Posted by Bud on August 31, 2009 at 16:10:37:
At least Chicago's baseball broadcasters are having a good year
They still call it as they see it, and it isn't pretty
Bob Verdi
Sunday Tribune Column
August 30, 2009
As anticipation of playoff baseball in Chicago fades, particularly on the North Side, we feel compelled to be pre-emptive about what barnyard noises soon might be heard from the two local squadrons.
That is, fiery and indignant sniping at team broadcasters, a familiar diversionary tactic around here. When the going gets tough, players usually prefer to insult writers, an avenue that is still available.
Just recently, Carlos Zambrano cursed reporters at Wrigley Field, as if to interrupt Milton Bradley's regularly scheduled programming. Presumably Zambrano still was angry at a columnist who called the Cubs' so-called ace "lazy," shortly after he described himself thusly.
Zambrano suggested, when she made her next appearance, he quite possibly would remove his shirt to display the heavenly body that forever breaks down and his massive guns, the right one being the $91 million limb that has amassed seven victories since April. Presumably, Zambrano intends to undress in a way we know him best, from the stretch position. But, inasmuch as the incredible shrinking print media is employing fewer snoops, play-by-play announcers and analysts constitute more convenient targets. They're there daily, they ride charter planes and they, too, have opinions about what they've seen all summer.
None of these men giving us the unhappy totals have the cachet of Harry Caray, the bygone giant who told it like it was, whether the players enjoyed it or not. And they didn't. Toward the end of his Hall of Fame career, some implied he had lost it. What Harry had that many of them lacked was an unbridled joy of being at the ballpark.
The current roster of voices also packs similar enthusiasm, but so did Chip Caray and Steve Stone during the 2004 campaign when they brazenly cost the Cubs a World Series title. Both departed, but now Stone is back on TV with the White Sox beside Hawk Harrelson.
Neither hides his rooting interest, and the same can be said of Ed Farmer or Darrin Jackson on radio. Both duos are entertaining but candid about the serial defensive lapses by the Sox, whose general manager Kenny Williams has branded this bunch as underachievers.
It is possible the Sox can win their division, but with their luck, they will be felled during the playoffs by swine flu. At least they'll catch something before it's over.
Fortunately, the Cubs' slovenly performance has not affected Len Kasper and Bob Brenly on TV, or Pat Hughes, Ron Santo and Judd Sirott on radio. If only their energy were as evident on the field and in the dugout. Without fail, the five of them are ready and willing each day, despite what pratfalls they might have observed the day before.
How they retain their zest is testimony to their passion and professionalism. One hopes they retain their jobs. You suspect a few Cubs want to strangle Brenly, but for that to occur, they would have to be awake. Still, brutally honest broadcasters have been dismissed by management before and outside baseball. See: Pat Foley, Blackhawks. If only the Cubs were as angry at the St. Louis Cardinals as they are over what's being said and written about them. But the end is near, and rest assured Chicago broadcasters are having a better year than Chicago teams.