Reasons why Baseball is BETTER without ESPN

I've ranted several times over the past couple of years about my continuing lack of willingness to subject myself to professional insult by watching MLB on ESPN anymore.

I've tweeted my Coonditional Boycott of MLB on ESPN a few times this season, and realized that I never formally announced it on this blog, so I'm doing so now.

As of the close of Opening Month, I am NOT watching baseball on ESPN anymore. There you go.

OK, I already goofed and watched Rangers @ Twins a week or so ago, but for the most part I will *NOT* go there, period.

I don't need to list the reasons why, but here are a few of them:

• MLB Network has proved, since day one, that "everybody else" (especially ESPN) is completely out of touch with today's game - I don't need to present the evidence, but watch "MLB Tonight" and then "Baseball Tonight" and anybody can tell the difference.


• ESPN analysts are screwy, period...starting with Joe Morgan, fill in the rest of the names, and end with Joe Morgan. He's so screwy he counts TWICE for this exercise.


• As Baseball Enthusiasts, we should be concerned with a 'general sporing guild' that considers other sports (such as SOCCER) as equally important to baseball. Now that 'specialists' are here (MLB Network), then to heck with the rest of the bozos that treat NCAA Lacrosse the same as Major League Baseball. How can you enjoy Mexican food from McDonald's?!?


• MLB Gameday/At Bat and/or MLB.TV allows us to not have to say "YES" to crappy ESPN broadcasts; we can watch/listen/ENJOY the games we choose to and not be stuck with ESPN's 'preferred matchups' on particular days of the week.

So, since I have begun to willfully not consider ESPN broadcasts, here is what I have noted:

• Even better than 'turning the sound down,' baseball games on the radio are GREAT. Renew your admiration for your local broadcast team by hearing the game from their perspective and visualizing the action from their calls. With At Bat you can even see highlights.


• Watch or listen anytime without clogging up the DVR. Everything gets archived, no matter what you have going on you can still enjoy any game end-to-end, anywhere you can place your PC.


• When MLB Network does a simulcast, you get the local TV broadcast team for one of the teams *or* the fantastic MLB Network analysts...either way, light years ahead of the ESPN superdorks.


• ESPN's 'network crush' with the Yankees is no longer a part of my life.


• I am not missing the 'tiny' revised ESPN info box, give me the band at the top back...or better yet, why bother, I'm done with you ESPN!!


• Baseball is way better without dorks like this:

The guy on the right, OK, he's history. The guy in the middle, hey...give it up. The guy on the left, kiss my butt. He really threw his pencil into his mouth the other night; I was NOT watching but I heard he named Carlos Marmol the 'player of the game' instead of Ted Lilly (no-no going into 8 plus against the White Sox on 6/13/10). Joe Morgan, you are so darn worthless. I hoped that with his new job in the front office of the Reds, he would vanish from this venue but he hasn't and he's as much of a moron now than he has ever been.

Number One Reason Baseball is BETTER without ESPN, I have a choice and I don't have to choose an idiot like Joe Morgan to call games I watch. Turning down the sound and turning on the radio isn't good enough, just seeing his blank stare bereft of reason and abundant with egomania is not a good reason any of us should subject ourselves to this abuse.

/rant over!

5/8/10 Chicago Cubs 2, Cincinnati Reds 14

Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
Game 2 of 3

The second game of the infamous "lopsided series" of May 2010, always remembered and otherwise known as the "Starlin Castro debut series." The first game of the series shocked all but a handful of Cubs fans (and some Reds fans also), this game provided nearly as many surprises, but not nearly enough to the Cubs' benefit.

CHC 2 12 2
CIN 14 15 0

So this was really a nearly-evenly matched pitching duel, just looking at the SP lines:
Aaron Harang (CIN) 6.2IP, 7H, 2ER, BB, 9K, WP, 27 total batters faced
Tom Gorzellany (CHC) 6IP, 9H, 3ER, BB, 9K, HR, 27 total batters faced

Harang had a slight edge over Gorzelanny. As Len Kasper and Bob Brenly would comment during the next game, this was a very close game until the Cubs bullpen had the door shown to them by the Cubs defense. Yes, two routine ground balls, two back-to-back errors (one of them Starlin Castro's first MLB error), two Reds on base and IT hits the fan. When the brick dust settles, 4 Cubs pitchers face the entire Reds lineup twice in 2 consecutive innings, 11 runs scored by the Reds (only 6 of those earned) on 6 hits. Can't throw a phone book at all of them at once.

Rather than go further into game detail, I want to officially unload on the Fox Sports Ohio broadcasting team of Chris Welsh and Thom Brennaman. I've been unreasonably forced to watch baseball games on this channel, as it is my local sports affiliate (things have been better since MLB Network came along)...it's bad enough they are Reds games, better when they are Cubs/Reds games, but sometimes nothing can disguise the smell of manure.

In a way very different than the dream team of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, Welsh and Brennaman continue to demonstrate consistently their own brand of incompetency. Where Miller and Morgan (mostly Morgan) were inspired by egotism and a personalized and unsightly view of the game (as it relates or not to the game you are watching), these bozos are usually barely entertaining in their gaffes behind the mic.

Factoring out forgetfulness...I mean, we loved it when Ron used to forget who was up next, and Pat would tease him about it, it was part of their banter. When Welsh says the pitcher's spot is due up at the top of the next inning and you know without looking at your scoresheet that the pitcher was the last batter of the last inning, I guess that happens. Blame it on your scorebook, Welsh, as you always do. But what follows are example from this game of things these two boobs do all the time.

When Carlos Zambrano is entering the game out of the bullpen, after the obligatory discourse over his controversial assignment to the bullpen and anger management issues, the pitcher's stats appear onscreen and Welsh attempts to let all of us know what to expect.

WELSH: So here we get a look at Carlos Zambrano...the thing about Zambrano here, you know, we've seen him so many times as a starter, but take a look at the number of innings pitched...

There is a pause as K/BB numbers are circled on the screen graphic:

WELSH: ...and the number of striekouts. He's got 11 strikeouts in 24 innings, that's 4 and a half, bases...or, uh...4 and a half bases on balls per 9 innings, he's walking a lotta guys is what I'm saying...

Well, Chris Welsh, at this point even fans of the Reds don't know what the hell you're saying, I had trouble following it, and you obviously didn't even understand the graphic in front of you that you were circling as you were speaking...if you don't have a clue just don't even go there. It's apparent that up to this point he had 30 strikeouts in just over 24 innings, which means over 1 strikeout per inning, and a walk every other inning. This makes a little more sense than the oatmeal you were trying to squish through your teeth. Stay away from the stats, leave that for Joe Morgan. The punch line: right after this Brennaman says "All I know is the Reds need at least one more run." Well said, Charlie...

Welsh and Brennaman make it worse by trying to say Zambrano's 2.99 ERA is deceiving, again, with more random stat analysis. All in defense of Harang as a great pitcher, of course.

One of their typical 'baseball strategy' quotes also appeared in this game, as Jay Bruce gets a complement on defensive play, grabbing a big fly ball on the warning track:

WELSH: well, you know, when you think about right field, you don't think defense, I mean you think first of all, that right fielder is gonna give you plenty of pop at the plate...

WHAT?!? So if a guy is a big hitter, and lousy at defense, he's suitable for right field? This is why Welsh isn't a manager, I guess.

The rubber match is tomorrow, on WGN though. I can't stand Fox Sports Ohio.




I scored this game on 2/27/11.