Favorite Reds Announcing Duo?

[jhc2010]

Who is your favorite Reds announcing duo on both the radio and TV sides?

Please vote for one TV and one Radio.

[RedsManRick]

David Cone and Len Kasper. Er.... I think a list of options would be helpful. Is this current or ever?

[jhc2010]

I think a list would be helpful(see poll above)

[dougdirt]

Anyone and Jim Kelch.

[Caveat Emperor]

I picked Marty and Jeff, but that's more a "the best of what's around" vote than anything else.

I like Brantley a lot (though, I recognize I'm in the minority on that one), and Marty can still a very good game when he isn't in one of his moods. For all of Marty's warts, there's absolutely no one else I want to hear on mic for a big moment in a Reds game.

Of the list, the only other person I'd say I liked was Chris Welsh. He has a very easy delivery on TV and does a great job of adding insight to the games without getting heavy on the "when I played the game..." stuff. He also isn't an apologist for the players 24/7, which is a trap a lot of ex-jocks fall into when they get behind the microphone.

Kelch? He's a dime-a-dozen Billy Baseball radio guy that's completely interchangeable with about 50 different announcers around the majors and minors. Completely inoffensive, but also completely forgettable calling the game.

Thom is a football guy shoehorning himself into baseball. His style of broadcast is almost self-parody with his overly dramatic reaction to things, endless attempts to beat a pre-determined narrative into a telecast (something you see a lot on football broadcasts), and dead-horse rants that start, inevitably, with his professing to not want to beat the lifeless body any further.

George Grande is sunshine with a spoonful of sugar and a pound of syrup on top for good measure. He's an easy listen in small doses, but grates on my nerves after a few games of Redbirds this and He Got It that.

[Homer Bailey]

Just no cowboy.

[George Anderson]

Marty and Jim Kelch.

I just like announcers that just call the game and don't talk about things like tomato plants, Elvis and barbecue.

Marty is good when he is focused on the game and I think Kelch and his demeanor forces Marty to focus on the game.

[bucksfan2]

I like either Thom or Chris Welsh with Jeff on TV. I like the Cowboy but don't think he does a good job of PBP all by himself. If Marty would stay on the air all 9 innings then I wouldn't have an issue with Marty and Cowboy.

I do like Marty and Thom on the radio.

[Roy Tucker]

I like Kelch and Welsh. They talk only baseball. No talk about who had what for dinner or vendettas or mangled PBP or blown sunshine. They are pretty vanilla but I like vanilla.

[westofyou]

I like Kelch and Welsh. They talk only baseball. No talk about who had what for dinner or vendettas or mangled PBP or blown sunshine. They are pretty vanilla but I like vanilla.

I had to switch to the Cubs feed twice this weekend because:

A. Marty and Jeff were talking about other stuff while the game was on

B. Brantley is brutal alone, half the time I can't tell what's going on, he is a butcher alone, a car wreck, a disastrous mess that is at best bush, at worst freaking HS quality, an embarrassment to the franchise.

[George Anderson]

B. Brantley is brutal alone, half the time I can't tell what's going on, he is a butcher alone, a car wreck, a disastrous mess that is at best bush, at worst freaking HS quality, an embarrassment to the franchise.

Don't sugar coat it.

Tell us how you really feel.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Marty and Joe. *sigh* :(

[Redlegs]

I think Chris Welsh is as good a color man as anyone in the game. As far as the other stuff that goes on with calling the game; I like it when they talk about other stuff as well as the game. I particularly like it when Chris jabs at Thom.

[RollyInRaleigh]

Jim Mcntyre and Joe were good. Al Michaels and Joe were real good. Marty and Joe, during the Big Red Machine years, were great.

[RollyInRaleigh]

I liked it last night when George made reference to Chris throwing batting practice, and Chris cut in before he could finish and chimed in with, "Now I know how you felt about my career." LOL

[_Sir_Charles_]

Jim Mcntyre and Joe were good. Al Michaels and Joe were real good. Marty and Joe, during the Big Red Machine years, were great.

This.

[WVRed]

Anybody but George Grande. Everything from gushing over Jim Edmonds to the "Best Sports Show Period"

[corkedbat]

I liked Al Michaels & Nuxy :)

[Roy Tucker]

I think its been talked about a lot in here before, but Joe always kept Marty's vitriol at bay and they really made a super duo.

I love Marty as an announcer, but every so often, he puts on his Dracula cape and becomes this really nasty guy. And once I see ugliness in someone, I had a hard time forgetting it. But give Marty a great ballgame and big moments and he can still give me chills and goosebumps with his calls and is a HoF-worthy announcer.

Welsh is a good color guy.

Brantley is pretty good as a color guy but absolutely awful as the PBP guy to the point where I turn off the radio. Even my wife says "what in the world is he talking about?".

I love Sean Casey but he just jibber-jabbers on and on and I don't know about what.

I have a hard time evaluating Thom B. as an announcer because I remember him as the backup weekend sports guy on Channel 5 way back when he was fresh out of Ohio U. and I liked him a lot then. He has a lot of his dad in him which is good and bad. Too often though, he puts on his junior Dracula cape and gets nasty too. And, he thinks if he says things loudly with great emphasis, it makes it more true.

Kelch is a meat-and-potatoes guy but you know, sometimes I just want to listen to the dang ballgame and not think about the announcers. Just let me know what's going on. He does that.

[dougdirt]

My favorite thing about Jim Kelch.... he will call you out on something that doesn't make sense. When he first came up he called out Marty on something (I don't recall what it is at this point), and from that point forward, he was my favorite. Calling out Dusty on his lineup with Fred Lewis last night on the pregame show made it even better.

He does the job he signed up for. To call the baseball game. I love it.

Marty does a great job of making that great call when something awesome happens. But he is far too often not doing that for my liking.

[Reds/Flyers Fan]

Anybody but Kelch for me. His calls don't particularly get me excited. And his voice is too monotone and lacking emotion for me.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I like Marty's edge. Honestly, when he's criticizing the team, it's usually when they are playing poorly and committing the same failures over and over and over ... And usually I'm also mad and frustrated by it too, so I don't mind Marty's emotions coming out at all. We're experiencing the same game and the same joys/disappointments that come with that game.

Like when he does the "and that's another Stubbs strikeout" in his exasperated voice. It's really nothing that most Reds fans aren't thinking at the moment.

So give me Marty any day - when they're winning he's great fun with exciting calls; when they're losing, he's accurately reflecting how I feel.

[dougdirt]

Like when he does the "and that's another Stubbs strikeout" in his exasperated voice. It's really nothing that most Reds fans aren't thinking at the moment.



That is my problem with Marty though.... he expresses his thoughts far too much that are, at least in my opinion, poorly thought out in the big picture, but he leads the casual fans to turn on guys based on that information. As someone with his reach, I would rather him be more in tune with what we know about baseball today rather than be Joe Morgan-esque when it comes to talking about the value of a baseball player.

[RedsManRick]

Personally, I don't need an announcer to get me excited. What's happening in the game gets me excited. So tell me what's happening and provide me some insight. That's all I want.

Marty is just a grouch. Every time something bad happens is an indication of some bigger problem that he's talked about before (and he will remind us that he has).

Thom is definitely a football guy. He'll talk just to fill dead air and it usually ends up being completely off topic (did you know he's got kids?) or just inane (he thinks the Brewers have a very good defense).

Grande is too saccharine and uninsightful. Casey is too hyper and grating -- if you want to do this as a job, stop acting like it's a novelty act. Cowboy can be good as an analyst; he's not necessarily my bent, but he's consistent in his observations and humble in what he knows vs. merely what he's guessing at.

That leaves Kelch and Welsh. Welsh is measured and can give good insight on the why's of what players did or are thinking. And he's willing to go in to more detail than most ex-players who often fall in to a trap of talking down to their audience as if we're incapable of understanding. And on top of that, he sticks to what knows, unlike a lot of ex-players who equate having played the game with having complete expertise that they feel the to share. (Watching Nomar on ESPN makes me want to hurt myself).

Kelch is pretty run of the mill and forgettable. But that's good. A good announcer, in my book, is there to make the game itself more accessible and memorable, not be the show himself. His calls are timely and accurate. His analysis is mostly just based in logic and common sense rather than repeating the same old tropes.

Either of those guys with Marty can be ok, because they'll keep him in line. But I really dislike Marty and Cowboy or anybody and Casey.

[Redsfan320]

TV: George and Chris- A great team, never stomping over each other like Thom and Chris, both also great in their own right.

Radio: Marty and Jim- Marty is Marty, and while I would have gone with Jeff as a color commentator, considering all the pbp the color guy does on radio, I'll take Jim.

320

[AtomicDumpling]

That is my problem with Marty though.... he expresses his thoughts far too much that are, at least in my opinion, poorly thought out in the big picture, but he leads the casual fans to turn on guys based on that information. As someone with his reach, I would rather him be more in tune with what we know about baseball today rather than be Joe Morgan-esque when it comes to talking about the value of a baseball player.

That is exactly why I don't like listening to Marty anymore.

Marty is an excellent play-by-play game caller, but he sounds like a fool when he starts pontificating on what the Reds management or players should do. He should stick to telling us what is happening on the field. He doesn't know the first thing about evaluating talent, statistics nor strategy. He is way past his prime and hasn't kept up as the game has evolved into the 21st century. He is basically coasting on the good reputation he earned as Nuxhall's little sidekick. Marty sounds like a nasty, bitter old man far too often these days. He bellyaches when things don't go his way. His negative attitude turns off a lot of fans these days -- the ones that didn't grow up listening to Marty and Joe. Marty was far better when he was the sidekick than he is now as the main man.

Joe Nuxhall had a way of making you enjoy listening to the games even when the Reds were getting their butts kicked. Joe felt that watching the Reds lose a game was the second best way in the world to spend your time -- of course the best way is to watch the Reds win. Nuxy never turned against the players, but he didn't sugar coat things either. He could tell you what they did wrong without making them out to be villains. Joe had a genuine love for the game and he had a knack for making us feel the same way. Marty doesn't have that and never will.

Thom is not a baseball guy either. He tries to force everything into being "absolutely unbelievable!" He needs to just relax and roll with the flow of the game. He doesn't need to generate a storyline, leave that up to the players.

Brantley has a lot of baseball experience as a good pitcher, but he is brutal with play-calling. Welsh is pretty good, although his small-ball mindset irritates me sometimes. Welsh is the best of the TV guys. Grande is a good play-caller and is easy on the ears, but he never says anything especially insightful. Kelch has a lot of potential and doesn't do anything that annoys the crap out of me like the others all do. Sean Casey should be limited to one game per year just for kicks, he is not a broadcaster.

It is very important to have a broadcaster that can instill a love of baseball in young fans so the fan base stays strong into the future. Unfortunately, right now the Reds don't have a guy that can do that.

[RedLegSuperStar]

I'm in the minority but I love to listen to Brantley whether on the radio or on TV. Marty and Thom would be my 2nd choices.

[nate]

George and Chris. I don't really care if it's too "sugary," George seems to be genuine.

Thom seems like he has a tanning bed and "manscapes."

This year, I've taken to watching with the volume down. The PBP in my head is pretty awesome, I must say!

:cool:

[Mario-Rijo]

Thom and Jeff on TV
Marty and Jeff on radio (though Jeff is brutal on PBP)
Jim and Jeff on radio isn't too shabby. Ya get the straight man Jim Kelch and the colorful Brantley.

Don't like George Grande (I'm sure all the players and their families love him) he's just not critical enough when it calls for it. And his obsession with other teams players is annoying. Respect is one thing that I agree guys need for all the players but his is just straight but kissing IMO.

Casey is growing on me a bit, he is overly exciteable but has some interesting things to say at times.

Welsh has gotten better the past few seasons.

[jhc2010]

Thom is definitely a football guy. He'll talk just to fill dead airI disagree. Some of the longest periods of dead air during baseball games are when Thom is working. Thom really dislikes starting discussion on a topic with two outs so a lot of times if there is no one on base with two outs and a batter is fouling balls off, nothing is said.

Thom also loves to let the pictures call the action sometimes. If Stubbs strikes out with the bases loaded to end the inning, not a single word would be said between the pitch and the commercial break. George Grande could not help himself telling us who is coming up next inning, etc.

[jhc2010]

Thom seems like he has a tanning bed and "manscapes."What's wrong with that?

[wlf WV]

George and Chris.You get Chris' analysis,plus George is an encyclopedia of baseball info. When the time came I couldn't tell if he was a Reds fan,I quit listening to Marty.

[camisadelgolf]

I wish I could get a chance to see Welsh and Casey together.

[dougdirt]

I wish I could get a chance to see Welsh and Casey together.

Please don't do such a thing to the rest of us. I beg you :laugh:

[GAC]

Joe Nuxhall and Al Michaels :D

I like Chris Welsh (knowledgeable). I can say the same for Brantley when it comes to pitching, though he rambles quite a bit.

The rest of them? Bleech!

Sean Casey needs to be on sedatives. Jim "dry as toast" Kelch shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the broadcast booth because he doesn't even know the player's names (needs to stick to college football). Tom is trying too much to be like his Dad (and that's not a good thing - loves to hear himself talk). And Grande needs to be selling insurance or doing Grippo commercials.

And Grande is Casper the Friendly Ghost.

[Ron Madden]

I liked Al Michaels & Nuxy :)

Me Too,

[Ron Madden]

My favorite thing about Jim Kelch.... he will call you out on something that doesn't make sense. When he first came up he called out Marty on something (I don't recall what it is at this point), and from that point forward, he was my favorite. Calling out Dusty on his lineup with Fred Lewis last night on the pregame show made it even better.

He does the job he signed up for. To call the baseball game. I love it.

Marty does a great job of making that great call when something awesome happens. But he is far too often not doing that for my liking.

I agree wholeheartedly with Doug and Roy concerning Jim Kelch and Marty.

There was a time when Marty was a Great pbp announcer, those days are long gone except on rare occasions when he has the chance to call a game winning hit.

Marty can be an egomaniac at times and those times are very hard to listen to, if Brantley is in the booth during those times he just fans the flames in an effort to suck up to Marty.

Jim Kelch is by far my favorite Reds pbp announcer now days.

He does what a radio pbp announcer should do.. call the game play by play and paint the picture for those listening unable to see the action for themselves. It also seems to me like Marty is more focused on the game when he works with Kelch.

No matter who's in the booth I believe they waste far too much time talking about the Cincinnati Bell trivia question and that Godawful ask Marty question.

JMO

[George Anderson]

Not to get off topic but why did Al Michaels leave the Reds? If I recall he went to San Francisco. Was it all about money?

[cumberlandreds]

Not to get off topic but why did Al Michaels leave the Reds? If I recall he went to San Francisco. Was it all about money?

Yes he went to San Francisco. Don't know for sure but money was probably the reason. Also a bigger market too. Michaels has said the Reds being in the 1972 World Series was his biggest break for the national scene. So I'm sure the networks were looking to him as a top PBP announcer.

[Blitz Dorsey]

I'm very disappointed that any Reds fan would vote for George Grande in this poll. If you want to know the backstory of the bullpen catcher on the opposing team, George is your guy. If you want the announcer to BS you and pretend like everything is rosy all the time, George is your guy. If you want the cheesiest phrases you will ever hear in your life, George is your guy.

But if you want someone who actually knows the Reds and adds something to the telecast for you, I don't understand how any diehard Cincinnati Reds fan could like listening to George Grande. I just don't get it. I know he's not winning this poll or anything, but I can't believe he's getting any votes at all. I'm so glad he's no longer the Reds' full-time TV PBP announcer. Now I only have to put up with him a handful of times each season. (Which is a handful too many, but I'll take it over the 17 years of headaches that he provided.)

[cumberlandreds]

By default I chose Grande and Welsh for the TV side. I really don't like Thom at all. He's a football announcer trying to call a baseball game in that do or die attitude you have to have for football. Brantley is OK. But when he gets on the food topic you can forget about any baseball being mentioned. Casey is just ther for laughs. When he's not laughing he can give some good insight to the players he played with or against. But you have to listen very closely for it. Kelch is solid but very bland. Not much information except for the PBP from him.

I chose Kelch and Marty on the radio side. Mainly because it seems Kelch can keep Marty on track and away from his cycle of rants. It's a shame Marty has turned into the grouch he has become. He once was very good but all the losing,IMO,has made him very bitter for whatever reason.
Brantley is terrible at PBP. I cannot follow the action at all when he's doing the PBP.
Atomic Dumpling said it best about Nuxhall. He made you feel good about the game. You new Joe loved the game and he expressed it everyday. No matter if the Reds won or lost he was same person doing the game.

[westofyou]

Not to get off topic but why did Al Michaels leave the Reds? If I recall he went to San Francisco. Was it all about money?

He was from California.

Once one goes west it's hard to go back east.

[Blitz Dorsey]

George and Chris.You get Chris' analysis,plus George is an encyclopedia of baseball info. When the time came I couldn't tell if he was a Reds fan,I quit listening to Marty.

LOL! You couldn't tell if MARTY was a Reds fan? Uh, Marty actually cares if the Reds win or lose. George Grande couldn't give a rat's behind. Sorry, but that's a pretty bad reason to like Grande over Marty. One thing that is not in doubt about Marty: He wants the Reds to win. That's why he gets so upset when they're not playing well. He's just like a fan who gets fired up. Then you have George Grande who's busy telling you about how the wife of the opposing team's third base coach used to really make nice cookies back in the day ... all while the other team is rocking our pitcher to sleep.

[nate]

What's wrong with that?

He seems like a phony to me.

[RollyInRaleigh]

I guess we all will get a dose of Jim Day this weekend. Not a fan.

[lollipopcurve]

Just no cowboy.

Agree with this.

Only get TV, not radio.

[westofyou]

He seems like a phony to me.

I postulated the same thing to my FB friends and was hit with a deluge of replies that he was a nice guy from my local friends who live in his neighborhood.

My reply to them:

I'm sure he's nice He does commercials with cats fee gawdsakes he's not Hitler, he just ain't Vin Scully either.

[cumberlandreds]

I guess we all will get a dose of Jim Day this weekend. Not a fan.

I'll be watching the Padres broadcast this weekend. Dick Enberg and Mark Grant or Tony Gwynn do their games. That's the beauty of having MLBEI. You can choose to watch the other teams broadcast if you want. I've chosen the other teams a few times this season. Dodgers,Giants,Orioles and Brewers are four that are much better than any crew the Reds put on the air.

[RollyInRaleigh]

Thanks for the idea. Think I'll listen to Enberg!

[bucksfan2]

Thanks for the idea. Think I'll listen to Enberg!

Oh my!

[Big Klu]

Thanks for the idea. Think I'll listen to Enberg!

I always liked the duo of Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen doing NFL games on NBC.

Enberg and Bud Collins at Wimbledon was good, too.

[cumberlandreds]

Thanks for the idea. Think I'll listen to Enberg!

Enberg is one of my favorite national announcers of all time. He may not be as good as used to be but he will much better than listening Jim Day stumble around all weekend.

[cumberlandreds]

I always liked the duo of Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen doing NFL games on NBC.

Enberg and Bud Collins at Wimbledon was good, too.

The trio of Enberg,Al McGuire and Billy Packer was best college basketball announcing team of all time. One of the few times a 3 man crew actually worked,IMO.

[dabvu2498]

I guess we all will get a dose of Jim Day this weekend. Not a fan.

As if the 98 other announcers they have can't fill all the slots for 162 games.

And of the 2, I'd rather have Pic. He at least has some experience broadcasting live sports (he does color for UK football on the radio).

[Roy Tucker]

I think Jim Day and George Vogel of Channel 5 sports are twins separated at birth.

[dabvu2498]

I think Jim Day and George Vogel of Channel 5 sports are twins separated at birth.

Popovitch is their creepy uncle.

[Blitz Dorsey]

Jeez, a lot of you guys dislike Jim Day too? Tough crowd. I actually think Day does a nice job. We'll see how he does in the booth, but he's good at what he does as a pregame/postgame host IMO.

The entire group is OK except "Jorge Gran-de" ... he is the one guy I cannot stand.

[wlf WV]

Jeez, a lot of you guys dislike Jim Day too? Tough crowd. I actually think Day does a nice job. We'll see how he does in the booth, but he's good at what he does as a pregame/postgame host IMO.

The entire group is OK except "Jorge Gran-de" ... he is the one guy I cannot stand.
Funny,I think Jim Day is excellent too,but I like George and Chris .I would rather have sugar than vinegar,too much of anything will make you sick,though.

[nate]

I postulated the same thing to my FB friends and was hit with a deluge of replies that he was a nice guy from my local friends who live in his neighborhood.

My reply to them:

I'm sure he's nice He does commercials with cats fee gawdsakes he's not Hitler, he just ain't Vin Scully either.

Word.

Plotting the delta between Hitler and Scully would be an awesome Photoshop contest.

:cool:

[GAC]

Not to get off topic but why did Al Michaels leave the Reds? If I recall he went to San Francisco. Was it all about money?

I was upset when Michaels left and this "unknown" by the name of Brennaman was coming in. Who? Never heard of him.

Al wanted to branch out into bigger and better things, and not just baseball. And that he did.

[cumberlandreds]

My take on the Reds announcers are within this from awfulannouncing.com.


http://awfulannouncing.com/2011-articles/august/aa-fan-forum-mlb-announcers-ii.html