I have the extra innings package to watch the D-Backs since I am all the way out here on the East Coast.

I think there are a few things at play here:

Home baseball games are watched by home fans, so guess what, I want homers. I want guys who are talking about the team the way I would. I want them to express hope, frustration, and have a good time doing it. I love going to the ballpark and talking baseball and joking around with my friends and appreciating what we are watching. Their broadcast really does have that “watching a game with buddies” feel – and I’m into that.

I like that they highlight fans who are at the game. That is part of the experience of going to a ballpark – and when you have to watch on TV, it is fun to be able to experience the “culture” of a park from your sofa. Heck, it probably makes plenty of fans WANT to go to the park – and only good comes from that. It isn’t like they spend all their time talking about their favorite TV shows, or celebrity gossip, or reality TV … they are talking about fans, the experience of going to a game, and they make the people at chase a part of the broadcast. It has never made me miss a swing, or miss an at bat, or miss a pitch … so what is the harm? So there are funny fan signs, and weird things that our guys yell out randomly – but I like it. Remember when they kept showing the guy in the stands who came with CoJack fake eyebrows? Most other broadcasts wouldn’t have offered up that gem … but man, i think about that all the time. It made me laugh for ten minutes straight. If we have to be snobby about home broadcast baseball games (national are different!) then we really have gone over the deep end.

Finally, Jim is dead on about them teaching people about the game. Pitch selection, statistics, fundamentals … they do a good job talking about all of this. This level of down to earth “education” makes being a new fan easier. I want new fans … and this helps.

With the extra innings package, I watch other teams all the time. And a LOT of the teams out there are boring as all hell. Just turn on an Indians game the next time you are in Cleveland and tell me you don’t wish there was some joking and good times in that booth.

for radio.

It’s interesting to note how different everybody views Sutton and Grace. I agree with Wactivist’s comments above…. having listened to numerous announcing teams from around the league on Direct TV – I think they are 2 of the best.

But then, I’m not the type of fan that just wants a play-by-play man to recite stats and describe what I can already see on the television.

They make the game fun, they are insightful, they bring the crowd into the game – they have a fan base nation-wide – But having said that, I can also see how some people just wouldn’t like their ‘style’.

I do wish they would be a bit more critical at times – and you can sense when they are holding their tongues a bit – and not surprising considering they are not independent, but employees of the club.

Overall, two of the most entertaining and insightful in Major League Baseball in my opinion.

A few weeks ago, Craig Calacaterra wrote this as part of Shysterball game roundup. (Here’s a link to the full post.)

Unfortunately, I was listening to Marty Brennaman, and that poor bastard has simply lost it. Look, we all hate to listen to homer announcers, and we all find it refreshing when the guys in the booth tell the tough truths. Brennaman, however, is long past that stage and is deep into angry and bitter disgust with the Redlegs. Sure, the seven-run second inning would be tough on anyone, but Brennaman made it sound like he was being forced to watch the commission of war crimes. He sounds like a man who truly hates his job, and truly hates the Reds.

Homer announcers can be frustrating, but I really enjoy Grace and Sutton’s enthusiasm. I would much rather listen to them over-hype the D-Backs than have them add to the frustration of a fast-fading season. I can get angry just fine all by myself. Sometimes, when I’m watching Mark Reynolds make his third error in a game, I need a little help getting happy.

Grace, Sutton, Schulte and Candiotti are all enjoyable announcers. They love the game and have a wealth of information. There are times when I wish they’d spend more time on the game and less time on where they had dinner last night. But I prefer listening to a little enthusiastic foolishness than a serious announcer who doesn’t enjoy his job.

and I like the chemistry him and Grace have. That being said, though I think Grace is funny, I’d honestly like it to be just Sutton, or maybe have a color guy that has a less forceful personality. I heard him last year during the playoffs on the radio and he was phenomenal on the medium.

I like it when home town announcers actually like their team, but I also like it when they are willing to give due to the opposing team at well, something that Sutton and Grace do (much to some people’s chagrin, I’m sure). I like it when home town announcers get excited about moments, I like it when they develop a rapport with the audience, and I like it when they educate. Sometimes people forget that a wide variety of people watch baseball games, not just the hardcore.

I do, however, acknowledge that they can be pretty silly and that could probably be turned down some. Sutton is a young announcer though, and I think he’s well on his way to being even better. I hope he sticks around for a while.

they’re good too, but one thing that annoys me about Schulte is how limited he can be with his descriptions. Sometimes he seems more interested in the trivia he’s challenging Candiotti with (I do love the trivia though, always interesting things) than the play at hand.

Jeff Munn doesn’t do a lot of games but I always like it when he calls a game. I’d like to think with a little more time he could be doing it full time at least somewhere.

About the only announcer that seldom comes under any criticism is Vin Sculley, and even he bores the younger generations to sleep.

People that are dissatisfied, or are just more inclined to go negative, probably post more on the newspaper blogs. But even in the AZ Central “Poll”, the positive outweighed the negative 3 to 1. And in your poll here, it’s overwhelmingly positive, with some dissent. Thats pretty normal, and totally acceptable.

I’m not in a position to give an unbiased view, because I know and like them both very much. But I’m going to give my view anyway. I don’t feel like my opinion is any less “valid”. Like all of us, there are things that they could improve on, and I think they know what some of those things are, and they try with mixed results. At the same time, they have to be true to themselves, who they are, and the things they believe. And they do that too.

One other point to keep in mind. They don’t have complete control over every aspect of the broadcast and it’s direction. Some of the issues that get raised are not necessarily of their doing. Like most things, a television broadcast is a collaborative effort. There are many voices and direction behind the scenes. DS and MG are the visible and audible portion of that effort. But thats the tip of the iceburg, so to speak.

I don’t care if satan himself was doing the colour. If I am unhappy with said broadcast, I’ll use the mute button.
Who is calling the game on either venue (radio or tv) matters not in the slightest as to my decision to either support the team or watch the games.

I have to say I love Sutton and Grace. I’ve watched a few National games with different guys and I have little to no memory of any of them they are so freaking bland. Sutton and Grace give us some nice information and some laughs. I am alll for em.

On July 23rd, is about Mark Grace. Here is a preview clip, including video of Grace his mom provided to FSN Arizona that he never even knew existed!

from the Bob Young article:

Sutton said he and Grace take chances in the broadcasts, and he knows that it doesn’t always work.

I like the fact they’re not content to follow someone else’s template, drawing potential fans with silly stuff like “Car”. We’re not verifying nuclear arsenals here, and the identity and charm of each organization partly depends on original content emanating from the broadcast booth. I dont mind that some of it is rather goofy, or doesnt work, or is not particularly baseball related. This is, after all, an entertainment.

What I do mind is the extent and impetus of it; the degree to which viewers are methodically diverted from the game and players in favor of the by now familiar barrage of indulgent, self promoting bits conceived at Dbax Central. When Daron says he’s “taking chances”, presumably he’s referring to comic chances, since he takes zero risk critiquing his employer’s direction or vision in any substantive way. By that measure, he is a typical corporate hack. Contrast Daron (& Mark’s) longstanding, wide-eyed mantras about there’s “no want for talent” on this club, with Ken Phelps’ courageous three year whine about ownership’s failure to obtain a legitimate bat.

Truth is, Sutton and Grace do a damn fine job analyzing a game when that’s their goal (see Fox GoTW), but let’s face it, that’s not job one around here. The brass decided that the self promoting schtick, led by annointed clown prince Daron, better meets their business objectives.

“All I want is for fans to watch and to care about this team and this organization,” he said.

That’s Daron’s problem, in my eyes. His is more the mission statement of a Team Owner or Marketing VP than of a quality baseball announcer. As I see it, a baseball broadcaster’s primary job is to convey a game – played by players on a field. Note that caring about the team and org is “all” Daron really wants. Caring about the game or the entertainment inherent in competition are, at best, secondary concerns. He wants us to care about the organization first – this profitable corporation currently putting out a mediocre product – before anything else – and it shows. It shows when he manically oversells the team’s accomplishments and organization to the Phoenix public, with all the subtlety of a door to door salesman in a plaid suit and bow tie. And it shows when he has the front office’s back on every conceivable issue.

Daron’s a smart, talented guy, but once folks catch onto his rather lockstep orientation, as happened in Milwaukee, his credibility understandably suffers.