But before that and before a crowd of over 200 former Bosox players yesterday at the 100th birthday of Fenway park, the Yankees used 5 longballs - all off starter Clay Buchholz - to beat the home team 6-2. It was the third win of the season, and his 15th in a row, for Yankee starter, Ivan Nova.
Nova, unlike Phil Hughes or Freddy Garcia, is the only guy at the back of the Yankee rotation who is pitching like he wants to stay there this season. With the May emergence of both Andy Pettitte and Michael Pineda you would think there would be more of a sense of urgency to show what they have but not so much so far this season.
Okay, here's the piece:
YES MEN: The Yankees Broadcast
Team 2012
Baseball announcers can sometimes be like a part of your
team. We spend so much time listening to their descriptions and accounts of the
game, their opinions and their stories that we equate their voices with the team
on the field. The team may change from season to season, but many announcers
are there in your ear year in and year out. Some of them are living legends;
Vin Scully comes to mind immediately. Many Yankee fans grew up with the amazing
tag-team of gentle Bill White and over-excitable Phil “The Scooter” Rizzuto and
what I wouldn’t give to hear them again on the Yankees YES and CBS television
and radio broadcasts.
Which brings me immediately to Michael Kay and I’m not sure
if I am in the minority here, but I have not despised a baseball announcer who
I was forced to listen to this much since Joe Morgan. And at least Morgan
played the game; only some of my bitterness toward the former Reds’
second-baseman is due to his team beating my Yankees in the first World Series
I ever watched; much of it was his “know-it-all” attitude and his adherence to
his opinion despite evidence on the field contradicting it. I know I rejoiced
as much as “Moneyball” writer Michael Lewis did when Morgan was finally let go
by ESPN.
Kay, on the other hand never played the game, never lets you
forget he never played the game—as a matter of fact Kay never lets you forget anything. I watch a lot of baseball –
even other teams – and what I notice and appreciate in many other broadcasts is
being permitted some quiet time to listen to the sounds of the game. Michael
Kay acts like he’s paid by the word; he never shuts up and he beats dead horses
into glue.
I would watch other the other team’s broadcast actually if
it weren’t for the team of ex-players turned commentators who surround Kay on
YES. Most of the same team of announcers from last season have returned for
2012. I don’t really feel the need of the “side-line in-game” reporter so
swapping Miss Marakovits for Miss Jones really doesn’t register with me. On the other hand, Jack Curry can oft be
counted on for some inside scoop; he was the one to break the story of Andy
Pettitte’s return.
But adding “Sweet” Lou Pinella to the mix this year did make
my ears perk up. Even the President of YES, Tracy Dolgin, admits that the
Yankee broadcast team are “homers,” but this may not be the case with Pinella
up in the booth for some broadcasts. Lou was a great Yankee and a World Series
winning manager and something of a hot-head; I don’t see him keeping mum should
events on the field dictate a sharper point of view. In some spring training
games hearing him reminisce with Ken Singleton about baseball in the 1970s was
a treat and I think we’re in for more of that.
Ken Singleton, while not a Yankee on the field, has proven
over time to be a fine Yankee broadcaster. He is calm, cooler than expected (he
referenced cult film “Eating Raoul” this year) and always collected. His gentle
manner reminds me of Bill White and that is high praise in my book. Singleton clearly loves the game.
Yankee warrior Paul O’Neill is something of the comic relief
in the broadcast booth. But his self-deprecating manner and his well deserved
credibility as a great former Yankee player make O’Neill a welcome sound during
games. I think we will be treated to something beyond the pale when O’Neill is
teamed in the booth with his former skipper, Pinella.
Getting the pitcher’s perspective, on the other hand, is
well covered by ex-Yankees David Cone and Al Leiter, both well respected pitching
“brains.” Baseball is ninety percent pitching and I think it’s a very good
advantage to usually have at least one ex-hurler in the booth explaining what’s
going on out on the pitcher’s rubber.
Somewhere in between the great hitters that Pinella, Singleton
and O’Neill were and the aforementioned ex-pitchers, the last main addition to
the broadcast squad, former catcher John Flaherty, completes the team. Much
like famed Brewers’ announcer Bob Eucker, Flash doesn’t know much about
pitching other than he couldn’t hit it, but the former backstop knows the game
and is able to explain intricacies. And while I know his banter with Kay is
mostly all in good fun, I am a believer that within every joke is a kernel of
truth so Flaherty earns points in my scorebook with his jabs at the over-sized
talking head that is the play-by-play man, Kay.
As for the CBS radio team I have to admit that usually when
I am listening to them it is not with an open mind. When I have to resort to
radio it means that my MLB-TV package was blacked out from a Yankee game I
wanted to see and I am angry that I have to listen to Ma and Pa. But as “luck”
turned out this week as I prepared this piece, I knew I was going to be blacked
out for the games vs. the Twins (I live in Minneapolis so I can’t see the home
team- ever) and decided to give Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling a fair shake.
And you know what? I enjoyed their coverage. Yes, Waldman’s
voice is grating and abrasive and yes, Sterling is corny and a cheese-ball, but
on Thursday night when Granderson hit his third homerun of the game, not only
was I looking forward to hearing Sterling’s “The Grandy-Man can” ditty, I found
myself enjoying it. His play-by-play is fairly simple and standard stuff, but
because of the nature of the beast of radio, Ma and Pa – proud to be “homers” –
are not afforded the opportunity to ramble on with stories that don’t have much
to do with the game on the field. This leads to a quiet, calmer, far more
enjoyable baseball experience.
This may be their last season doing the radio broadcast and
while I can’t say I will miss them exactly, I do suggest some time turning off
the TV and turning on the radio and using your ears and your imagination as you
listen to the game. Yes, nothing beats being at the game, but for most of us
who bear witness to our team’s successes and failures via broadcast and the
Yankee team of announcers is a major part of that joy.
**********
It doesn’t have much to do with baseball although Yankee
Stadium is mentioned in one story, but my first book – a short-story collection
– came out last week. To read a few
tales for free or to purchase the book go here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007SABVQC/ref=tag_dpp_yt_edpp_rt
Thakns for reading,
Brian
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