Monday, November 2, 2009

I don't consider Tim McCarver a great baseball analyst

I know a lot of people really like FOX baseball announcer Tim McCarver, but he's not on the top of my list. I guess it's just a personal thing. I understand that he was a great ballplayer and he's since become an institution of October baseball - this is his 19th straight World Series. The general consensus among baseball fans is that listening to Tim McCarver is a joy and his voice is synonymous with the World Series. They're always saying things like, "Oh, that Tim McCarver, he's a class act. And when paired with that boy Joe Buck, they make a heckuva team, a heckuva team."

I understand the Joe Buck thing - he can be funny while staying objective. But not McCarver. The problem is that he never explains anything. He always just assumes the viewers understand things like Game 7's being must-wins, and the intricacies of Derek Jeter's greatness. And he's always goofing around, as if he doesn't understand that the baseball game is The Most Important Thing In The World. He's goofing around so much that he never offers opinions on mangerial moves or player performances. I mean, baseball is supposed to elicit strong feelings, yet I never hear McCarver praise Derek Jeter or chastise Manny Ramirez.

Maybe I'm not qualified to critique a broadcaster - I've never been involved with any part of the profession. And I'm not an expert at using insanely nonsensical metaphors, so I shouldn't expect McCarver to use them. But still, I feel pretty good about being the first blogger to ever describe these negative feelings toward Tim McCarver.

5 comments:

Josh Bergan said...

McCarver is terrible. Buck is awesome.

tfrezac2002 said...

Wouldn't it just be the bee's knees if Tim McCarver would team up with the worlds greatest announcer in all of history of talking? The only man who could just be referred to as the "Great One" The one, the only, Chris Berman!

I can just hear the call now, but I can only make out a few random "bumblings and stumblings" out of Berman and an occasional "Derek Jeter is great" out of McCarver. It would be easier to understand if they would just stop fighting over the mic to hear their own voice.

Travis Mattson said...

Maybe it's just me, but I read that with a HEAVY dose of sarcasm.

haasertime said...

Berman should stick to football.

I remember that session of the blogger orientation. It was right after the 'how to get your mom off your back about cleaning up the basement' lecture.

Anonymous said...

The Deion Sanders incidents properly describe most people's sentiments for McCarver.