Astros announce 2006 broadcast team Dolan, Raymond to join Hall of Famer Hamilton HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros announced today that the club has hired Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond as radio broadcasters for the 2006 season, with the pair joining Milo Hamilton for the Hall of Famer's 22nd season behind the microphone on Astros radio broadcasts. The announcement was made by President of Business Operations Pam Gardner. The club also announced that color analyst Alan Ashby will not be retained for the 2006 season. The team's television broadcast lineup will remain intact for the 2006 season, with Bill Brown returning for his 20th season as the club's primary television play-by-play voice and Jim Deshaies and Larry Dierker sharing color analyst duties. During the 2006 season, Hamilton will serve as the play-by-play analyst for Astros radio broadcasts during home games, with Dolan and Raymond sharing color analyst duties. For road games, Dolan and Raymond will share play-by-play duties along with pre- and post-game responsibilities. "We are excited about having a fresh start with our Astros broadcasts in 2006," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Drayton McLane. "We feel that Brett and Dave are talented and energetic broadcasters and will become an instant hit with our fans. I have strong confidence that teaming those two with our own Hall of Famer in Milo Hamilton will take Astros radio to the next level." A 16-year broadcasting veteran, Dolan joins the Astros from the Triple A Tucson Sidewinders, where he served as the club's Director of Broadcasting and "Voice of the Sidewinders" for the last six seasons from 2000-05. A two-time Arizona Sportscaster of the Year (2002 and 2003), Dolan previously spent two seasons with the Triple A Iowa Cubs (1998-99) and four seasons with the Class A Beloit Snappers of the Midwest League (1994-97). A graduate of the University of Iowa, Dolan has also covered University of Arizona football and basketball in recent off-seasons and was selected to broadcast the 2005 Triple A All-Star Game. His other career experience includes broadcasting selected games for the Montreal Expos in 2003 and 2004 along with the 2004 Arizona Fall League games for MLB.COM radio. Dolan earned a 2004 Crystal Award of Excellence in the Radio from the Communicator Awards, which is an international awards competition that recognizes outstanding work in the communication field. Raymond is a Stanford University graduate and a 11-year broadcasting veteran who spent the 2005 season with the Brockton Rox of the Independent Can-Am League in Brockton, Mass. His Major League Baseball broadcasting experience includes selected games for the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 and the San Francisco Giants in 2003. Raymond also broadcast games for the Triple A Iowa Cubs for five seasons from 2000-04, and his other baseball broadcasting experience includes one season with the Class A Charleston River Dogs and four seasons with the Sonoma County Crushers (1995-98) of the Western League. A former senior class president at Stanford, Raymond also broadcast Cardinal women's basketball for four seasons from 1998-2001. He has also provided play-by-play on selected Drake University football and both men's and women's basketball game broadcasts during the last four season. Raymond is also a former business reporter for Forbes Magazine, where he was a 2001 Loeb Award nominee for outstanding business reporting. http://houston.astros.mlb.com/NASAp...ent_id=1285113&vkey=pr_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou This has been in the works for awhile.
Hey, I don't know these new guys from Adam, but Milo and Ashby were terrible. Milo is like the Grandpa Simpson of baseball - telling stories about obscure players from 19-dickity-2 while missing all of the action. And Ashby might be the most colorless color guy I've ever heard. Listening to him call a game is like listening to me read a stock report. On the other hand, it's a crime that Deshaies doesn't have a fulltime gig - that guy is everything a color guy should be.
I heard it on ESPN 790. Paulillo almost had a heart attack. Why the fu#k would they get rid of one of the best radio analysts in baseball? This really pisses me off. Makes me wonder if there was something else going on that we didnt know about...
drayton you F***ING idiot Astros won't rehire announcer Alan Ashby By DAVID BARRON Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Alan Ashby, who played 11 years for the Astros and worked in the broadcast booth for eight years, was told today that he will not be retained by the team for the 2006 season. The Astros announced that they had hired two veteran minor league announcers, Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond, to work together on Astros road games and to split analyst duties with Milo Hamilton during home games. Dolan has worked the last six seasons with the Class AAA Tucson Sidewinders. Raymond worked last year with the independent league Brockton Rox after spending five years with the AAA Iowa Cubs. Ashby, who had hoped to land the road play-by-play job, said this afternoon he was told by Astros owner Drayton McLane and club president Pam Gardner that the team had decided to go in another direction and that he would not return to the broadcasts for the 2006 season. Hamilton announced last season that he would reduce his duties to home games only beginning next season. Ashby was one of eight finalists for the road play-by-play job, but club officials decided to go with Raymond and Dolan and not to rehire Ashby for the 2006 season. “I was informed the ball club was not of the opinion that I should be their lead broadcaster and that they had determined they wanted to go in an entirely new direction and that, therefore, I was being let go,” Ashby said. “I was completely caught off guard and am devastated by the decision.” http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3538285.html
Just who is "one of the best radio analysts in baseball"? If you're talking about Ashby, what do you base that assertion on?
So now the Rockets and the Astros both have made big mistakes in their color commentators. We need Ashby and Calvin back . . .
and let me add 30 years to that. Ashby was fantastic, fair and very enjoyable to listen to. This seems eerily (sp?) similar to when the Rockets let go of Turbo and Calvin post championships. Not a good move.
This is crap, I liked listening to Ashby. What is it with Houston sports franchises getting rid of broadcasters that the fans like?
I liked Ashby, but as long as they're not bringing Bill Worrell back, you won't hear a peep out of me.
Ashby was actually pretty awful when he first started... but he was awful in a loveable kind of way. Over the last 8 years, he's improved A LOT, and this year was the first year where the broadcast actually sounded EXPONENTIALLY BETTER when he was doing the play-by-play. Of course, I'm not sure if that's an endorsement of Ash, or a sign of how far Milo has dropped. I definitely question the timing/need to hire TWO new guys, vs. just one. First of all, the home games are going to be a mess... Milo has problems adjusting to simply letting Ash get a word in here or there (along with being unable to see the ball), I don't know what's going to happen with two guys (I assume one will just take over pbp whenever Milo chooses to take a nap). Secondly... the thing I'll miss the most... "What's in Ash's pocket". One of the best in-game side-bars there could be in MLB.
