Carays losing clout in Atlanta

[SouthSideRyan]

I found Stone to be tedious and annoying in a Tim McCarver sort of way. It's odd but the more I learn about baseball the more I enjoy guys like Santo or Chip announcing a game. Maybe I like to listen to guys who I'd actually like to have a beer with.

 

You're going to lose your Cards fan card.

[XZero771679666304]

I always thought that Chip suffered from "rebound guy" syndrome during his time with the Cubs. It didn't matter what he did in the booth, some Cub fans were going to dislike him simply because he wasn't Harry. Vin Scully he wasn't, but I never thought he was that bad.

 

All I will say about Stone is that I don't miss him nearly as much as I thought I would. (Meaning not at all. I think that Len is just as good an analyst as Stone ;))

 

I'm going to be honest and say that as much as I liked Harry's enthusiasm, he was brutal to listen to the last few seasons. It may not be a popular opinion, but I was quietly wishing he would quit for a few years before he passed.

 

I thought Chip called a much better game than Harry did at the end, and I didn't like Chip. But like Santo, Harry's iconic status overshadowed the fact that he was painful to listen to.

[Derwood]

I've met both Stone and Mercker. Stone was smug and arrogant. Mercker was very friendly.

 

Advantage: Mercker.

 

I'm glad Stone is gone.

 

Merkcer was the nicest and least arrogant baseball player I ever met.

 

that's fine. but the way he handled his spat with stone was lame and unprofessional

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I've met both Stone and Mercker. Stone was smug and arrogant. Mercker was very friendly.

 

Advantage: Mercker.

 

I'm glad Stone is gone.

 

Merkcer was the nicest and least arrogant baseball player I ever met.

 

that's fine. but the way he handled his spat with stone was lame and unprofessional

 

It seems Stone was even more unprofessional. It seems the great "high and mighty" Stone just couldn't handle someone not bowing to him.

[XZero771679666304]

I've met both Stone and Mercker. Stone was smug and arrogant. Mercker was very friendly.

 

Advantage: Mercker.

 

I'm glad Stone is gone.

 

Merkcer was the nicest and least arrogant baseball player I ever met.

 

that's fine. but the way he handled his spat with stone was lame and unprofessional

 

It seems Stone was even more unprofessional. It seems the great "high and mighty" Stone just couldn't handle someone not bowing to him.

 

It was ugly on both ends.

[RynoRules]

I've met both Stone and Mercker. Stone was smug and arrogant. Mercker was very friendly.

 

Advantage: Mercker.

 

I'm glad Stone is gone.

 

Merkcer was the nicest and least arrogant baseball player I ever met.

 

that's fine. but the way he handled his spat with stone was lame and unprofessional

 

It seems Stone was even more unprofessional. It seems the great "high and mighty" Stone just couldn't handle someone not bowing to him.

 

It was ugly on both ends.

 

Agreed.

 

I like Len very much; am warming to Bob; miss Stoney.

[B]

I agree that Chip was brutal. My friend ,who is a Braves fan, used to make fun of me b/c Chip was the Cubs announcer. I loved getting to tell him that Chip was going to the Braves. I also agree with those that say Stone was overrated. I would take Len and Bob over Chip/Stone any day.

[oldcubsfan]

I've met both Stone and Mercker. Stone was smug and arrogant. Mercker was very friendly.

 

Advantage: Mercker.

 

I'm glad Stone is gone.

 

Merkcer was the nicest and least arrogant baseball player I ever met.

 

that's fine. but the way he handled his spat with stone was lame and unprofessional

 

It seems Stone was even more unprofessional. It seems the great "high and mighty" Stone just couldn't handle someone not bowing to him.

 

I really agree with you. Stone is one of the most overrated broadcasters ever.

I miss Alou far more than I'll ever miss Stone.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I've met both Stone and Mercker. Stone was smug and arrogant. Mercker was very friendly.

 

Advantage: Mercker.

 

I'm glad Stone is gone.

 

Merkcer was the nicest and least arrogant baseball player I ever met.

 

that's fine. but the way he handled his spat with stone was lame and unprofessional

 

It seems Stone was even more unprofessional. It seems the great "high and mighty" Stone just couldn't handle someone not bowing to him.

 

I really agree with you. Stone is one of the most overrated broadcasters ever.

I miss Alou far more than I'll ever miss Stone.

 

Alou 2005: 321/400/518

Alou 2006: 360/405/667

 

That would have looked nice in our outifeld last year and this one too!

[NorthsideAvenger]

First: I like Len and Bob (Dave O'Brien would have been great also), but THEY WILL never replace the Carays/Stone. No matter what. With that said...the WGN could NOT have done a better job at replacing Caray/Stone for Kasper/Brenly. Len and Bob actually had made me forget about all of the GAWD-AWFUL announcers the wgn USED TO RUN OUT THERE, guys like Josh Lewin, Joe Carter (wonderful man, just bad to listen to a game to), Thom (the current D'backs broadcaster, I believe) something, I can't think of his last name.

 

Second: It is the job of a broadcaster, to call it as he sees it, and not be a butt-kisser. And when Stone call out Merker, and Alou, and to a certain degree Wood, I absolutely will side with Stone. Those players DESERVED to be call out.

 

Third: People call Stone arrogant/smug/self-absorbed, I just don't get it. I've met Stone a few times (about 4 to be exactly) and he came across as being INTELLIGENT, KNOWLEDGEABLE, APPROACHABLE, and flat out NICE. I JUST don't get how people call Stone arrogant, because to me...he isn't.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Alou 2005: 321/400/518

Alou 2006: 360/405/667

 

That would have looked nice in our outifeld last year and this one too!

 

Well, maybe if put up those numbers in 2002 and 2003 he'd still be in our outfield.

 

I really don't see why Stoney catches so much heat for calling them out. More people should have. They deserved to be told they sucked. I've seen many 90+ loss Cubs teams over the years, but 2004's squad was the most frustrating I've ever seen because of the ways they found to lose. They should have run away with the division that year and made a serious run at a WS title.

[ToupeeOnFire]

Stone's predictions were the most annoying thing about him. People always seem to remember the times he was right (his percentage was better than most other analysts' would be I suspect), but forget the countless times he was wrong. But just the fact that he was always making all of these predictions really became grating. And it just seemed to get more and more frequent in his later years, most noticably after he came back and replaced the excruciating Joe Carter. It was as if he started reading (and believing) his own press clippings on how brilliant he was and felt obligated to prove it over and over again.

 

That said, I still miss him and prefer him over Brenly. Nothing against Bob*, who generally seems amiable enough and has a good sense of humor, but I think Len and Steve would have made a fantastic team. I find Len far superior to Chip, who I never really cared for. Sure Chip had excitement, but he would get carried away, creaming his pants over a moderately deep fly ball. And the number of dumb things he'd say during a game made you want to hurl the remote.

 

Steve may be a bit full of himself, but he's still a top flight analyst and I think a Len/Steve combination would have been dynamite. As is, I'm fine with announce team as currently constituted.

 

* The idiots in the Chicago media and elsewhere who repeatedly bashed Bob even before he stepped into the broadcast booth just because he wasn't Steve Stone made me sick.

I'm still shocked WGN didn't just simulcast Pat and Ron as a cost-cutting measure. Bob Brenly has improved a lot, but he's not a Cubs announcer to me; he could just be anywhere. Also, the next play that isn't a great time to bunt or a great time to try the hit-and-run will be the first. Why can't he ever say "now's a great time to knock one on Waveland"?

[ToupeeOnFire]

Second: It is the job of a broadcaster, to call it as he sees it, and not be a butt-kisser. And when Stone call out Merker, and Alou, and to a certain degree Wood, I absolutely will side with Stone. Those players DESERVED to be call out.

It's the job of the broadcaster to call a spade a spade. It his not his job to be calling people out. I don't really take a side on the Stone/Mercker/Alou fiasco (I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle), but somehow people have become convinced that Stone quit over an issue of "speaking truth to power" when that wasn't it at all. There's a sort of revisionist history going on here. Somehow the Stone of yore has been reinvented into some kind of loose cannon who was always "telling it like it is", calling out Cub players, management and ownership, telling uncomfortable truths and generally being a thorn in the side of the Tribune Company. People confuse the new opinionated - and somewhat caustic - Steve Stone, with the old color analyst who did games with Harry and Chip. Steve never really called out anyone, instead he made snarky comments in his own kind of passive-aggresive manner. Justified or not, it came off as unprofessional.

[Tim Burr]

It's the job of the broadcaster to call a spade a spade. It his not his job to be calling people out. I don't really take a side on the Stone/Mercker/Alou fiasco (I suspect the truth lies somewhere in the middle), but somehow people have become convinced that Stone quit over an issue of "speaking truth to power" when that wasn't it at all. There's a sort of revisionist history going on here. Somehow the Stone of yore has been reinvented into some kind of loose cannon who was always "telling it like it is", calling out Cub players, management and ownership, telling uncomfortable truths and generally being a thorn in the side of the Tribune Company. People confuse the new opinionated - and somewhat caustic - Steve Stone, with the old color analyst who did games with Harry and Chip. Steve never really called out anyone, instead he made snarky comments in his own kind of passive-aggresive manner. Justified or not, it came off as unprofessional.

 

I agree with your astute observation about Stone. I thought Chip and Steve did a pretty good job together until they got into that issue. Chip might have been more accurate with his "there's a long drive" call that doesn't go out if they had announced from the bleachers!

[tinkers1]

I live in Atlanta and I can tell you that Skip is aweful, and has actually gotten worse since he sobered up a few years ago, he was a notorious bad drunk for many years.

[rocket]

Stone didn't call out Mercker because Mercker sucked. He got made at Mercker because Stone was saying that Roy Oswalt was currently having a good game, when he in fact wasn't. Mercker heard it in the clubhouse and called him out on that, and Stone didn't like that.

[goonys evil twin]

Stone didn't call out Mercker because Mercker sucked. He got made at Mercker because Stone was saying that Roy Oswalt was currently having a good game, when he in fact wasn't. Mercker heard it in the clubhouse and called him out on that, and Stone didn't like that.

 

I heard them talk about how great Roy was and had many of the same thoughts Mercker must have had. But Kent is still a pathetic loser for calling up and complaining about it like he did.

[Fro]

I think Kasper/Brently > Chip/Stone at this point, as far as being entertaining to listen to.

 

And when you're hired by the Cubs to announce, your job is to put over teh Cubs product, not call an objective game. That's for the guys on ESPN and Fox.

[oldcubsfan]

Either Stone or Chip are the ones who made it public, which was really stupid. Tearing down the company product is not usually a good way to get a raise or a new contract, no matter what company you work for.

These two weren't smart enough to realize that they weren't the product, they were just someone paid to talk and no one pays to watch them. Ratings and attendance show that they were very mistaken to think they were the main attraction.

[Mark Priors Calves]

Either Stone or Chip are the ones who made it public, which was really stupid. Tearing down the company product is not usually a good way to get a raise or a new contract, no matter what company you work for.

These two weren't smart enough to realize that they weren't the product, they were just someone paid to talk and no one pays to watch them. Ratings and attendance show that they were very mistaken to think they were the main attraction.

I thought Sullivan wrote an article about it in the Trib to get everything escalating.

[oldcubsfan]

Either Stone or Chip are the ones who made it public, which was really stupid. Tearing down the company product is not usually a good way to get a raise or a new contract, no matter what company you work for.

These two weren't smart enough to realize that they weren't the product, they were just someone paid to talk and no one pays to watch them. Ratings and attendance show that they were very mistaken to think they were the main attraction.

I thought Sullivan wrote an article about it in the Trib to get everything escalating.

He did and where do you think he got the info from?

[bhogg]

Len and Bob = solid, solid broadcasters.

 

 

Think about some of the other broadcasters, namely the ones in Pittsburgh.

 

 

Wow. . .. .here's a stirring rendition:

 

 

Pitt Guys: The pitch to ________.

 

(ball is hit hard. . . flies toward the OF. . . getting closer to the fence)

 

Pitt Guys: ummmm

 

(ball clears the wall)

 

Pitt Guys: There's a home run

 

(guy rounds bases)

 

(crickets chirping)

 

(fan (yeah, the lone fan) gets excited)

 

 

Pitt Guys: It's pretty in Pittsburgh.

[Caryatid]

chip is horrible and i detest him

 

His getting replaced by Rathburn ought to put all the Chip backers into shame-induced hibernation. Rathburn is total garbage, and Torborg makes Joe Carter look good by comparison.

 

 

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's not say things we can't take back...

[Mark Priors Calves]

Either Stone or Chip are the ones who made it public, which was really stupid. Tearing down the company product is not usually a good way to get a raise or a new contract, no matter what company you work for.

These two weren't smart enough to realize that they weren't the product, they were just someone paid to talk and no one pays to watch them. Ratings and attendance show that they were very mistaken to think they were the main attraction.

I thought Sullivan wrote an article about it in the Trib to get everything escalating.

He did and where do you think he got the info from?

maybe asking the players?