For all of the woe – all of the soul-spindling, 72-straight-fastballs-to-Scott-Spiezio, why-couldn’t-McCovey-have-hit-it-two-feet-higher, why-does-Mother-Nature-favor-Dave-Stewart-making-two-starts, Richard-Nixon-at-the-opening-of-Candlestick woe – that Giants fans have suffered over the years, we’ve had a pretty sweet ride in a lot of respects. Barry Bonds was, how do you say, good, and he was fun to watch. The new ballpark is the most magnificent structure in the universe, no hyperbole. The organization lactates Hall-of-Famers ( 23 and counting), and it has a proud history. There are some perks to being a Giants fan. It isn’t all woe.
There’s the Giants’ announcing crew, for instance. It isn’t as if I listen to the radio and TV broadcasts of all 30 teams, so I can’t write with any certainty that they’re the best in baseball, but I can write this: I am absolutely certain that they’re the best announcing team in baseball. They were ranked #2 a few years back by USA Today behind Vin Scully, which I can understand. Jon Miller certainly wouldn’t argue. But it’s hard to argue that one broadcasting legend can make the entire team the best. Scully might be the only non-evil aspect of the Dodger organization, but he’s supported by Charley Steiner (meh) and Rick Monday (blargh). Some of the Dodger television broadcasts feature Steve "Psycho" Lyons (harfffffurrrreccch) as the color commentator. Yeah.
Miller is an obvious pro, but Duane Kuiper doesn’t get enough credit for his play-by-play. Other former players might have found success as color goofs, but I think of an ex-player in any sport who does play-by-play as well as Kuiper. It’s actually pretty demeaning to lump him in with the ex-player set, as he’s good enough to compare with anyone.
But do you realize how rare it is for people to enjoy listening to their broadcast team? And, as a corollary to that hypothetical question, do you realize how rare it is for the broadcast team to sound like they’re enjoying what they’re doing? The chemistry between Miller, Kuiper, Mike Krukow, and Dave Flemming is legendary – it’s the ’27 Yankees of broadcasting chemistry. They’re all interesting and talented, and they play off each other so danged well. The post-game wraps on KNBR are entertaining if the Giants win or lose. Hell, everything they do is entertaining.
And Giants fans have been lucky for a while. Lon Simmons was a legend, and Hank Greenwald was also fantastic. Say, that gives me an excuse to post this:
Aww. Look at that little scamp. So young…so innocent…so blind. No, really, my 20/50,000 vision wasn’t corrected at the time of this photo, so I was probably really blind. That would explain the distant, confused gaze.
Open Effusive Praise for Our Beloved Broadcasters Thread. We’re lucky. Let’s brag about it.