Amazin' Avenue Mets Announcer Tournament

by James Kannengieser on Mar 9, 2009 8:00 AM EDT

Inspired by college basketball's March Madness, we are holding a single elimination tournament in which Amazin' Avenue readers will determine the best TV announcer in Mets history. Sixteen of the top announcers made the cut, and over the next few weeks there will be a daily post with a chance to vote on that day's matchup. Check out the nifty bracket Eric created.

There are no set criteria for voting. Factors like length of tenure in the booth, impact, memorable quotes, and on-air personality are worth considering though. Not every Mets announcer is included, due to bracket layout constraints. Studio hosts and sideline reporters are not included. Each day's poll will end at midnight, Eastern Time. Good luck to all the participants and may the best announcer win. Here is the first matchup:

Bob Murphy VS. Ted Robinson

TV Tenure (1962-1981) TV Tenure (2002-2005)

Poll

Amazin' Avenue Mets Announcer Tournament First Round

Bob Murphy

203 votes

Ted Robinson

4 votes

207 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

That is a freaky-looking picture of Ted Robinson

by JoshNY on Mar 9, 2009 8:45 AM EDT reply actions

Isn't that just how Ted Robinson looks, tho?

Freaky?

'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Mar 9, 2009 10:01 AM EDT up reply actions

the pic looks like the Heaven's Gate dude

by hotspur on Mar 9, 2009 10:24 AM EDT up reply actions

I think he kinda looks like Daniel Craig

007.

by cjmulrain on Mar 9, 2009 5:15 PM EDT up reply actions

NCAA parallel

This matchup is like a 1 v. 16 opening round game, say, UNC v. Southwestern Mississippi State Teachers College and Ag Extension School.

by madisonmetsfan on Mar 9, 2009 9:07 AM EDT reply actions

beat me to it

Except I was going to say “UConn vs. Southwest Alabama Tech”. Heh.

Vote change: DePodesta/Acta in 2009!!!

by Greenpoint Ian on Mar 9, 2009 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions

It's no contest today.

Who’s the one guy who voted for Robinson?

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Mar 9, 2009 9:26 AM EDT reply actions

That's some determined member of the Robinson family, no doubt.

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Mar 9, 2009 10:02 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm surprised...

… that Ted Robinson even got 1 vote. No offense to Ted, but this is Bob Murphy to whom we are comparing Ted.

by djbutler73 on Mar 9, 2009 9:26 AM EDT reply actions

yeah

My father called Bob Murphy “the voice of summer”. He’s the #1 announcer in Mets history, IMHO.

2009 Mets: maybe its the Phillies turn to have a terrible bullpen?

by Greenpoint Ian on Mar 9, 2009 6:56 PM EDT up reply actions

hmm

Murph stopped broadcasting on TV 2 years before I was born, but I grew up listening to him on the radio, and can still hear his voice in my head – I’m gonna go ahead and say he was probably just as good on TV as he was on the radio.

Also, is it bad that I have no memory of Ted Robinson even though he was recent?

by cjmulrain on Mar 9, 2009 9:56 AM EDT reply actions

Ted has two votes now

by JoshNY on Mar 9, 2009 9:59 AM EDT reply actions

Mrs. Robinson reads AA

by Eric Simon on Mar 9, 2009 10:08 AM EDT up reply actions

Who's the number 2 seed?

Cohen or Healy or Darling? I’m unclear on how this is set up. Just please don’t say Healy.

Ted Robinson was really on for that long? Where did the time go?

by jasondg on Mar 9, 2009 10:17 AM EDT reply actions

I happened to love Ted Robinson

Because he’s a member of Team Ted, and because of a really awkward on-air fight I’m pretty sure I remember hearing him have with Fran Healy over Jose Reyes’ OBP back in the days when it was sub-.300, concluding with Robinson basically telling Healy that he was just plain wrong. That said, I still can’t vote against Bob Murphy.

by TedBerg on Mar 9, 2009 10:20 AM EDT reply actions

Ted's alright by me

I thought he did well with the Mets and I think he is very good when he covers tennis, but there’s just no way he gets a vote over Murph.

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Mar 9, 2009 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions

No offense to Ted,

but I don’t even remember him at all. This may as well be Murphy vs. the homeless guy I see at the 59th St 6 station.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Mar 9, 2009 9:34 PM EDT up reply actions

that homeless guy has a great homerun call

by cjmulrain on Mar 9, 2009 10:45 PM EDT up reply actions

can we do a consolation bracket

to see who the least favorite announcer is? or should we just give that to tim mccarver now and be done with it?

HELLO HELLO MR WILPON. WE WANT THE MANSION NOT THE CONDO.

by kendynamo on Mar 9, 2009 2:25 PM EDT reply actions

as crazy as this might sound

I actually liked McCarver as Mets announcer (I thought he and Zabriskie were great on channel 9 back when I was like 8 years old). McCarver only seems to have lost his mind and become Joe Morgan-lite since he joined the FOX booth.

2009 Mets: maybe its the Phillies turn to have a terrible bullpen?

by Greenpoint Ian on Mar 9, 2009 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions

By the way, how is Kiner not the #2 seed?

With all due respect to Gary and Keith and Ron (and well-liked past broadcasters like Seaver and Thorne and Howie and Lindsey Nelson), IMO this discussion should begin and end with Murph and Ralph.

(That would be a fairly short tournament, though.)

by JoshNY on Mar 9, 2009 2:27 PM EDT reply actions

I figured there'd be some quibbling over the seedings

It’s all pretty arbitrary. Let’s just say Murphy-Kiner-Nelson-Cohen are seeds 1 through 4, in no particular order. I think that’s fair.

by James Kannengieser on Mar 9, 2009 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions

Seaver

Is he a well-liked broadcaster? I love him, he’s the greatest Met ever, the Franchise, Tom Terrific, yada yada… but I couldn’t stand him in the booth, and every time he visits now, I get the sense he’s drunk on Nancy’s Fancy Whatever wine.

by jasondg on Mar 9, 2009 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Seaver vs. McCarver

Is the most intriguing 1st round matchup to me.

by James Kannengieser on Mar 9, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Absolutely

I might give Seaver bonus points for just going away after getting canned.

by jasondg on Mar 9, 2009 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I liked Seaver as a broadcaster

Maybe not quite as humorous or self-effacing as Ron (there’s less need to be self-effacing when you were a first-ballot Hall of Famer) but every bit as good a pitching analyst, I thought.

The opinions of others may vary, of course.

by JoshNY on Mar 9, 2009 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

The seeding is mostly arbitrary

Though we tried to rig it so the clearly popular broadcasters would survive the first round. The seedings are not true rankings in any meaningful way. Anything that may seem otherwise was just happenstance.

by Eric Simon on Mar 9, 2009 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions