Todd Kalas joins TV booth, Blum full-time color man

Buried the lead, Blummer is staying on board full time. He's developed into an awesome color man, and I'm glad the organization noticed.

As for Kalas, he can't be any worse than Ashby. It's his first regular PBP gig apparently.

 

I'm bored, so I listened to some Kalas calls. Seems to be a good play by play.

Weird observation: he has a weird way of anunciating his "s" sounds.

 

His voice is a little odd sounding but I'm sure I'll get used to it. Big news is that Blum is going full time. Awesome.

 

Blummer! Great news.

 

Re: Kalas, looks like we got a good one. Went over to a Rays board and these were some of the sentiments:

 

That's pretty good praise... especially since the Rays have one of the strongest TV/Radio fan bases in baseball (don't be deceived by the paltry attendance... its because nobody from Tampa wants to drive all the way to St. Pete).

 

Sounds like a great hire and the Blum news is awesome.

Feel bad that Brownie is gone right when the should-be glory years are taking place.

 

I'm going to have to watch the games with the sound on now that Ashby is gone and they seem to have made a quality hire.

 

Love that Blum is back.

Harry Kalas was awesome. I'll take his son purely on his dad's rep/skill

 

Glad to see Blum back full time. Don't know much about Kalas the Younger but, as others have said, he couldn't possibly be worse than Ashby.

 

Sounds like we have a great duo!!

Astros upgrading on the field and off.


Should be a great season!!!

 

That's how Joe Buck happens.

 

I thought about that when I said it. Joe Buck has his issues, but he isn't awful. I'll take him over Ashby and a ton of other guys.

 

Goddamit, I thought we were friends. He's the worst sports announcer of the past 20 years, at least.

eta: here's Kalas from 3 years ago, good lord he sounds a lot like his dad.

 

I don't think you have to go back back back back to 20 years to find a worse sports announcer.

 

@J.R. can you please do your thing?
https://theathletic.com/1864438/202...urvey-unveiling-your-pick-for-best-booth/?amp

 

Spoiler

Not long ago, The Athletic asked its MLB readers to share their opinions on their local TV broadcast, ranking them on a 1-5 scale in terms of play-by-play, color analyst, field reporting, pre- and postgame shows and technical quality. Over 6,200 of you did, and for that we thank you.

Going through the thousands of responses to our survey, one question from an anonymous fan struck me: “Does anyone like their favorite team’s broadcasters?”

The short answer is, yes, they do. Depending on the city, of course, there’s more than a smattering of praise and reverence for those charged with calling games on television. I can’t tell you how many times I came across “So-and-so is a national treasure.”

But, as you might expect, there’s also plenty of vitriol: charges of homerism, that his or her voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard, plus things I can’t print, even at The Athletic. Some of you even make games born out of your frustration.

“My friends and I send out quotations from (nameless broadcaster) in an effort to find the worst possible,” one reader wrote. “Unbelievably, each day seems to present us with one worse than the day before.”

All this goes to show how deeply these broadcasters can resonate with fans. For many, the broadcast team is their direct tie to the home team; fans count on them to inform and entertain, sometimes despite what’s happening on the field.

“Broadcasting matters more than people think,” a reader wrote. “People will watch a bad team as long as there is a great play-by-play man taking us through the pain.”

Speaking of pain, let’s get to the winners from our first-ever MLB broadcast survey. Apologies to Vin Scully’s call from the 1986 World Series, but…

The Mets win it! In a super tight finish, New York’s broadcast — anchored by Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling — edged the Giants for the top television broadcast among baseball’s 30 teams. “If Gary Cohen isn’t No. 1 on the MLB play-by-play list, then this entire survey and article should be disbarred from The Athletic,” one reader commented.

Point taken.

Let’s get to the rest of the results.

30. Detroit Tigers
The broadcast: Fox Sports Detroit: Matt Shepard (play-by-play), Jack Morris and Kirk Gibson (analysts)

29. Colorado Rockies
The broadcast: AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain: Drew Goodman (play-by-play), Jeff Huson and Ryan Spilborghs (analysts)

28. Miami Marlins
The broadcast: Fox Sports Florida: Paul Severino (play-by-play), Todd Hollandsworth (analyst), Jessica Blaylock, Craig Minervini (field)

27. Pittsburgh Pirates
The broadcast: AT&T SportsNet: Greg Brown and Joe Block (play-by-play), Bob Walk and John Wehner (analysts), Robby Incmikoski (field)

26. Toronto Blue Jays
The broadcast: Sportsnet: Buck Martinez and Dan Shulman (play-by-play), Pat Tabler (analyst), Hazel Mae and Arash Madani (field)

25. Texas Rangers
The broadcast: Fox Sports Southwest: Dave Raymond (play-by-play), C.J. Nitkowski, Tom Grieve and David Murphy (analysts), Emily Jones (field)

24. Philadelphia Phillies
The broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia: Tom McCarthy (play-by-play), John Kruk and Ben Davis (analysts), Gregg Murphy (field)

23. Washington Nationals
The broadcast: Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN): Bob Carpenter (play-by-play), F.P. Santangelo (analyst), Alex Chappell (on-field reporter)

22. Boston Red Sox
The broadcast: New England Sports Network (NESN): Dave O’Brien (play-by-play), Jerry Remy and Dennis Eckersley (analysts), Guerin Austin and Jahmai Webster (field).

21. Minnesota Twins
The broadcast: Fox Sports North: Dick Bremer (play-by-play), Bert Blyleven, Justin Morneau, Roy Smalley and Jack Morris (analysts), Audra Martin and Marney Gellner (field)

20. Cincinnati Reds
The broadcast: Fox Sports Ohio: Thom Brennaman (play-by-play), Chris Welsh and Jeff Brantley (analysts), Jim Day (field, backup play-by-play), Jeff Piecoro (field)

19. Kansas City Royals
The broadcast: Fox Sports Kansas City: Ryan Lefebvre and Steve Physioc (play-by-play), Rex Hudler (analyst), Jeff Montgomery and Joel Goldberg (analysts, pre-/post game)

18. Cleveland Indians
The broadcast: SportsTime Ohio: Matt Underwood (play-by-play), Rick Manning (analyst), Andre Knott (field)

T-16. Seattle Mariners
The broadcast: Root Sports Northwest: Dave Sims and Aaron Goldsmith (play-by-play), Mike Blowers (analyst), Jen Mueller (field)

T-16. Arizona Diamondbacks
The broadcast: Fox Sports Arizona: Steve Berthiaume (play-by-play), Bob Brenly (analyst), Jody Jackson and Todd Walsh (fie

15. Atlanta Braves
The broadcast: Fox Sports South: Chip Caray (play-by-play), Jeff Francoeur, Tom Glavine and Joe Simpson (analysts), Paul Byrd and Kelly Crull (field)

14. St. Louis Cardinals
The broadcast: Fox Sports Midwest: Dan McLaughlin (play-by-play), Jim Edmonds, Rick Horton, Tim McCarver, Brad Thompson and Rick Ankiel (analysts), Jim Hayes and Erica Weston (field)

13. Oakland A’s
The broadcast: NBC Sports California: Glen Kuiper (play-by-play), Ray Fosse and Dallas Braden (analysts)

12. New York Yankees
The broadcast: YES Network: Michael Kay and Ryan Ruocco (play-by-play), Paul O’Neil, David Cone, Ken Singleton and John Flaherty (analysts), Meredith Marakovits (field)

11. Los Angeles Angels
The broadcast: Fox Sports West: Victor Rojas (play-by-play), Mark Gubicza (analyst) and Jose Mota (field)

10. Baltimore Orioles
The broadcast: Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN): Gary Thorne (play-by-play), Jim Palmer, Mike Bordick, Ben McDonald and Brian Roberts (analysts), Melanie Newman (field)

9. Tampa Bay Rays
The broadcast: Fox Sports Sun: Dewayne Staats (play-by-play), Brian Anderson (analyst), Tricia Whitaker (field)

8. Chicago White Sox
The broadcast: NBC Sports Chicago: Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Steve Stone (analyst), Chuck Garfien (field)

7. Chicago Cubs
The broadcast: Marquee Sports Network: Len Kasper (play-by-play), Jim Deshaies (analyst), Taylor McGregor (field) (Note: Marquee planned to rotate a variety of people into the booth for a third voice.)

6. Milwaukee Brewers
The broadcast: Fox Sports Wisconsin: Brian Anderson and Matt Lepay (play-by-play), Bill Schroeder (analyst), Sophia Minnaert (field)

5. Houston Astros
The broadcast: AT&T SportsNet Southwest: Todd Kalas (play-by-play), Geoff Blum (analyst), Julia Morales (field)

The results: In terms of chemistry in the booth, Kalas and Blum have it in spades. “Best kept secret in baseball,” one fan noted. And this: “They way they explain advanced stats, cover the game and interact with each other is the best I’ve seen. I’m crushed when the playoffs start and I can’t listen to them.” Blum offers a nice blend of humor and insight. “Blummer is a hot dang national treasure,” one respondent noted. Morales gets a lot of positive feedback for her field work and interviews. “She has a great sense of humor and a genuine rapport with players,” one fan said, which helps explain why she had the highest rating (4.66) of any field reporter. The Astros have some other *issues*, but apparently have their TV crew figured out.



4. Los Angeles Dodgers
The broadcast: Spectrum SportsNet LA: Joe Davis and Tim Neverett (play-by-play), Orel Hershiser (analyst), Alanna Rizzo (field)

3. San Diego Padres
The broadcast: Fox Sports San Diego: Don Orsillo (play-by-play), Mark Grant and Mark Sweeney (analyst), Bob Scanlan (field)

2. San Francisco Giants
The broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area, with a handful of games on NBC Bay Area: Duane Kuiper and Jon Miller (play-by-play), Mike Krukow (analyst), Amy Gutierrez (field)

1. New York Mets
The broadcast: SportsNet New York (SNY): Gary Cohen (pay-by-play), Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling (analysts), Steve Gelbs (field)

 

Our crew is as good as any in the game. The one thing that really sucks about the whole comcast thing is it left us without much when it comes to programming outside of the actual game. The actual game broadcasts are tremendous

 

Anybody missing Ashby?

Didn't think so.