The Athletic did a fan survey, asking readers to rate their team’s TV broadcast team, including separate scores for play-by-play, color commentary, and field reporting.
The Astros broadcast team came in at #5 overall, with Julia (rightly) taking the top spot among all field reporters.
I like the current broadcast team but I miss hearing Bill Brown call the game.
That’s fun. Good for Julia. Who led PBP and color? I’d guess Jon Miller and Keith Hernandez.
The Mets broadcast team took the top spot with near-perfect scores for Gary Cohen’s play-by-play (4.96/5.00) and the Keith Hernandez/Ron Darling color duo (4.90). Jon Miller just barely got beat out for top play-by-play (4.94).
For those keeping score, the Rangers broadcast came in 25th. Given how unlistenable I think that team is, I can’t imagine what it must be like to listen to the Tigers/Rockies/Marlins/Pirates/Blue Jays broadcasts.
I am sure Bill Brown is a great guy, but he is a poster child for blandness.
The Marlins “broadcast team” is as bad as it gets. I certainly can’t imagine anything worse that could still be considered a major league undertaking.
I don’t think I’ll ever be as happy with a booth as I was with Brown & JD.
Loved listening to those two. JD was great. Bill Worrell on the other hand… not so much.
JD was awesome. The Gold Standard. But Blummer has really grown on me. His first season or two he seemed a little stiff and timid, hit or miss, but he’s turned into a fine color man. Kalas grinds my gears sometimes, but he’s ok. I really prefer Robert Ford, but am less a fan of Steve Sparks. He’s ok, but the best combo IMO would be Ford and Blum.
I like Kalas, and I agree with you, HH, about Blum. He definitively is in JD territory as an analyst. Ford is only so-so for me, but I listen to very little Astros radio compared to watching the TV broadcasts. Brown was pretty good at PBP, was a terrible color guy, and by all accounts, including one from a friend who knows him very well, he is a great person. I was happy for Julia. I cannot imagine a better on-field reporter.
I like Kalas’ calling of the actions, like his dad, he has a great voice, instantly recognizable but sometimes, due to my superstitions, his between the plays banter can be aggravating. I like Ford and Sparks on the radio. I like Blummer more now than when he began. Blum has really grown into the role.
I don’t remember any of them. It seems like a couple of decades since I last listened to baseball.
I think Blum has surpassed JD, but that may just be homerism. But on the occasions where I catch the Cubs’ broadcasts, it seems like JD has had the spontaneity and joy sapped from him.
The Cubs will do that to a person.
He and Deshaies were good together because JD brought some personality.
I voted for Julia in that poll.
I think Brownie and JD made each other better. I also think that Ashby sucked the soul out of him. When Brownie has periodically filled in for Kalas, Blum, Ford, and Sparks the last few years he has sounded reinvigorated. Could also have something to do with calling 15-20 games vs. 162.
JD is unrecognizable as a Cubs broadcaster. I have no idea what happened, but he is not the same person.
Ashby sucked the soul out of me.
What worked for JD here didn’t work in Chicago. He wasn’t quick to win over those midwesterners, he listened to their criticism and made adjustments. That’s why he’s not as good with the Cubs as he was with the Astros. For better or worse those Cub fan idiots were determined to put a harness on him. I think the results of their interference is obvious to all of us. The same idiots who chased Steve Stone across town.