This was great Ever since Todd Kalas has entered the booth with Geoff Blum, the Astros games have been such a joy to watch and listen to. Their positive laid-back vibes go down so smooth. I have asked myself, is it only so great because we have done nothing but win since Todd joined? That certainly adds to the positive vibes but honestly I couldn't make a single complaint about the TK/Geoff combo. Rocket's booth please take notes.
They're a very close 2nd to Bill Brown and Deshaies. Took me a little while to get used to Kalas but he's grown on me. I'll take them all day every day over Alan Ashby. He might be one of the worst pbp/color guys of all time.
I did a lot of listening to other play by play guys last year. Kalas and Blum may be the best. Astro fans are very fortunate to have these two.
In terms of both radio and TV, I'd say the Astros have the best in the majors. I love the way Ford calls big plays, and Steve Sparks is an absolute trip while still bringing real knowledge to the broadcast. Kalas and Blum have a very similar chemistry.
Its like 1a and 1b in my opinion. I do enjoy the hell out of Kalas/Blum but nostalgia has me missing JD and Brownie.
Kalas and Blum are awesome. JD and Brown were great but only nostalgia probably has me ranking them higher. The Astros are ****ing Aces all over the place.
Anybody else notice the huge difference in Dierker as an analyst pre and post managerial stint? He ended up being very cynical, pessimistic, and overall had just lost a lot of the joy in his voice. I guess he was truly jaded by the way his managerial stint ended and the overall experience of it.
Him calling that was funny as hell. I really love that duo in the booth. Blum has become an awesome color man. Not sure if he's reached Deshaies level elite, but he's damn good. PBP guys are by their nature somewhat boring, but Kalas has some personality which is nice, and more importantly he is professional PBP guy. They play off each other pretty well. Just getting Ashby the hell out of there worked wonders....as was completely expected.
that was nice, but it was Julia who gifted us the correct pronunciation of "Gif" = "Jif" TK doesn't let it get to his head either like that cowboy Tony Romo.
Julia fits in perfectly. All three have that cool yet humble personality. It truly is a golden age in Astros history, on and off the field.
This is definitely the best duo since Dierker/Jimmy/D/Brownie eras. Thank goodness. I thought Ashly was going to get a sexual harassment suit a couple years ago. Poor Julia.
They also called it another time last night - They were discussing what would happen if Fisher hit in the gap with McCann on first, and how long would it take Fisher to catch up to McCann. Next pitch Fisher hits into the gap..and has to physically slow down rounding second to make sure McCann was going to be able to round third and go home. They were both (barely) between 2nd & 3rd at the same time despite McCann having a jump.
I always thought it was stroke related. A little bit of personality change after it happened. Definitely a different Dierker though.
Yeah, but I saw some of the changes pre-stroke. He would get perturbed during press conferences and post-game interviews. His dugout demeanor seemed to be of a man who looked constipated... and that got worse the longer he was managing.
I was fortunate enough to get to play golf with him in an Astros charity tournament. Once he realized my friends and I were mediocre golfers he was very open and engaging. He was a bit uptight prior to seeing we were out there for a good time and weren't concerned with scores.
