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Tim McCarver -"the emergence of Brian Bruney"


MagicBizkit87

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"Sometimes, a walk is better than a home run".

Ever hear of a home run killing a rally? It is possible.

For people on this board, or any, to compare their knowledge to what Tim McCarver has in baseball, is unfathomable.

McCarver, along with Tony Kubel to a smaller degree changed the way baseball analysts announced games. The work that he did with the Phillies and the Mets was and still is revolutionary in the industry.

Say what you want about his want for pomposity at times, but his knowledge of the game is beyond most.

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Ever hear of a home run killing a rally? It is possible.

For people on this board, or any, to compare their knowledge to what Tim McCarver has in baseball, is unfathomable.

McCarver, along with Tony Kubel to a smaller degree changed the way baseball analysts announced games. The work that he did with the Phillies and the Mets was and still is revolutionary in the industry.

Say what you want about his want for pomposity at times, but his knowledge of the game is beyond most.

I admit he knows more about baseball than me. That doesn't change the fact that he is a dull pompous old asshat that makes an already slow game seem to take twice as long. They have no business letting him do games any more. He was bad enough before he started believing the hype (your post being a prime example) about himself.

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Ever hear of a home run killing a rally? It is possible.

For people on this board, or any, to compare their knowledge to what Tim McCarver has in baseball, is unfathomable.

McCarver, along with Tony Kubel to a smaller degree changed the way baseball analysts announced games. The work that he did with the Phillies and the Mets was and still is revolutionary in the industry.

Say what you want about his want for pomposity at times, but his knowledge of the game is beyond most.

He may know alot more than alot of people about the entire game of baseball, but if you noticed through yesterday he knows nothing about the Yankees. It's really kind of sad, considering he announced for the Yankees games a couple years ago.

He makes me happy to listen to Joe Buck.

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He may know alot more than alot of people about the entire game of baseball, but if you noticed through yesterday he knows nothing about the Yankees. It's really kind of sad, considering he announced for the Yankees games a couple years ago.

He makes me happy to listen to Joe Buck.

Did you hear him trying to explain "effort" yesterday? It was brutal.

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Did you hear him trying to explain "effort" yesterday? It was brutal.

I know, I mean I realize that Michael Kay is what he is, an idiot, but at least he knows the Yankees organization.

The people at Fox treat Tim McCarver like he actually knows the organization, but it's really sad, he doesn't have a clue. According to him Bruney is doing fantastic, Jeter usually takes the first pitch, among other things.

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Did you hear him trying to explain "effort" yesterday? It was brutal.

Why don't you hear people say "nice effort" in other sports?

They don't say it in football. They don't say it in basketball. You never hear someone say "nice effort" in basketball. They don't say it in golf. You only hear it in baseball. "Hey, nice effort". They don't say it that much in baseball.

I think he went on for almost the entire half inning. I wonder if they have a transcript of it. They could read it like Abbot and Costello.

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Sunday afternoon in Cooperstown, Tony Kubek will become the 33rd voice to accept the Ford C. Frick Award and enshrinement into the broadcast wing of baseball's Hall of Fame.

Those entering before him claim unique qualities. Still, many microphone legends would be hard pressed to match the former Yankee shortstop in the guts and honesty department.

Kubek was fearless behind the microphone. Never afraid to speak his mind, his curiosity often took him - and viewers - to places baseball broadcasters did not go.

There is another analyst who follows the same path - Fox's Tim McCarver. If the Frick Award Committee has a clue (considering how long it took them to select Kubek, that's debateable), it should start thinking about McCarver following Kubek into the Hall in 2010.

Like Kubek, McCarver is a conversationalist with an edge. For him, there is no such thing as halfway. Kubek was the same. You might not agree with these voices, but they always get a reaction. They engage the audience. They can infuriate, but always makes you think.

Their cup of potential targets runneth over. Favorites were never played. More importantly, most importantly, Kubek then, McCarver now, stay ahead of what's unfolding in front of them on a baseball field. Neither second-guessed/second-guesses. Former players turned analysts

know the game. McCarver, like Kubek, knows how to communicate it.

Baseball is corporate. So are the broadcast booths, especially with teams like the Yankees and Mets owning chunks of their own networks. This has led critics, and other commentators, to offer built-in excuses when voices turn a blind eye to ownership.

SportsNet, New York's Mets broadcast team, has often, and rightly, been praised for its candor. Still, Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling have stopped short - way short - of holding ownership, Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon, accountable for the mess that is now the New York Mets.

The Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network voices are mere extensions of the Bombers' PR department. The voices only go as far as management allows them. At YES, there is no independence. YES management cowered under George Steinbrenner.

The same holds true under the current pinstriped hierarchy. The next time a YES voice, whether it be Michael Kay or the cast of a thousand analysts, directs a discouraging word at the Steinbrenner boys, Randy Levine, Lonn (Toastie) Trost, or Brian Cashman, it will be the first time.

The excuse offered, for making it seem these teams are actually owned by ghosts, goes something like this: "They can't rip their boss."

Kubek's five seasons working in the Madison Square Garden Network Yankees booth suggests differently. Contractually, Steinbrenner had the power to fire. This did not stop Kubek from hammering him.

"I don't think my differences with George were alleged," Kubek said. "I think we just had, well, I wouldn't say it was a hate relationship because I don't hate anybody. But it wasn't a comfortable relationship."

When Kubek came to MSG, he could not change his opinion of Steinbrenner, who he believed was not good for the game. Kubek often made the point during his 24 years in NBC's "Game of the Week" baseball booth. To flip-flop on Steinbrenner while working for MSG would have violated his own principles.

And to prop up a game he believed was destroying itself from within was something Kubek wouldn't do, either. That's why he walked away from baseball - and never looked back - after the 1994 season with one year left on his MSG contract, leaving more than $500,000 on the table.

"I hate what the game's become - the greed, the nastiness," Kubek said in '94. "I don't need that ego stuff. I feel sorry for those who do."

In a business populated by hangers-on, guys who should have retired years ago, Kubek walked away in his prime. He wasn't about to start lying.

Not when he built an entire career on the truth.

In broadcasting, and probably in the Hall of Fame too, a quality in short supply.

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Damn, Scott, I'm sorry for insulting your special friend. Seems you always defend this guy, it's kind of sad, really.

Just demonstrating that some fans don't like it when they get out side of the friendly confines of their own "homerific"announce teams. The audacity to actually be objective hurts to no end, I am aware.

Keep your blinders on, son.

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Just demonstrating that some fans don't like it when they get out side of the friendly confines of their own "homerific"announce teams. The audacity to actually be objective hurts to no end, I am aware.

Keep your blinders on, son.

Being a homer has nothing to do with it. The guy is dull. It takes him three hours to make any point and when he is finally done he repeats it. Baseball is slow enough already.

Besides, the OP was about how he claimed Bruney had emerged. A homerific statement, but false. Bruney has been having a ton of trouble coming back off his latest injury and his ERA is over 6, but Tim McCarver knows more about baseball than us so we should just quietly sit by and accept it.

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Being a homer has nothing to do with it. The guy is dull. It takes him three hours to make any point and when he is finally done he repeats it. Baseball is slow enough already.

Besides, the OP was about how he claimed Bruney had emerged. A homerific statement, but false. Bruney has been having a ton of trouble coming back off his latest injury and his ERA is over 6, but Tim McCarver knows more about baseball than us so we should just quietly sit by and accept it.

While, not this specific comment was made about supposed McCarver allegiances, I have seen comments on boards about McCarver being a "Yankee hater".

I have never watched a game where Tim McCarver actually slowed the pace of the game though announcing alone.

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While, not this specific comment was made about supposed McCarver allegiances, I have seen comments on boards about McCarver being a "Yankee hater".

I have never watched a game where Tim McCarver actually slowed the pace of the game though announcing alone.

Time stands still, my friend. Time stands still.

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Such a premise is asinine.

It's an old baseball cliche, one that has no merit.

Not in all cases.

A home run, when a team is coming back from behind, sometimes allows a pitcher to "re-group" and start over. The pressure, without base runners is sometimes alleviated.

A pitcher working with continued base runners, particularly after a walk, creates anxiousness and continued pressure.

Does this ALWAYS mean that a walk is better than a home run? Of course not. But in some cases, it can be as effective in helping a continued come back.

It's not as crazy as it sounds.

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Not in all cases.

A home run, when a team is coming back from behind, sometimes allows a pitcher to "re-group" and start over. The pressure, without base runners is sometimes alleviated.

A pitcher working with continued base runners, particularly after a walk, creates anxiousness and continued pressure.

Does this ALWAYS mean that a walk is better than a home run? Of course not. But in some cases, it can be as effective in helping a continued come back.

It's not as crazy as it sounds.

The best possible outcome of any at-bat is a home run.

I've actually seen the moron Tim McCarver say this when there was NO ONE on base. Such a commentary is one of the dumbest things that I have ever heard said about the game of baseball.

If we're speaking of the mental quirks of the game, I would think that giving up a home run would be far more damaging to the psyche than giving up a walk would be.

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The best possible outcome of any at-bat is a home run.

I've actually seen the moron Tim McCarver say this when there was NO ONE on base. Such a commentary is one of the dumbest things that I have ever heard said about the game of baseball.

If we're speaking of the mental quirks of the game, I would think that giving up a home run would be far more damaging to the psyche than giving up a walk would be.

I have heard other people, baseball people too, say the same thing.

The best outcome for the "moment" is a home run. Whether it is the best outcome in the bigger scheme, is debatable and unable to be proven in conclusion.

I can't speak to how it relates at the Big League level, but when I am managing Little League, and there are runners on base, as opposed to a bases clearing hit that just happened, the defense remains on edge with the continued base runners. The pitcher is twitchy. Whereas if you have the opportunity to "start over" with the bases clear, I have seen a kid settle in again, with the pressure taken off.

Not a fair comparison, I realize, but one I witness.

I would venture that with McCarver's years behind the plate, he could speak to the ebbs and flows of game situation, better than any one of us, at that level

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I have heard other people, baseball people too, say the same thing.

The best outcome for the "moment" is a home run. Whether it is the best outcome in the bigger scheme, is debatable and unable to be proven in conclusion.

I can't speak to how it relates at the Big League level, but when I am managing Little League, and there are runners on base, as opposed to a bases clearing hit that just happened, the defense remains on edge with the continued base runners. The pitcher is twitchy. Whereas if you have the opportunity to "start over" with the bases clear, I have seen a kid settle in again, with the pressure taken off.

Not a fair comparison, I realize, but one I witness.

I would venture that with McCarver's years behind the plate, he could speak to the ebbs and flows of game situation, better than any one of us, at that level

Good, so let him manage and get his boring ass out of the booth. He is a great baseball mind and an annoying announcer.

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I have heard other people, baseball people too, say the same thing.

The best outcome for the "moment" is a home run. Whether it is the best outcome in the bigger scheme, is debatable and unable to be proven in conclusion.

I can't speak to how it relates at the Big League level, but when I am managing Little League, and there are runners on base, as opposed to a bases clearing hit that just happened, the defense remains on edge with the continued base runners. The pitcher is twitchy. Whereas if you have the opportunity to "start over" with the bases clear, I have seen a kid settle in again, with the pressure taken off.

Not a fair comparison, I realize, but one I witness.

I would venture that with McCarver's years behind the plate, he could speak to the ebbs and flows of game situation, better than any one of us, at that level

If a major league pitcher has the same mentality as a 12-year old, then he has more problems than giving up a walk or a home run.

I really do not care how long McCarver played the game. He is not a brilliant baseball mind, IMO. He is one of the biggest morons that's ever got to call a game.

That some of us are still of the mentality that one has to have played the game at a high level in order to form a valid opinion of it shocks me. I don't recall Theo Epstein playing in the major leagues, but his computer loving ass has two rings on his fingers.

McCarver is a hack, same as Joe Morgan.

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If a major league pitcher has the same mentality as a 12-year old, then he has more problems than giving up a walk or a home run.

I really do not care how long McCarver played the game. He is not a brilliant baseball mind, IMO. He is one of the biggest morons that's ever got to call a game.

That some of us are still of the mentality that one has to have played the game at a high level in order to form a valid opinion of it shocks me. I don't recall Theo Epstein playing in the major leagues, but his computer loving ass has two rings on his fingers.

McCarver is a hack, same as Joe Morgan.

+1

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If a major league pitcher has the same mentality as a 12-year old, then he has more problems than giving up a walk or a home run.

I really do not care how long McCarver played the game. He is not a brilliant baseball mind, IMO. He is one of the biggest morons that's ever got to call a game.

That some of us are still of the mentality that one has to have played the game at a high level in order to form a valid opinion of it shocks me. I don't recall Theo Epstein playing in the major leagues, but his computer loving ass has two rings on his fingers.

McCarver is a hack, same as Joe Morgan.

Opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one, or knows one.

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Let's create a list of announcers admired in baseball. I will start and expect others to be added to it:

-Vin Scully-No one paints a picture than he. No ego, let's the game speak for itself and knows when to let a moment be a moment that is shared between viewer and images.

-Matt Vasgersian-Just plain fun and entertaining. Makes you feel he has an enjoyable time watching the game and brining it to you.

Ron Darling-Analytical, and looks at things from a former players perspective. let's you know what the players may be thinking and why.

Tim McCarver-Invented the way the new breed of broadcasters approach analyzing game action. Takes his catcher perspective (knowing where everyone needs to be on the field and what they should be doing) and translates that to his announcing.

Don Sutton- Even when he was a Braves announcer, and I hated the team, I still got something from Sutton. A down home approach that translates well to listening.

I am sure I will think of many others that I missed, and others won't agree. It is great to have the baseball package and hear the different announcers. The Brewers and Giants are a team that I enjoy too. I do not listen to a whole lot of AL teams.

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