Scully Is My #1 Announcer: Who's Yours?
My new book, "Voices of Summer: Ranking Baseball's 101 All-Time Best Announcers," was recently published by Carroll & Graf. Last week I announced the ten criteria used in evaluating and rating them: longevity, continuity, network coverage, kudos, language, popularity, persona, voice, knowledge, and miscellany.
CBS TV's Dizzy Dean sired idiom. Boston's Ned Martin fused irony and melody. Vin Scully changes tunes within a batter. One pitch recalls a Dodgers stopper: the next, hit to shortstop, the Ancient Mariner -- he stoppeth one in three.
Whatever the play or game, the Braves' Ernie Johnson plucked a story from the shelf. "Two little ladies entered the park about the fifth inning and sat down behind a priest," he said. "What's the score, Father?' they said.
"The priest said, 'Nothing-nothing.'
"One lady told the other, 'Oh, good, we haven't missed anything.'"
In the eighth inning, a pinch-hitter batted for the local team, said Johnson. "He makes the sign of the cross before stepping into the box. The little old lady leaned over and said, 'Father, Father, will that help?' The priest turned and said, 'Not if he can't hit.'" Baseball's 101 all-time best announcers can.
The Rankings
Each criterion is rated on a 1-10 point scale. A perfect score: 10 times 10 --100 points. Each of my 101 announcers can be beach bud, summer music, nighttime light, and pillow pal. "They don't just broadcast baseball," said Jayson Stark. "They are baseball" -- trying to "make music," said bass player Billy Gomez, "that balances passion and intellect." The scorecard:
1) Vin Scully (100 points). 2. Mel Allen (99). 3. Ernie Harwell (97). 4. Jack Buck (96). 5. Red Barber (95). 6. Harry Caray (94). 7. Bob Prince (94). 8. Jack Brickhouse (93). 9. Dizzy Dean (92). 10. Lindsey Nelson (92). 11. Curt Gowdy (91). 12. Bob Uecker (91). 13. Chuck Thompson (91). 14. Jon Miller (91). 15. Joe Garagiola (90). 16. Bob Elson (90). 17. Tim McCarver (90). 18. Bob Costas (90). 19. Jerry Coleman (89). 20. Bob Murphy (89). 21. Ned Martin (89). 22. Al Michaels (89). 23. Bob Wolff (89). 24. Milo Hamilton (87). 25. Harry Kalas (87).
26. Dave Niehaus (87). 27. Phil Rizzuto (87). 28. Jaime Jarrin (87). 29. Lon Simmons (86). 30. Byrum Saam (86). 31. Marty Brennaman (86). 32. Merle Harmon (85). 33. Graham McNamee (85). 34. Herb Carneal (84). 35. Ken Coleman (84). 36. Tony Kubek (84). 37. Gene Elston (84). 38. **** Enberg (84). 39. Joe Buck (84). 40. Jim Woods (83). 41. Jimmy Dudley (83). 42. Ralph Kiner (83). 43. Ernie Johnson (83). 44. Dave Van Horne (82). 45. Skip Caray (45). 46. Tom Cheek (82). 47. Denny Matthews (81). 48. Bud Blattner (81). 49. Vince Lloyd (81). 50. Ken Harrelson (81).
51. Russ Hodges (81). 52. Sean McDonough (81). 53. Richie Ashburn (80). 54. Monte Moore (80). 55. George Kell (80). 56. Bill O'Donnell (80). 57. Gary Cohen (79). 58. John Sterling (79). 59. Pete Van Wieren (79). 60. Joe Morgan (79). 61. Ross Porter (79). 62. Waite Hoyt (78). 63. Don Drysdale (78). 64. Dave Campbell (78). 65. Jim Kaat (78). 66. John Rooney (78). 67. DeWayne Staats (77). 68. Hal Totten (77). 69. Al Helfer (77). 70. Gary Thorne (77). 71. Lanny Frattare (76). 72. Bill King (76). 73. Hank Greenwald (76). 74. Joe Castiglione (76). 75. Pat Hughes (76).
76. Ray Scott (75). 77. Bob Starr (75). 78. Jim Britt (75). 79. Joe Angel (75). 80. Bill White (74). 81. Earl Gillespie (74). 82. Mark Holtz (74). 83. Gordon McLendon (74). 84. Tom Manning (73). 85. Arch McDonald (73). 86. Pee We Reese (73). 87. Jack Graney (72). 88. Jerry Dogett (71). 89. Gene Kelly (71). 90. Connie Desmond (70). 91. Rosey Rowswell (70). 92. Van Patrick (69). 93. Bert Wilson (69). 94. France Laux (68). 95. Joe Nuxhall (67). 96. Mel Proctor (67). 97. Ty Tyson (65). 98. Pat Flanagan (65). 99. Fred Hoey (61). 100. Johnny O'Hara (61). 101. Harold Arlin (60).
Who's Your Number 1?
In "September Song," "the days dwindle down to a precious few." Baseball's radio/TV artisans dwindle down each year. "When I started, we didn't have role models," said Ernie Harwell. "Now guys are trained at radio school and college," sounding dull, programmed, and alike. "Bad game, you need to leave the game," boomed Jim Woods. Alas, as Red Barber said, "Radio and television have forgotten the most beautiful thing I know except for human love, and that's the English language."
The top 16 "Voices of Summer" began on radio. On TV, they merely eased the tempo: 78 turned 45 RPM. Many now start on video, deem radio shabby-genteel, and use "TV's sparse approach on radio, which doesn't work," Bob Wolff observed. Worse, some prefer other sports, thinking baseball nothing special.
You don't awake at age 15 and suddenly become, say, a Pirates fan. Said Jon Miller: "You have to follow it from childhood" -- a small boy's link to the outside. Baseball's rhythm exposes a Voice's ignorance: a fraud, a poseur! A lifetime of study lets you chat around a fire. A listener can tell.
"It's conversation. It's quirky. Tell us what you did today," said Bob Costas. "Tell me about the guy sitting down at the end of the dugout. Is he a character? Does he come from some tiny little town in Arkansas somewhere? Did he always dream of being a big-leaguer? How did he get here? It's a story-teller's game."
Quoting Eugene O'Neill, Scully often says of a weak infield hit, "A humble thing, but thine own." On May 3, 1959, he spun poetry alien to another sport. Roy Campanella, crippled a year earlier, was wheeled near the pitcher's mound. Lights dimmed, like the catcher's broken body. Each guest lit a match, like Campy's vaulting heart.
"The lights are now starting to come out, like thousands and thousands of fireflies, starting deep in center field, glittering around to left, and slowly the entire ballpark ... a sea of lights at the Coliseum. Let there be a prayer for every light," said Vin, speaking beautifully, magically. At such a time, the announcer seems connecting tissue between the public and the game.
Let me hear from you. In your view, who is the greatest baseball broadcaster of all time?
How can you not have Jack Buck as the greatest of all time. I can tell you why, he worked in the Midwest and did not get the publicity of the big town of "L.A." Everyone in the United STates knows the best baseball town the country is St. Louis. Mr. Buck worked for the greatest franchise and fans in M.L.B. I hoped that you could have looked past the publicity and focused on the true meaning of a baseball announcer.
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How do you not rank John Rooney higher, especially higher than Hawk Harrelson? Rooney provides insight into the game, while keeping it homey. Harrelson tends to ramble on about eras gone by (if I had a nickel for every Ted Williams story) and makes it a us vs the world broadcast when he finds someone trashing the White Sox. John Rooney is the definition of professionalism, and a great broadcaster. Listen to him during the playoffs-it gets no better.
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I second it...Jack Buck. I don't think the fans make the announcer, but I do agree that Jack had a relationship with St. Louis that wasn't matched. What a class act he was...definitely my #1.
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I don't wish to try to rate one broadcaster over another. Having listened to most of them over my lifetime, I will just say that they are all deserving.
My particular favorite is former Houston Astros broadcaster Gene Elston. A man of no shrills or homerism's,who simply called the game accurately and with astute professionalism in the same way that Jack Buck and Vin Scully have blessed us with their fine skill as play-by-play men.
Gene had no signature phrase or call. His goal always as a broadcaster was to be the eyes and ears of the fans listening on the radio and he vividly painted a word picture of the action on the field that made it easy for the listener to "see" the game in our minds.
Gene Elston over the years made fans students of the game with his skill of focusing on the finer points of the great game thus allowing us as fans to grow as well informed baseball observers over the years.
Thus, Gene Elston was not only a highly skilled baseball broadcaster but also a skilled teacher.
He was a joy to listen to. I wish he were still calling games but after nearly 60 years as a professional broacaster, Gene retired from the game in 1997 even though he is still as sharp as a razor and still has that eloquent broadcasters voice and ability to paint a word picture just as the skilled artisan paints a masterpiece.
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I want to make it to the World Series. I want to cut a strip of grass during the World Series to promote yard safety awareness.
I present to you Rescue Rick the Grass Cut Man (sm) - a yard safety super hero. About a year ago, I had a lawn mower accident that resulted in the partial amputation of my left foot. Consequently, I have been an advocate and promoter of yard safety, with the goal to prevent these outdoor power equipment accidents from happening to other people.
Furthermore, I have been a renaissance yardman, utilizing various art forms to communicate my safety message. I have approached Major League Baseball about the possibility of dedicating one day of the MLB season as Yard Safety Awareness Day. Each, there are about 400,000 individuals who experience lawn mower and garden-tool-related accidents, often times resulting in severe and life-altering outcomes. Since baseball is America's pastime and often played on natural turf, I ask for your assistance and consideration to facilitate this humanitarian idea.
Please visit the Rescue Rick the Grass Cut Man (sm) website at http://www.rescuerick.com for additional information. Thank you for your BLOG. Best wishes!
Richard Mudrinich
Rescue Rick the Grass Cut Man
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Whomever anyone ranks as the number one broadcaster in baseball history will not be a universal choice---or cherce,as they used to say in Brooklyn....For instance,every year when I was growing up in Chicago,I would hear Bob Elson and Jack Brickhouse on a daily basis covering my favorite team,the Chicago White Sox....Therefore I have always considered them both as the tops in their specific broadcast venues,radio for Elson and TV for Brickhouse...Then,every October,or so it seemed,we would be visited by the Gillette Blue Blades March,the NBC TV coverage of the World Series and the voice of Mel Allen in that order....For four,five,six or seven games ol'"How About That?"would ramble on,but strange as it may seem,all these years later,Mel's voice,rated as one of the best ever,his phraseology and his ability does not seem to echo within my mind.....mainly because he has been gone for so long,but also because he was an occasional visitor here in Chicago,not a long lasting one like the aforementioned Elson,Brickhouse,Vince Lloyd,Harry Caray or the current crop of Pat Hughes up North with the Cubs or the since gone to St Louis John Rooney when he was involved in White Sox radio....There are supporters of Vin Scully,including the proprietor of this space,who feel that Vin is the be-all,with-all and end-all of the profession....Quite frankly,as with the late Mr Allen,if I had to listen to Mr Scully on a daily basis,I don't feel I would be compelled to fall over into a dead faint in praise of his style, because,based on what I recall of Vin's work--casting no aspersions,mind you on him personally---I wouuld be bored to tears listening to the same sing-song voice every single day,with no by-play or even recognition of the existence of his "colleagues"(as Red Barber,Scully's mentor,would put it)Charlie Steiner or Rick Monday.....It's all Vin,all the time.....
So,as to who is number one?
It really depends on which part of the country you live in.....
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Scully is my number 1 also. When listening to Vinny, you feel like you're right there in a seat at the game. You can smell the beer and the hot dogs. You can see the children on their fathers' laps. Vin Scully is the greatest!
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