HR and Verducci are out at FOX, Smoltz is in.

dano7594

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Jul 15, 2005
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Maybe I am the minority, but I think Buck and Costas are the best. As for football Buck is the best and it is not even close. So I am curious for those who do not like Buck, who would you rather have doing play by play for baseball?
 

JimD

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Nov 29, 2001
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To be fair to Buck, he's been saddled with Tim McCarver and Harold Reynolds. It's only fair to see how he does with Smoltz as his partner.
 

Sox and Rocks

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Maybe I am the minority, but I think Buck and Costas are the best. As for football Buck is the best and it is not even close. So I am curious for those who do not like Buck, who would you rather have doing play by play for baseball?
I think buck's okay. I wouldn't say he's the best, but he's better than average, baseball wise. As for football, him and aikman are one of the better duos, and certainly the best among the top duos trotted out by each network.
 

5dice

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Jul 31, 2001
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I think many people hate Joe Buck for being part of sensationalized coverage of Red Sox v Yankees, and also Red Sox playoff baseball in general, where stat after stat and inference after inference was trotted out about how the Sox were about to fail catastrophically and here is all the precedent for it. It made what was already tense viewing even worse. McCarver was the worst, but Buck was complicit in it. Once the WS drought was broken, it changed everything for me. Buck is a good broadcaster with a good voice and great knowledge in both sports, really, and I don't hate him for being part of pre-04 playoff baseball.
 

InsideTheParker

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Jul 15, 2005
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Am I the only one who finds it annoying that this is an old thread, retitled? I just wasted some time figuring that out. Start new threads, people!!!!
Anyway, I like Verducci and detest HR, so this is mixed news for me. On the other hand, despite his troglodyte personal opinions, Smoltz is a good analyst.

Edit to add that I just found the posts that say Verducci is not really gone. (I continue to have the problem that with the new website the last read post feature is not working for me.) Anyway, that's good news, imo. He's uneven, but has some good supplementary info.
 

terrisus

formerly: imgran
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Am I the only one who finds it annoying that this is an old thread, retitled? I just wasted some time figuring that out. Start new threads, people!!!!
I had created a thread for this, but then realized it was already being discussed here, so I removed the content of said thread since I figured it would just be pointed out that it was being discussed here anyway.
 

JimD

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Nov 29, 2001
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I just heard part on a MLB Radio interview with Smoltz and was somewhat disappointed. He came off at times like an old guy who doesn't approve of them newfangled statistics and how they're impacting the game, particularly the newer models of shutdown bullpens as constructed by the Royals, Yankees and others (he brushed off this trend as unsustainable). He also complained that current team-building and managerial tactics are turning players into 'mini CEO's' who only care about their next big contract and are getting away from the goal of winning championships. Must be something in the water at Fox - I really thought that Smoltz was a guy who is more in line with the new trends in baseball.
 

cromulence

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Aug 25, 2009
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I look forward to Smoltz bitching and moaning about the dimensions of Yankee Stadium for nine solid innings every single time he does a game from there. It's fucking infuriating - we get it, there's a short porch in right. He has this ridiculous complex about it, to the point where someone can absolutely destroy a ball 400+ feet to right field and he'll still find a way to mention the short porch. This is only an upgrade because he's replacing HR, but Smoltz sucks too (and not just cause of the short porch thing, he's just another "old-fashioned" guy whining about today's game, stuck in the past).
 

joe dokes

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Jul 18, 2005
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I just heard part on a MLB Radio interview with Smoltz and was somewhat disappointed. He came off at times like an old guy who doesn't approve of them newfangled statistics and how they're impacting the game, particularly the newer models of shutdown bullpens as constructed by the Royals, Yankees and others (he brushed off this trend as unsustainable). He also complained that current team-building and managerial tactics are turning players into 'mini CEO's' who only care about their next big contract and are getting away from the goal of winning championships. Must be something in the water at Fox - I really thought that Smoltz was a guy who is more in line with the new trends in baseball.

He's blaming management for the fact that some players are selfish assholes?

Smoltz's strength will be to analyze what's going on in front of him during baseball games. Harold Reynolds could not do that. Smoltz cant do anything else, except play golf.
 

grimshaw

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May 16, 2007
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Whenever this gets bumped I always hope it's some news like HR getting hit in the throat with a hockey puck, ending his camera time career. Apparently that only happens to goalie prospects.