Chip Caray's awful announcing caused me to watch much of TBS' postseason coverage with the television muted and Richard Deitsch of SI.com recently asked Turner Sports president David Levy about the oft-criticized play-by-play man:
Certainly, Chip made some on-the-air errors that we are well aware of, and like we do with all our sports, we will sit down in the next two to three weeks and evaluate everything. including our production and our talent. We always want to make our telecasts better. We add people. We subtract people. We add cameras. We take cameras off. I can't make any decisions or comments today, but we will look at it the next few weeks.But I do think it almost snowballed to the point where some of the sportswriters and columnists were actually missing an incredible postseason. Instead of writing about the game and the storyline and what was happening, it became about Chip. And I think they missed a lot. I'm not saying he didn't make errors. Don't get me wrong. But was it that big? Was it that big of a story? That was always my question. I'll never know the answer to that, but obviously the writers and columnists do.
Is an announcer doing a horrible job really a huge story? Perhaps not in the grand scheme of things, but it's tough to ignore when TBS put Caray in position to be the lead play-by-play man for the early portion of the playoffs and he failed miserably. That's going to get a ton of attention, right or wrong. Levy and Turner Sports probably don't mind the positive attention that Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith get for doing a great job on TNT's coverage of the NBA.
Levy's comment that "the sportswriters and columnists were actually missing an incredible postseason" sums up why Caray was such a disaster. He caused huge baseball fans like me to actually turn off the sound accompanying the events TBS was covering and thus took away from the games being played. You can blame that on sportswriters and columnists, but ultimately TBS picked Caray for the job and Caray performed horribly. Luckily it sounds like we won't have to suffer through him again next October.
Although I watched the first series of Chip as I didn't have any other source to watch my team, I chose not to watch the second series because I couldn't stand the commentary. TBS will never know how many people they turned off to watching post-season baseball because of it.
I know Im beating a dead horse but Caray is pretty much the same person as Joe Buck. Awful announcers riding the coattails of their fathers. I know Harry was a little crazy in his latter years and loved his Budweiser but Jack was one of the greats. Both disgraces to baseball.
Humourous Harry Caray clip attempting to pronounce Dante Bichette. Gets me every time!
http://www.entertonement.com/clips/zchwkbxxhd--Harry-Caray-Announces-Dante-BichetteChicago-Cubs-Baseball-Harry-Caray-Chicago-Cubs'-Fans-
Aaron, who really cares what his bosses say?
In my opinion, I think listening to Joe Buck is slow torture. To any real baseball fan Joe Buck is the worst announcer around. Chip Caray is not that good but not a total turnoff like Joe Buck.
Is there any way we can get the Buckin' McCarver duo put out of our misery? They've got to be the worst.
Much ado about nothing.
Buck and MCCarver cause me to turn the sound off as well, thank heavens for radio.
Great picture of Harry Caray. "If you were a hotdog and you were starving to death would ya eat yerself? I know I would. I'd smother myself in relish and brown mustard. I'd be so delicious!" PHILLIES IN SEVEN!!! MARL MY WORDS!!!
Game 162 Twins-Tigers. "Line drive base hit!"
Translation: Fly ball caught in left field... runner thrown out at home trying to score - double play.
Y'all should subjected to Sterling and Waldman. It's occasionally funny when it takes them five minutes to unravel a play, but they make McCarver sound like Churchill, and FWIW, I turned off the sound rather than listen to McCarver.
I turned the sound off too.
Caray is even worse than Buck. And yes I am aware of the gravity of that accusation.