Len and Bob Among Baseball's Best Announers

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Check this out from Peter Gammon's article.

 

Thanks to DirecTV, the MLB package and all the games on ESPN.com, we all get to hear local announcers throughout the game, a treat when they are analytical and balanced. A small poll I did came up with the Giants (Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow), Yankees (Jim Kaat, Michael Kay, Ken Singleton, Paul O'Neill) and Cubs (Len Kasper, Bob Brenly) as the best announcers, although New Englanders worship Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo.

 

Congrats Len and Bob!

[boilerXmen4116]

i still miss stony.

[rocket]

This part fascinated me.

 

Hitting with the most men on base this season

248 Rodriguez, Alex, NYY

238 Matsui, Hideki, NYY

237 Lee, Carlos, Mil.

232 Burrell, Pat, Phi.

225 Renteria, Edgar, Bos.

222 Pujols, Albert, St. L

221 Jones, Andruw, Atl.

220 Glaus, Troy, Ari.

218 Burnitz, Jeromy, ChC

217 Abreu, Bobby, Phi.

217 Ortiz, David, Bos.

 

Hitting with the most men in scoring position this season

131 Rodriguez, Alex, NYY

128 Lee, Carlos, Mil.

121 Matsui, Hideki, NYY

119 Jones, Andruw, Atl.

119 Renteria, Edgar, Bos.

118 Burrell, Pat, Phi.

116 Burnitz, Jeromy, ChC

114 Gonzalez, Luis, Ari.

114 Tejada, Miguel, Bal.

110 Bell, David, Phi.

 

So Derrek Lee is near the top of RBI despite not being in the top 10 of either of those categories?

 

Wow, just imagine how many RBI Lee would have if Dusty had the common sense to put some OBP guys ahead of him.

[CubinNY]

Kaat, Kay, Singleton, and O'neil good?

[dalgreen]

Check this out from Peter Gammon's article.

 

Thanks to DirecTV, the MLB package and all the games on ESPN.com, we all get to hear local announcers throughout the game, a treat when they are analytical and balanced. A small poll I did came up with the Giants (Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow), Yankees (Jim Kaat, Michael Kay, Ken Singleton, Paul O'Neill) and Cubs (Len Kasper, Bob Brenly) as the best announcers, although New Englanders worship Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo.

 

Congrats Len and Bob!

 

I think Len and Bob do an outstanding job. Red Sox games were better when Sean McDonough was doing them. Kuiper and Krukow are very solid.

[ZZ Thorn]

A clear case of big city bias can be made here.

 

Stone was the man, Len isn't an improvement over Chip IMO. The only good thing about Chip leaving was that the Chip Complainers finally shut up.

[rocket]

A clear case of big city bias can be made here.

 

Stone was the man, Len isn't an improvement over Chip IMO. The only good thing about Chip leaving was that the Chip Complainers finally shut up.

 

Not really. It's pretty logical that the best announcers in the business are probably going to work for the largest markets.

 

And I apologize if you can't see an improvement from Len to Chip.

[BleedCubbieBlue81]

A clear case of big city bias can be made here.

 

Stone was the man, Len isn't an improvement over Chip IMO. The only good thing about Chip leaving was that the Chip Complainers finally shut up.

 

Exactly.

 

Len = Chip

Stoney > Brenley

 

Therefore, by simple math, last year's tandem was better than this years. Just seems to me that Len and Bob have no chemistry on the air. It's almost like they never talk outside of the booth.

[BleedCubbieBlue81]

Alright, maybe Len isn't equal to Chip. Chip was too big of a homer. But Stoney blows Brenley away.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Len > Chip

 

Stone >>> Brenly

 

However, the fact that Len is more important to the team(i.e. he talks more) helps.

[Crash]

Len is significantly better than Chip. Len actually brings up stats that matter and doesn't sound like a cartoon.

 

As for Brenly, he does a solid job. Frankly I don't miss Stone that much. He was good but really became almost unlistenable near the end of last year when he let personal feelings interfer with his work.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Len is much, much better than Chip. Stone was better than Brenly, but he's growing on me.

 

The knowledge of the game alone that Len brings makes him head and shoulders better than Chip.

[Crash]

Len is much, much better than Chip. Stone was better than Brenly, but he's growing on me.

 

The knowledge of the game alone that Len brings makes him head and shoulders better than Chip.

 

I very much agree. Len has shown a suprising about of game knowledge. It is pretty clear he does a lot of homework and preperation for the games. Not to mention the sometimes random and fun pop cultural references that Len comes up with.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Would anyone else support Len in a solo booth? I think it might be better than him and Brenly if he could pull it off.

[Chris]

I enjoy listening to Len and Bob, although I wish they could recognize when a ball is leaving the park. In any case, Ron Potesta is still the man.

[cjbucks]

Man I don't know about Len but I have MLB EI and I just love to listen to Vin Scully do Dodger games solo. The only question I have is when does he go to the bathroom?

[AI]

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I think Brenly kinda sucks. The guy was an awful manager and just doesn't bring anything special to the booth. Len constantly sets him up to provide an insiders angle and Brenly frequently flubs it.

 

While I agree that Stoney was getting more than a little bitter and spiteful at the end, I still much prefer him to Brenly. I think a Len-Stone team would have been awesome.

[JC]

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I think Brenly kinda sucks. The guy was an awful manager and just doesn't bring anything special to the booth. Len constantly sets him up to provide an insiders angle and Brenly frequently flubs it.

 

While I agree that Stoney was getting more than a little bitter and spiteful at the end, I still much prefer him to Brenly. I think a Len-Stone team would have been awesome.

 

Brenly has gotten progressively worse, IMO. I have really struggled to see what all the hype was about. He certainly is comfortable on the air, but the analysis is severely lacking.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Maybe I am in the minority here, but I think Brenly kinda sucks. The guy was an awful manager and just doesn't bring anything special to the booth. Len constantly sets him up to provide an insiders angle and Brenly frequently flubs it.

 

While I agree that Stoney was getting more than a little bitter and spiteful at the end, I still much prefer him to Brenly. I think a Len-Stone team would have been awesome.

 

Brenly has gotten progressively worse, IMO. I have really struggled to see what all the hype was about. He certainly is comfortable on the air, but the analysis is severely lacking.

 

Agreed. Thankfully I'm able to tune him out most of the time.

[Chris]

The guy was an awful manager and just doesn't bring anything special to the booth.

 

An awful Manager with a championship.

[ZZ Thorn]

A clear case of big city bias can be made here.

 

Stone was the man, Len isn't an improvement over Chip IMO. The only good thing about Chip leaving was that the Chip Complainers finally shut up.

 

Not really. It's pretty logical that the best announcers in the business are probably going to work for the largest markets.

 

That is likely a partial answer, as is the big city bias.

 

And I apologize if you can't see an improvement from Len to Chip.

 

Thanks, it's not easy to be a fan and have your broadcast team downgraded, but I appreciate your sympathy. Whatreyagonnado? Upwards and onwards eh?

[dalgreen]

Len > Chip

 

Stone >>> Brenly

 

However, the fact that Len is more important to the team(i.e. he talks more) helps.

 

Is Brenly being that lesser of a color analyst really that much? Honestly, who is comparable to Stone as a color analyst? To me, Stone raised the bar and Brenly nor anyone else will come close. I think Brenly does a fine job. I do think he was better his first go around with the Cubs, though.

[Hector Villanuevas Pants]

I think Len is a huge improvement over Chip. He definitely knows baseball better, and he has a much more laid back approach to calling a game. Len just needs to work on his home run call which is getting better, but still has a ways to go.

 

Brenly is OK, but overall has been a disappointment. During this weekend's series with the Sox, he did manage to call out Patterson for not having his head in the game and mildly questioned Baker's use of Jerome Williams. I much prefered Stone, but hopefully Brenly will continue to grow into the job.

 

That said, I think a booth of Len and Stone would have been pretty good.

[AI]

The guy was an awful manager and just doesn't bring anything special to the booth.

 

An awful Manager with a championship.

 

Agreed, DJAXX, but did Brenly really do anything the propelled them to a championship, or did he ride two horses to a title?

 

I know one thing, I will never forget the look on Brenly's face when BK blew the second consecutive game. Classic.

[brinoch]

I like Len a lot. He's excellent. I may be in the minority here, but I think Sandberg held some promise in the booth. He goes on a little long, but has potential.