No Offense Stern, But We're Talking Baseball

Matt Welch | October 21, 2004

XM Radio, and the gimme-what-I-want-when-and-where-I-want-it future, both received shots in the arm yesterday, with the announcement that starting next season, every single Major League Baseball game will be broadcast live via satellite. This probably won't make George Steinbrenner feel better anytime soon.

Comments

|10.21.04 @ 12:25PM|#

Why? (About Steinbrenner)

|10.21.04 @ 12:27PM|#

Cuz the Yankees suck! Go Cards!

|10.21.04 @ 12:33PM|#

Steinbrenner owns the broadcast rights to NYC. Stern's moving to Satellite(Not XM Radio though).
Steinbrenner likes to lose viewers/listeners as much as he likes to lose games.

|10.21.04 @ 12:48PM|#

Die Cards!!

Go Red Sox!!!!!!!!!

Matt Welch|10.21.04 @ 12:52PM|#

Steinbrenner might have other things to feel badly about today, is all.

Franklin Harris|10.21.04 @ 1:12PM|#

What Steinbrenner needs is a nice hot calzone.

|10.21.04 @ 1:21PM|#

"What Steinbrenner needs is a nice hot calzone."

Or a sandwich... Wasn't that a great sandwich, Georgie!

|10.21.04 @ 1:25PM|#

The only thing more painful than watching baseball is listening to it on the radio.

|10.21.04 @ 1:33PM|#

Baseball on the radio when driving is heavenly. Maybe I'm biased because I get to listen to Vin Scully's silky voice call games. There's no one better in the business.

Oh and the Red Sox just won the chance to lose to the winner of tonight's game. I'd prefer the Cards to win, but the thought of Clemens potentially pitching game 7 in Boston to win makes me giddy.

|10.21.04 @ 1:45PM|#

Mo, you're not biased. I get a slew of baseball games from all around the country on my cable package, so I've heard just about all the announcers that there are, and Scully is in a class by himself.

|10.21.04 @ 1:52PM|#

Oh puh-leez, Mike Shannon (who calls for the Cardinals) is much more entertaining than Scully. Can you hear gems like "it's raining like a Chinese fire drill" from Vin Scully? Unless they can knock out Clemens and get into Houston's bullpen early and often, the Cardinals' chances are pretty poor (I'm is a lifelong Cardinal fan). Our hitters have no clue what to do about Mr. Lidge.

|10.21.04 @ 2:02PM|#

RED SOX WIN!!! RED SOX WIN!!!

I can't believe there wasn't a H&R post about this historic comeback-from-3-games-down victory. And Reason claims to have a fun side.

|10.21.04 @ 2:05PM|#

MSN is running a piece about biggest chokes in sporting history. You can guess who tops the list.

|10.21.04 @ 2:12PM|#

I couldn't stand Mike Shannon at first, but he's really grown on me (I've been following the Cards since I moved to St. Louis 7-8 years ago). Nothing finer than working in the lab at night listening to Shannon call another home run by Rolen or Pujols. "Get up, baby! Get up! Get up some more! Alright!"
And I'm more optimistic about their chances tonight. Imagine a Red Sox/Cards world series. Wow.

Nathan|10.21.04 @ 2:52PM|#

Baseball and O&A. What's not to love?

|10.21.04 @ 2:54PM|#

"the thought of Clemens potentially pitching game 7 in Boston to win makes me giddy."

A new curse for the new century. They'd be talking about the "curse of the Rocket" in 2090.

|10.21.04 @ 4:21PM|#

Mike Shannon is in a league of callers in which no other caller has ever played. His play calling gets better the more alcohol he appears to have imbibed. I always think that by the 6th inning, Shannon is sloshed. It certainly doesn't hurt his play calling one bit. But I really miss Jack Buck. Joe Buck is decent, but Jack Buck and Harry Caray in the same booth on the AM dial...shit, the Cardinal games were auditory paintings. Stan Musial was a God and Lou Brock the archangel Gabriele.

Cards win in 4.

|10.21.04 @ 5:16PM|#

Mo, do you think Scully is ever going to die?

I don't mean that in a pejorative way, either.

Hasn't he been the Dodger voice since back in the early 1950's at Ebbets Field?

I mean, he's the Chick Hearn of baseball.

And I think he invented the term "come backer".

|10.21.04 @ 6:00PM|#

TWC,
I hope not. Especially with the severe drop in quality in Laker broadcasts since Chick died. I think Fox should drop McCarver in the playoffs and add Scully. I was fortunate enough as a kid to hear Harry call Cubs games on WGN, few know how lucky Los Angelinos are to have Vin.

He's a real throwback, I believe he still does his radio broadcasts at the same time that he does the TV ones, which is part of the reason he's so descriptive. And I believe he came to LA with the the Dodgers from Brooklyn. No wonder they were so mad.

|10.21.04 @ 7:26PM|#

I grew up on the milk of Vin Scully's voice. He may be the most professional of all baseball announcers. However, today I am bigger fan of Seattle Mariner announcer Dave Niehaus:

"Break out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma. IT'S GRAND SALAMI TIME!"

and I love the way his voice drops an octave to describe a pitch lo-owwww and inside.

|10.21.04 @ 8:22PM|#

"Break out the rye bread and mustard, Grandma. IT'S GRAND SALAMI TIME!"

That is the most disturbing sexual double-entendre I have ever heard.

|10.21.04 @ 9:06PM|#

Mo, yeah, I dunno.........

Oh hell, what Mo said!

|10.22.04 @ 12:24AM|#

Go crazy, folks! The Cards are in! What a World Series this is going to be!

|10.22.04 @ 6:36AM|#

No Offense baseball, But XM doesn't have STERN!!!
Not-Daniel