John Sadak

[VR]

I finally bought the rest of the televised season.....first time in about 8 years for me. I like Sadak a lot, he is a little delayed in his PBP, but all the rest is great. He and Brantley really make a solid combo. Brantley seems to be at the top of his game. Really good this year.

[westofyou]

Hank Schuman was the Giants beat reporter for a long time and he recently retired. He said once that he was big enamored by many Midwest MLB announcers because they tended to also be “cheerleaders” and he found that grating

Sadek fits that bill, everything has a feel good story, every Red has a “buddy” and on and on and on.

Just call the game John

[REDREAD]

yea, I will continue to give Sadak a chance, but he is kind of grating.
Another habit he has is to keep brining up the same stories over and over.. for example, he keeps talking about how Sonny Gray scooted his rear on the mound to get dirt over the pine tar on his pants.. That's not really a story worth repeating. Another example is he has talked about the scooter club some of the players have for awhile, talked several times about Ty Stephenson kissing his pinky finger.. I mean, maybe say it once, and that's it.. don't keep bringing up the same story over and over, especially when it's not that particularly interesting.. Another example is the entire season, he's been talking about India as a ROY candidate, campaigning for him, even when he was starting slow and had no case.. I mean, India has a decent case at this point, but your audience isn't voting for the award..

[reds44]

I really like Sadak. Seems like a good guy who genuinely loves the Reds and he seems to enjoy what he’s doing every day when he shows up for work.

This can be true and he still can be bad at what his job is lol

[wlf WV]

He’s much better with Brantley or Welsh and has a good sense of humor. I guess he sometimes enjoys his job too much.

[Ironman92]

Something kinda telling…..most weeks after church and before Reds game I watch MLB Network Top 50 plays of the week…each play they use the home telecast during the highlight. The Reds could have a play at #41 and Sadak is blaring with excitement more than any play from #6-#20. His lack of feel and his over amplifying so many things wears a bit and especially to those that still aren’t used to him. I’m used to him and ok with him but my wife a casual watcher….she can’t stand him.

[REDREAD]

Yea, in all honesty, I usually take a few innings "break" from Sadak and put it on mute.
Which is a shame, I usually stream the game and listen more than watch.
But Sadak is just too much over the top.. I will mute it for a few innings and just walk over and check the score.
I can't even just casually listen and then walk over to the laptop when a big play happens because every ball is "crushed" or "clobbered" according to Sadak. Again, I am trying really hard to like him.. I do like him better than Tom.. If he could just cut down on the number of overenthusiastic calls and stop being so repetitive, I think that would be enough.

[Chip R]

Someone earlier in this thread said they are both rookies. I think that's a pretty apt comparison. I really can't say one way or another since I can't see the games live. I'm sure there's room for improvement for both Larkin and Sadak. And you can't please everyone. Some fans are going to like games called straight down the middle and others are going to enjoy extraneous stuff mixed in. Maybe Sadak's pop culture references will get as tiring as Marty's babbling about golf and his tomato plants. I also think it does depend on what kind of feedback they get from BSO and how much are they willing to improve their game. Of course you would think they would have called Thom on his style - or lack thereof - over the years but perhaps he was somewhat of a sacred cow with Daddy around. What these guys need to remember is to be themselves. You take what they are comfortable with and improve on your weaknesses. If you're not willing to take any criticism - although constructive - you're not going to improve.

[Huntman]

Here's a good example of how over the top Sadak can be. The other day, Votto hit a home run, which prompted this reaction from Sadak about how Votto has adjusted his approach at the plate: "I’m beginning to think we should give Joey Votto every other problem that exists in the world, because he’ll find a solution. Whatever he sets out to do, he does, and he does it majestically. He does it to the nth degree." I guess Joey should quit baseball and become prime minister of Canada. Or secretary general of the U.N. Give me a break!

[Huntman]

Yea, in all honesty, I usually take a few innings "break" from Sadak and put it on mute.
Which is a shame, I usually stream the game and listen more than watch.
But Sadak is just too much over the top.. I will mute it for a few innings and just walk over and check the score.
I can't even just casually listen and then walk over to the laptop when a big play happens because every ball is "crushed" or "clobbered" according to Sadak. Again, I am trying really hard to like him.. I do like him better than Tom.. If he could just cut down on the number of overenthusiastic calls and stop being so repetitive, I think that would be enough.

Don't forget "destroyed." That's a frequent one. And today, when Akiyama went to second on an errant pickoff throw, he didn't run, scramble or scamper to second. No, he "erupted" to second base. It's like he's a walking thesaurus.

[Tom Servo]

Don't forget "destroyed." That's a frequent one. And today, when Akiyama went to second on an errant pickoff throw, he didn't run, scramble or scamper to second. No, he "erupted" to second base. It's like he's a walking thesaurus.

I just can't really imagine caring about this kind of thing.

[cincinnati chili]

Whatever is wrong with Reds' organization, their current crop of announcers ain't it. I give the hires of Sedak and Thrall both an A+. Yes, young announcers have room and time to improve, but I wouldn't mess with them too much. Don't break their spirits or reign in their essences. Barring some kind of Thom Brennaman or Trevor Bauer level scandal, I see them both becoming Hall of Fame level announcers, and I'd just as soon that they do it in Cincinnati rather than at the national level or for some other organization.

The guy who I think needs the most work is Larkin, but even he is salvageable. Obviously he knows more about baseball than most of us combined, but it doesn't always come through. I wonder if somebody gives him fact-checking feedback (example, when he talks about how pitching is down around baseball right in the middle of a ball-in-play crisis so severe that MLB has had to institute stop-and-frisk measures to reduce spin rates).

[westofyou]

Whatever is wrong with Reds' organization, their current crop of announcers ain't it. I give the hires of Sedak and Thrall both an A+. Yes, young announcers have room and time to improve, but I wouldn't mess with them too much. Don't break their spirits or reign in their essences. Barring some kind of Thom Brennaman or Trevor Bauer level scandal, I see them both becoming Hall of Fame level announcers, and I'd just as soon that they do it in Cincinnati rather than at the national level or for some other organization.

The guy who I think needs the most work is Larkin, but even he is salvageable. Obviously he knows more about baseball than most of us combined, but it doesn't always come through. I wonder if somebody gives him fact-checking feedback (example, when he talks about how pitching is down around baseball right in the middle of a ball-in-play crisis so severe that MLB has had to institute stop-and-frisk measures to reduce spin rates).

Thanks for reminding me why we are friends

[RedsfaninMT]

Yes, Sadak gets overly worked up at times over routine plays. But I'll take that over Thom's "My Goodness. Can you believe that? I mean, what was he thinking?"

I love baseball. I openly admit I couldn't have batted 0.50 in my prime. Sadak, to me, acknowledges the amazing skills of the players he's watching. It's a very refreshing change. I feel the same wonder in Sadak's voice that I often feel myself. He geeks out. I openly admit I do too.

[MikeS21]

I don’t get too worked up over any announcers. I didn’t mind 95% of either Marty or Thom. Nor do I mind announcers who are cheerleaders.

When you have lived through some of the stretches of drought years that this organization has had since about 1980, I give all the announcers a free pass now that they actually have a decent team to cover.