Sunday Night Baseball

[volfanbill]

There's nothing like winding down a weekend with ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball Game. Tonight's game looks to be a gem with Weaver and the Angels facing Verlander (Old Dominion grad!!) and the Tigers.

All that being said, I know there are a lot of Reds fans on this board, so can someone please tell me the allure of Joe Morgan? There is no analyst in any sport that I despise more than Morgan.

[vols kick balls]

Joe Morgan was the man. Not so much anymore though. This should be a really good game.

[volfanbill]

Originally Posted by vols kick balls

Joe Morgan was the man. Not so much anymore though. This should be a really good game.

I've often wondered if it's all in my head and that i hate him simply because he was part of the Big Red Machine during that great NL/AL Reds/A's rivalry, but so much of the stuff he says is nothing but crap. He knows in the intricacies of the game itself but when he starts comparing teams or players, his comparisons and opinions are asinine.

and yes, I know he finished his career as an A.

[vols kick balls]

He is a pretty crappy announcer.

Weaver could be getting into a jam here. 2 on no outs.

[vols kick balls]

And he gets out of it w/ a K and a DP. That was a good recovery.

[volfanbill]

Pudge still has a rifle. Always love to see him throwing out runners.

[Vercingetorix]

I don't hate Morgan-the-announcer as much as is fashionable. He's a cliche-spewing machine much of the time, sure, but so are almost all of the ex-jock color guys. He has no idea how to fairly compare players across eras, but neither do any of the other ex-jock color guys. If you compare him to some Platonic Ideal Analyst, then sure, he's horrible. But if you compare him to someone like, say, Tim McCarver, then he's glorious.

[Vercingetorix]

And by the way, Bill, I watched the end of your A's game last night. Heartbreaker. The aptly named Putz walked the bases loaded, and the A's just couldn't quite get the hit they needed.

[volfanbill]

i didn't know it was fashionable to hate Morgan. I always assumed he was well liked.

As for last night, the A's won today and if the Tigers can win tonight, that will give the A's a one game lead over the Halos. I can't complain at all right now.

[Vercingetorix]

Most statheads hate Morgan as an announcer. I don't know that they expect; they're not going to get Bill Freaking James as the Sunday night analyst. You're going to have an ex-player, and as such, Morgan really isn't that bad.

Same thing in Atlanta; the stat guys hated Don Sutton as an announcer, and I really just couldn't understand it. Did he say a lot of stupid, cliche-type things? Sure. But I learned a lot about pitching from listening to Sutton talk about it for 17 years. Getting rid of him was a mistake.

[vols kick balls]

They need to get Mark Grace from the D-Backs to do some of those games. He does a great job out in Arizona.

[volfanbill]

I thought David Justice did a great job, although I haven't heard from him in the booth in two years. Tony Gwynn was really good too.

On a sidenote, my Sunday Night Baseball enjoyment has been interrupted by excitement out my window with cops hunting down a kid from just up the street that ran from them a few minutes ago

[Vercingetorix]

I can see how gunfire would cut into the Sunday night relaxation thing. I got kicked off the TV myself. Ah well.

[volfanbill]

Well, no gunfire fortunately, just a lot of cops walking around with flashlights. It looks like a possible double whammy though. Pretty sure they caught the kid and it appears his parents are getting evicted by my neighbor for being so far behind on rent.

I'm guessing this isn't one of their better days.

I haven't done anything to get in trouble, but it was quite interesting how it all got started. Sitting here right beside a window and i see a flash of light. Look outside and a cop is literally right beside me with just the window pane separating us. Scared the crap out of me.

Also, looks like my A's are still going to be tied with LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

[Vercingetorix]

About eight years ago a guy got shot a couple of miles from here. Meanwhile some poor dumb bastard a couple of blocks away stole a car at almost exactly the same time; the cops thought he had been involved in the shooting, so suddenly he has the entire inept but huge weight of the Atlanta Police Dept bearing down on him. He drove up our dead-end street trying to escape, so apparently had had to jump out of the car and run around in the bushes around here for awhile. I was just sitting here having a beer watching some dumb-guy TV and suddenly there were helicopter searchlights on my deck, in my windows, etc. etc. I had no idea what was going on. The helicopter cruised around about 20 feet over the neighborhood houses for about an hour. Didn't sleep very well that night. Or, really, the next couple of them.

I really don't like the Angels much, considering it's one of the few west coast ballparks I've been to. Part of it's the team and part of it's Orange County. No thanks to either.