National TV executives have a problem to deal with. It begins with the old announcers of baseball. I'm talking about Bob Uecker, Vin Scully, Herb Carneal and others who made the game come to life before baseball was on television. Then came the next wave of announcers. Jack Buck comes to mind when you think about good TV announcers.
Buck was the voice of the St. Louis Cardinals for the majority of their existence. Buck had the things that you would look for in a baseball humor. Buck would add excitement to baseball broadcasts with his humor, his excitement, and his knowledge of the game. As a matter of fact, Twins fans probably have Buck's voice in their heads as he screamed "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" as Kirby Puckett rounded the bases after his walk off home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series. However, as good as Buck was, his son, Joe, does nothing short of making my ears bleed.
Joe Buck was hired by Fox Sports in 1994 as a regional play-by-play broadcaster for their NFL games. Just two years later, Buck started broadcasting major league baseball games, replacing his father as the lead play-by-play announcer for these games. This was the beginning of the end for making MLB on Fox incredibly boring.
You may ask, "Chris, you're an aspiring broadcaster? Why do you hate Joe Buck?" For one, he's incredibly monotone in his broadcasting. Let's take a look at Joe Buck's greatest calls. Do you have one that stands out? No? Well, I most certainly do. It's the one where he does this. Did you hear that? Yup, it's the "This moment is so dramatic I can't say anything" call. Buck does this constantly. Also, Buck has little to no sense of humor. Case in point: The Randy Moss mooning incident. Buck screamed "That is disgusting!" after Moss pretended to pull down his pants. Sorry, Joe. Disgusting would have been if Moss proceeded to "Shake his @#$% at them" as he said in a local TV interview (or at least that's what I think it was?) Sports aren't supposed to be these dramatic experiences where even the broadcaster can't say anything. They're supposed to be fun and entertaining, two things which Joe Buck is not.
But this isn't limited to Joe Buck. Chip Caray is the announcer for the Atlanta Braves and he can't get him enough of the Yankees. You could literally hear him drooling while the umpires were screwing over the Twins in the ALDS. (Granted the Twins couldn't hit a home run, so I regress.) Caray doesn't have any of the qualities that his grandfather, Harry, had.
Harry was a loveable figure throughout sports. I don't even know how Harry could have loved his noseless grandson with exception of the fact that he sounded drunk half the time, so maybe that was it. Chip obviously doesn't do research for his games as he often gives out erroneous information such as Orlando Cabrera appearing in the postseason with the Yankees and the Rays, two teams that Cabrera has never put on a uniform for. Also, Caray persists on using the words "fisted to ____" when a player fights off a pitch. This may show my immaturity, but when he's in the booth with his boy toy Ron Sterling, it makes me wonder why he chooses that wording, but I already know.
Fact of the matter is, sons (and grandsons) of legendary broadcasters do not always make legendary broadcasters. However, Harry Caray's son Skip would go on to be a legendary broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves, so there are exceptions. There are regional announcers who are a lot better than the two clowns, I previously mentioned. I would rather listen to Dick Bremer call the World Series than Joe Buck. Sure, it's a homer statement, but Bremer gives excitement and humor to the game, two things that Joe Buck doesn't know. So please, television executives, take Joe Buck and Skip Caray off my televisions before I tear my ear drums out with a mechanical pencil!
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