At least we have these guys:

Being in the DC market with access to SNY, I can truly appreciate these three since my other option for a ballgame is Bob and Rob. When I read their conversations in writing, it seems funnier than when I recall listening to it, but maybe that is just because I can imagine tone and facial expression better.
Anyway, I cherry-picked this from Cerrone. I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

over 2 years ago TBlz 4 comments 1 recs |

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That was a great article

It got to the main reason why they’re so good together: Familiarity. It’s the same “Old Buddies Sitting Around Talking Sports” aesthetic that every booth has attempted to manufacture since PTI hit the scene almost a decade ago. In most cases, those attempts fail (Kornheiser on MNF is a good example) but it works in this case because these guys genuinely enjoy conversing with each other.

by Zwill on Jul 20, 2009 8:27 PM EDT reply actions

Nice piece, but what they like is exactly the last thing I want from baseball broadcasters.

That article was written by someone who apparently prefers baseball when it’s simulcast with a Keith & Friends daytime talk show. Not to say that I don’t agree — the Cohen-Hernandez-Darling team is very, very good at pleasant chit-chat. But I don’t want pleasant chit-chat, I want baseball! Gary Cohen is perhaps the most talented play-by-play man in baseball, and his gift for pitch-by-pitch announcing and analysis is completely wasted on a television crew where it’s just fine, even desired, for the conversation to drift away from the field of play for a half-inning at a time.

by anonymous on Jul 20, 2009 9:07 PM EDT reply actions

e.g.:

Interestingly, Mr. Cohen does a number of things wrong when he calls games on TV. When you’re on the radio, you announce that the catcher is set up on the inside corner and the pitch is a back-door slider and the hitter is jammed and the ball goes down the third-base line and David Wright back-hands the ball and makes an off-balance throw that Daniel Murphy scoops on one hop to beat the runner by a step. On television, where the producers and the cameramen do the hard part for you, you probably should say nothing other than: "Grounder. Back-hand. Out."

Mr. Cohen often forgets this.

"I still think in radio," said Mr. Cohen. "I have to translate in TV, which means talking less and playing with others."

NO NO NO! You should most certainly not just say “Grounder. Backhand. Out.”! When Gary Cohen calls games, with his decades of experience announcing and analyzing baseball as it happens, he notices things — things that most viewers don’t or can’t see ourselves even when they’re on the screen. The idea that Gary ought to say less of what he notices is criminally stupid.

by anonymous on Jul 20, 2009 9:11 PM EDT up reply actions