Will someone tell the Twins broadcasters that "the black" is not part of the plate. The black serves to outline home plate. A pitch "on the black" is a ball. It drives me crazy to hear that phrase when announcers are begging for a strike.

 

Will someone tell the Twins broadcasters that "the black" is not part of the plate. The black serves to outline home plate. A pitch "on the black" is a ball. It drives me crazy to hear that phrase when announcers are begging for a strike.

 

There are TONS of reasons to not like the Twins broadcasters, this is an odd one.  

 

But yes, a ball that travels over only that tiny "black" part of the plate and none of the actual plate should be a ball... but certainly they are talking about pitches that hit both plate + "black"

While you're at it, send that message along to the umps, too.

My pet peeve is when they act like a 22-year-old pitcher is some rare and special species.

 

Twenty-six of them pitched in the majors in 2013, 20 in 2014 and 33 last year. This is a pretty acceptable and standard age to debut on the mound.

Dick and Bert know the rule. But umpires sometimes mistakenly call strikes on pitches just off the plate. So Bert, a former pitcher, jokes that every pitch "on the black" is a strike. Its been a running joke for sometime.

If any part of the ball touches any part of the plate while crossing through the strikezone, it is a strike. It is pretty hard, if not impossible, for an umpire to determine if part of the ball crossed over the plate, or just "over the black." I think we are nitpicking a bit here.

I know it's easy to hate them but the Twins announcers aren't bad. They're not good but they're not bad. Blyleven, when he can stay on topic for more than three seconds, has a lot of informative statements about pitching. Bremer is, eh, whatever.

 

The more you listen to other broadcasts, the more you realize they're all pretty much the same.

 

Except Rex Hudler. God, how I hate Rex Hudler.

 

Except Rex Hudler. God, how I hate Rex Hudler.

 

As someone who lived in KC for 3 years, and even though I had MLB.tv to watch the Twins, when they played KC I had to listen to "Hud". He really is the worst, he and Hawk.

 

I know it's easy to hate them but the Twins announcers aren't bad. They're not good but they're not bad. Blyleven, when he can stay on topic for more than three seconds, has a lot of informative statements about pitching. Bremer is, eh, whatever.

The more you listen to other broadcasts, the more you realize they're all pretty much the same.

Except Rex Hudler. God, how I hate Rex Hudler.

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree.  If I wanted to know the insides and outs of the media guide each night, I would just read it myself... don't need Bert to read it to me.  

 

The open disdain for any advanced stats, Bremer's inability to distinguish between a 250 foot flyball and a 450 foot home run, etc.  

 

The more you listen to other broadcasts, the more you realize they're all pretty much the same.

Except Rex Hudler. God, how I hate Rex Hudler.

 

 

... when they played KC I had to listen to "Hud". He really is the worst, he and Hawk.

 

Beat me to it.  Any discussion of hated announcers has to include Hawk Harrelson.  John Sterling deserves a dishonorable mention as well.

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree.  If I wanted to know the insides and outs of the media guide each night, I would just read it myself... don't need Bert to read it to me.  

 

The open disdain for any advanced stats, Bremer's inability to distinguish between a 250 foot flyball and a 450 foot home run, etc.  

My point isn't that Dick and Bert are great, it's that almost everyone in the league is the same. I listen to teams across both leagues pretty regularly and DickBert are the standard, not an exception.

 

And they're actually better than several other broadcast teams in that they don't make me want to throw things at the television... very often.

 

As someone who lived in KC for 3 years, and even though I had MLB.tv to watch the Twins, when they played KC I had to listen to "Hud". He really is the worst, he and Hawk.

You got off lucky. I spent a decade listening to that clown broadcast Angels games.

 

I'll have to respectfully disagree.  If I wanted to know the insides and outs of the media guide each night, I would just read it myself... don't need Bert to read it to me.  

 

The open disdain for any advanced stats, Bremer's inability to distinguish between a 250 foot flyball and a 450 foot home run, etc.  

 

A lack of understanding is completely different than open disdain. Dick's a baseball guy, he has anecdotal stories and insight, I don't know why we would ever think he's reading Bill James. He's much more likely to tell a story about an encounter with Bill James than anything.

 

Dick's statistical knowledge comes from the back of baseball cards, and as much as we might enjoy Dick and Bert discussing PECOTA and BaseRuns, we are the minority; my mom watches the Twins every night, she'd be bored to tears, just like 90% of the rest of the target audience. The majority of fans know the counting stats everyone grew up with.

If you want to see/hear bad, watch the Nats, Astros, White Sox, Cardinals TV broadcasts. Dickbert are definitely middle of the pack.

 

Rex Hudler is the greatest color man in the game and its not even close. Just a sampling of his genius:

Dick Bremer is the 'plain white bread' of broadcasting and Bert is the classic 'retired home team clown' that baseball seems to like.

 

I grew up listening to Herb Carneal and Halsey Hall on AM radio.  Nuff said. 

 

A lack of understanding is completely different than open disdain. Dick's a baseball guy, he has anecdotal stories and insight, I don't know why we would ever think he's reading Bill James. He's much more likely to tell a story about an encounter with Bill James than anything.

 

Dick's statistical knowledge comes from the back of baseball cards, and as much as we might enjoy Dick and Bert discussing PECOTA and BaseRuns, we are the minority; my mom watches the Twins every night, she'd be bored to tears, just like 90% of the rest of the target audience. The majority of fans know the counting stats everyone grew up with.

 

A lack of understanding is different than open disdain. I stand by my comment that they routinely mock any form of advanced stat.  

 

I don't need the broadcasters to talk about PECOTA or BaseRuns. But they could at least reference OBP more than Avg, ignore pitcher wins, etc.  Maybe the Avg fan would be a little more informed or even interested in hearing basic advanced stats?  

 

I've heard plenty of other broadcast teams as well.  Dick and Bert are definitely in the Bottom 5.  *My ranking goes up significantly if Tom Kelly is in the booth.  Or even Jack Morris or Roy Smalley, while I think they are more of the caveman type baseball guys, they seem more willing to give the viewer knowledge than just what the media guide says

Edited May 4, 201610 yr by alarp33

 

I've heard plenty of other broadcast teams as well.  Dick and Bert are definitely in the Bottom 5.  *My ranking goes up significantly if Tom Kelly is in the booth.  Or even Jack Morris or Roy Smalley, while I think they are more of the caveman type baseball guys, they seem more willing to give the viewer knowledge than just what the media guide says

If you think DickBert are bottom five, I question how many broadcast teams you've really listened to consistently. There are some truly awful groups out there: White Sox, Nats, Cards (oy, McCarver), Royals (Hudler destroys any good that might come from Physioc).

 

And this ranking from 2014 kinda cements that feeling. They have the Twins listed seventh (mainly on the strength of Kelly/Morris), which is too high in my opinion but the fact is that most broadcast teams are a mix of mediocre and terrible, just like DickBert.

 

This is a pretty amusing read, really.

 

http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/your-mlb-local-tv-announcer-rankings.html 

 

Except Rex Hudler. God, how I hate Rex Hudler.

That statement shows a definite lack of POSITIVITY!!!

Who are the good ones? On the west coast, I recall Kuiper and Fosse (A's) being utterly satisfactory. 

 

If you think DickBert are bottom five, I question how many broadcast teams you've really listened to consistently. There are some truly awful groups out there: White Sox, Nats, Cards (oy, McCarver), Royals (Hudler destroys any good that might come from Physioc).

 

And this ranking from 2014 kinda cements that feeling. They have the Twins listed seventh (mainly on the strength of Kelly/Morris), which is too high in my opinion but the fact is that most broadcast teams are a mix of mediocre and terrible, just like DickBert.

 

This is a pretty amusing read, really.

 

http://awfulannouncing.com/2014/your-mlb-local-tv-announcer-rankings.html 

 

I've heard plenty, I guess you think much higher of Dick and Bert than I do. I get nothing out of listening to them, and think they are very very bad, just like some of the announcing duos you listed. 

 

Who are the good ones? On the west coast, I recall Kuiper and Fosse (A's) being utterly satisfactory. 

I think that's a good description for them.

I mean Scully is the undisputed GOAT. KC is 2nd, then another gap, followed by NYM, Bal, SF, Chi (NL), Seattle (personal pick), AZ, then everyone else.

 

Dick Bremer is the 'plain white bread' of broadcasting and Bert is the classic 'retired home team clown' that baseball seems to like.

 

I grew up listening to Herb Carneal and Halsey Hall on AM radio.  Nuff said. 

I didn't realize radio guys were in play. If so, Uecker's my guy, based on entertainment value alone. I could listen to Ueck call a tractor pull for three hours. 

 

I didn't realize radio guys were in play. If so, Uecker's my guy, based on entertainment value alone. I could listen to Ueck call a tractor pull for three hours. 

Back in those days, our family didn't have TV