Best and (2nd) worst local announcer

I was thinking about this today listening to the Tiger's game for a few min in the car.

Obviously Tieman is the worst of the worst. There's no question.

But Jim Price (i.e. marble mouth) is fucking awful. He has zero redeeming qualities. His catch phrases (yellow hammer, buggy whip, nice area, etc etc) are awful. He literally commentates with food in his mouth (I think I heard he uses lozenges because of throat cancer - not sure if true, but if so....maybe find someone who doesn't have to announce games with lozenges in their mouth). All he does is wax nostalgic about Al Kaline. He's terrible. I have no idea why they keep him around.

In terms of best, while George is a legend and still pretty good at calling Pistons games, I'm gonna give the nod to DD. He's really good. Doesn't have the charm of Ernie for sure, or the folksy sayings and anecdotes, but he's really, really thorough and descriptive.

If rod and Mario fell off the planet in some freak issue of gravity related to fraking I'd be okay with it. Especially Mario. Rod is fine sorta I guess. But Mario needs a one way ticket to whatever city plays baseball that isn't here.

Bob Rathbun

Holy Cats. I can't believe you don't like Mario.

Mario is a bit cheesy but I think he's a decent PbP guy. And obviously he's a Spartan. I like Rod, too. I actually like Gibby more, which a lot of people don't agree with. Gibby does get shaky at times with his voice but I appreciate that he tries to teach you something about the game and I like his back and forth with his PbP guy. He was good to great back in the late 90s with Josh Lewin, as well.

I like all of the Ligers announcers except Price. I don't hate him though. But i'd rank them:

DD - elite announcer
Mario - Spartan Dawg and a good guy. I've talked to him a few times and he keeps up with MSU sports. Not unique, but a great voice for having the Tigs on as background noise in the summer.
Rod - love Rod. Absolute clown, but he's our clown.
Gibby - super knowledgeable, but he's just so boring
....
Price - ouch

I guess i'd put Blaha between DD and Mario.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:If rod and Mario fell off the planet in some freak issue of gravity related to fraking I'd be okay with it. Especially Mario. Rod is fine sorta I guess. But Mario needs a one way ticket to whatever city plays baseball that isn't here.

Fuck you, Travis. Hope your birthday was a disaster.

I would add that while I don't watch/listen to a ton of Wings games, I think Ken Kal is very good and I think Ken Daniels is very, very good.

The Pantry wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:If rod and Mario fell off the planet in some freak issue of gravity related to fraking I'd be okay with it. Especially Mario. Rod is fine sorta I guess. But Mario needs a one way ticket to whatever city plays baseball that isn't here.

Fuck you, Travis. Hope your birthday was a disaster.

Who the hell calls them "Rod and Mario"?

It's Mario and Rod. Idiot

The Pantry wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:If rod and Mario fell off the planet in some freak issue of gravity related to fraking I'd be okay with it. Especially Mario. Rod is fine sorta I guess. But Mario needs a one way ticket to whatever city plays baseball that isn't here.

Fuck you, Travis.  Hope your birthday was a disaster.

Mario is worthless. Wbh hit on it. holy cats. Wtf. He just isn't anything special whatsoever. Replace him with blanch and you'll be like "oh did they even change guys I didn't notice." 

It's fine. He's had a 15 year run. Time to move on.

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:

The Pantry wrote:
Fuck you, Travis.  Hope your birthday was a disaster.

Mario is worthless. Wbh hit on it. holy cats. Wtf. He just isn't anything special whatsoever. Replace him with blanch and you'll be like "oh did they even change guys I didn't notice." 

It's fine. He's had a 15 year run. Time to move on.

Fuck you, again. Best TV play-by-play since George Kell.

The Pantry wrote:

Travis of the Cosmos wrote:
Mario is worthless. Wbh hit on it. holy cats. Wtf. He just isn't anything special whatsoever. Replace him with blanch and you'll be like "oh did they even change guys I didn't notice." 

It's fine. He's had a 15 year run. Time to move on.

Fuck you, again.  Best TV play-by-play since George Kell.

You mean George Kell who stopped in 1996 and Mario impemba who started in 2002? What a leap. Really. Quite impressive.

Yeah and frankly while I don't mind Mario, Josh Lewin was better and got hired away for a better gig closer to his home town. Lewin is like big time now, doing Chargers games and stuff. Mario is "ours", though and I kind of dig that. Sterling Heights kid, went to MSU, covering his hometown team. He will be the TV voice for a long time. And I'm cool with that.

I really enjoyed the 3 man booth on FSD with Gibby and Rod. That was good. They were teammates, so have some shared history, and most importantly they didn't step all over each other trying to get their .02 in. They would ask each other relevant questions, and answer them at appropriate times.

I've also noticed that Mario and Rod's chemistry has improved A LOT over the past few years. I think 3-4 years ago it was pretty obvious that these two dudes did not care for each other and just showed up at the park and acted professionally. They seem to have a better rapport now.

I don't mind Mario. He's a polished pro and easy to listen to and follow along with, and he's a Spartan in a city that gives too many jobs to scummers. My only real beef with the guy is that he's cookie cutter perfect. There's nothing more boring than perfect.

I picture it something like this.

Mario is as you describe. Rod works with him for a few years. These dudes can work together but clearly have nothing in common.

FSD Execs: Listen, Rod....we like you, but you have no chemistry with Mario. We're gonna bring in Jack and Gibby to see if there's some more chemistry there. Don't worry, you'll still be involved in a studio capacity or something.

Rod: But Mario....he's a good dude...but he's a fucking dork.

FSD Execs: We know. But we gotta do this.

Rod: Fine

Gibby: Fuck this nerd, I'm gonna take him to the titter and loosen him up a bit, bully him on air, fuck with him, make fun of him.

Mario: Woah, hey....that's a bit uncomfortable, Gibby! I've never even heard of Bud Light! Let alone drank any!

Gibby: Shut up, Mario. Drink another.

Rod: Hey, what happened to Mario? This dude is a lot cooler than the guy I worked with last year....

Gibby: Shut up, Rod. You were a role player, don't go all Jim Price/1968 on me.

Rod: I will hunt you down, like I did that pitcher in Tokyo....

Gibby: Fair nuff, let's just make fun of Mario together

Rod: Deal.

2017: Broadcasting chemistry at its FSD finest

Gibby has sounded a bit shaky in Comerica telecasts so far this season.