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Check out the 'Provus is hired' thread. To many, Provus was the worst possible hire & no way could he be tolerated. Give Block some time. If you still don't like him, fair enough. But it seems every new announcer hire is terrible for some reason -- 'he's a golf announcer' (BA actually played baseball in college & called MiLB games for years including at ESPN), 'he's a Cubs fan' (turned out fine).