From the WEEI article linked above, here is their attempt at spinning this:
"But there is room for more opinion. Maybe some discussion around whether Alex Cora should’ve pinch-hit in a specific spot, or if the team is approaching the trade deadline properly."
So they are looking for an announcer who is full of hot takes, who will criticize players and the manager in an attempt to provoke more interest and listeners. I despise this approach. I don't need some dumbass criticizing everything and trying to push the buttons of the audience. Maybe an ideal broadcaster could pull this off with valid, reasonable commentary, but with WEEI in charge, this will be horrible. Maybe they will hire Dan Shaughnessy for this job, he has to be at the ballpark most games anyway, he would be ideal for what they want.
The best sports broadcasts, whether they’re on TV or radio, have a conversational feel. The game remains paramount, but there are engaging discussions about league- or team-related issues. That’s what Lou Merloni, who served as an analyst for Red Sox radio this postseason, says he tries to bring to the booth.
"The game remains paramount, BUT...."
So the broadcast will be about the game and also have a lot of blabbing. Unless they could find another Eckersley, who does not exist, they won't find anyone who can "be conversational" all game long who won't be annoying as hell. Even Eck might get really old on the radio every day, with no video to look at, and relying on him to actually tell us what is happening. The people in charge at WEEI clearly believe that baseball on the radio is boring, so they are going to try to liven it up with what they think is interesting conversation. This will not end well.
Since TV viewers can see the action for themselves, announcers obviously have more leeway to ignore tedious pitches or routine plays. On radio, conceivably, listeners still want to hear the action.
Yes, that is why this will be awful on the radio. The radio guys need to talk about what is happening on the field. If they continue to do that, then the extra "conversation" means that the talking will be nonstop. What will happen is less description of the game and lots more dumb "controversial" opinions.
But Merloni says there’s a way to call the pitches and not allow mundane matters to trample an anecdote or opinion.
“On radio, you would still describe it,” he said. “It wouldn’t be, ‘Oh, it’s 3-2,’ and you haven’t announced whether it’s a ball or a strike. I think you do have to explain ‘ground ball to short’ and things like that. But ‘the wind up, the pitch, he steps off the rubber’ –– that stuff is kind of slow-moving. I think you’ve got to realize people’s attention spans. They’re looking for more.”
Who is actually looking for this kind of "more"? Not many people who actually listen to games on the radio will want this. And WEEI is dumber than I thought if they believe this will draw in millennials to listen to baseball on the radio. That ain't gonna happen.
Thank god for mlb.com allowing you to choose the other team's broadcast. Even though some of the other team's announcers are so bad they make Neverett look like Vin Scully, at least most of them talk about the game and don't try to inject their hot takes.
Dale Arnold agrees with Merloni’s diagnosis, citing the broadcast he did this season with Roger Clemens in Houston. While that was a special event centered around Clemens, it showed how personalities in the radio booth can provide additional entertainment on top of the game itself.
“It has to (have a conversational feel),” Arnold told WEEI.com on the phone. “Having done five sports in this town, baseball is by far the slowest. There is so much time between moments of action. If all you’re going to do is call the action, it’s going to suck. This isn’t like a hockey or basketball game where it’s non-stop. You don’t have time to work in much chitchat. In baseball, you have all of the time in the world. If all you did was call balls and strikes, and didn’t do anything else, it would be pretty lame.”
Dale Arnold sucks, his voice is like audio Pepto-Bismol. I highly doubt he even likes baseball. He thinks palling around with Roger Clemens during a game was good radio. Usually when the radio broadcast has guests, it is bad for the listeners. The announcers tend to be much more interested in chatting with the guest than they are in talking about the game, and it usually is results in bad radio.
Thank god Arnold isn't campaigning for this job. He's awful and he thinks if you call the action, it's going to "suck." But I'm sure whoever gets this job will view it the same way, that's why WEEI included this quote in that article.
The game will always be the centerpiece. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be more.
I don't trust these guys the least little bit to be able to do this successfully. I fear their idea of "more" will be a complete trainwreck. WEEI is in the business of dishing out dumb hot takes to push peoples' buttons, and that is what they will be trying to do here during the broadcasts, despite their corporate spin.