Three Television Baseball Announcers Who Need to Go

I am a baseball fan. I spent the summers of my youth playing ball in any pick-up sandlot game I could find. I shared the same dream as most of my peers in that I wanted to chase down fly balls and crank tape measure home runs over the ivy-covered walls of Wrigley Field. Of course, these dreams were not meant to be.

As I got older realization set in that the Majors were not in my future. Like many 20-something year olds I attempted to capture glory by playing softball, but even this rang hollow after awhile. Now, I am a father of three and I get a thrill watching my children play t-ball and little league; hoping someday they will achieve their own Big League dreams.

Throughout the years I have remained a passionate baseball fan. Nothing beats seeing a game live, but for most, myself included, this is maybe a once or twice a year occurrence if at all. Instead I watch the bulk of my favorite team's games on television. There is a certain pleasure in cheering your team on from the comfort of your favorite recliner or couch in an air-conditioned living room. And, what really brings these televised games to life are the announcers who call the game.

The baseball play-by-play and color commentators have a symbiotic relationship with the teams they call games for. They provide valuable insight into each team as well as insider information the fans crave. These announcers are the perfect blend of baseball enthusiasts, sports psychologists, athletes, and often sports psychics as well. At least the good ones are.

This brings me to the meat of this article. Unfortunately with the good always comes the bad. With sports media exploding in popularity the way it has over the last few years the field of television announcers has been inundated with sub-par game-callers who seem to be more concerned with developing a catch-phrase than they are in calling a game. With that in mind here are three television baseball announcers who have set the standard for bad.

3. Tim McCarver

McCarver's professional baseball career was unremarkable. The only reason he was able to hang around the Majors as long as he did was because he was Steve Carlton's personal catcher. If not for that simple fact he would have been out of the game a lot sooner. If only the same could be said for his baseball analyst career. I cannot think of any other announcer who offers so little to the game they are broadcasting. In other words he is a typical blow-hard.

What makes this worse is he is often part of the nationally broadcasted games such as the Playoffs, World Series, and All Star Game. I have no idea how a guy who seemingly knows so little about how baseball is played is picked to help announce the sport's most important games. Apparently his broadcasting instincts are similar to his in-game instincts as he is mediocre at best.

His man-crush on Yankee's shortstop, Derek Jeter is on par with John Madden's love of Brett Favre, and if he is calling a Yankee's game the gushing of adoration is enough to make a person nauseous. If he is not calling a Yankee's game, somehow he always manages to get Jeter into the conversation. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to turn off a game because I could not take another inning of McCarver's incessant blathering about how great Derek Jeter is.

McCarver is often teamed with Joe Buck who is the son of legendary St. Louis Cardinals; play-by-play man, Jack Buck. This is the only time I can tolerate McCarver because I think these two guys generally do not care for each other. The way they snipe back and forth as well as appear to go out of their way to prove each other wrong is entertaining. For the life of me however, I cannot figure out how someone who seems to have no working knowledge about baseball has managed to linger around the game in the capacity Time McCarver has.

2. Ken "Hawk" Harrelson

Let me preface this by saying this is not a Cubs vs. White Sox rivalry thing. As a Cubs' fan I suffered through many years of Harry Caray whose post-stroke work was hard to listen to. In the same respect Ron Santo who does the color commentary for WGN radio is equally as bad, and if he was part of the television broadcasting team would most assuredly have made this list.

Harrelson had been known as the ultimate "homer" all the way back when he was calling Red Sox games and this makes him hard to listen to. Now I know announcers are loyal and are supposed to support the team, but there is a limit. Listening to Harrelson however you would think every White Sox player was a Hall of Famer in the same league as Babe Ruth. Every hit is a line-drive smash, and every play is gold glove caliber according to Hawk while the other team cannot do anything right. Every call the umpires make should go to the White Sox way, and if the opposing team happens to catch a break it's an all out conspiracy.

With all the ridiculous nicknames and catchphrases as well as the over used baseball clichés Harrelson throws around I feel like I am listening to a foreign language. I do no think Harrelson has had an original idea for a call in 25 years. He is the single reason why I will not watch a White Sox game on television unless it happens to be a game called by another broadcast team. I got tired of screaming at him to simply just call the play. Nobody cares if it is a "hump-back liner" or a "duck snort" or a "can of corn" or any other asinine and outdated baseball lingo he uses. His "He Gone" and "grab some bench" when an opposing player strikeouts or makes an out is insulting. And, in my opinion he has without a doubt the worst and least creative home run call in all of Major League baseball.

With all of that being said the real reason Harrelson is a bad baseball announcer can be summed up in one word - ego. I get the impression he feels he is bigger than the game; that he is the star not the players on the field. Harrelson in my opinion believes fans turn into the game to hear him. I absolutely have to beg to differ. Fans turn into White Sox games to watch baseball, to see their favorite players, and to cheer their team on to victory. They do not watch White Sox baseball because of Ken "Hawk" Harrelson but in spite of him.

1. Joe Morgan

Joe Morgan 100% has to go. Unlike the other two men on my list Morgan does have Hall of Fame credentials as a player. He was the second baseman for Cincinnati's Big Red Machine of the 1970's. Morgan became the standard for which the modern 2B has been compared to, and this has gone to his head. Sadly his announcing career has not come any where close to his play on the field.

In the broadcasting booth Morgan is far from a Hall or Famer and in actuality comes across as more of a bully. His ego will not let him admit when he is wrong. He often gets into heated discussions with other announcers, and when he does come out on the wrong end which is often he pouts like child. He believes he played the game at such a high level that his opinion should be baseball law. In fact I find his baseball knowledge to be somewhat lacking.

Morgan is also the guy who refused to believe Barry Binds was using steroids even though the evidence was overwhelming, but believed Mark McGwire was an obvious cheater. Morgan also continued to back Dusty Baker as the Cubs' manager even though it was clear to everyone else Baker had lost control of the team. One of the most frustrating things is Morgan's absolute refusal to believe there is a second baseman as good as he was even though all of his records have been broken. Morgan holds a grudge against those players and rarely has a kind word about them just ask Ryne Sandberg and Jeff Kent.

Morgan's overbearing attitude along with his inflated ego make him unbearable to listen to. His unwillingness to accept someone might know more than him is a distraction to the on-field game. His announcing style actually takes away from the game rather than adding something to it, and I think this is the worst thing you can say about a baseball announcer. He does the Sunday night game for ESPN, and the only good thing I can say about that is at least it is only once a week.