Other than the breaking news from yesterday that some people are entrusting their professional livelihood to Gary Sheffield, it’s been spring training as usual for the Tigers.
The pressing lineup questions right now are 2B and a 5th starter. Not surprisingly, Leyland isn’t saying anything about the latter, and I don’t think anyone had enough brass to ask him about the former in the past few days. Is the fifth starter even on the roster yet?
For any of you who plan to visit the Tigers in Lakeland, a local site published a nice intro to Tigertown. Did you know that the Tigers are the team with the longest-standing spring training site?
The title of this ESPN story on AJax is a little ironic.
About that tease…
FanGraphs is running an interesting thread on TV broadcaster ratings. You can read about the inception here, and then check out #31, #30-#21, and #20- #11 (as they are counting backwards). Mario and Rod have not yet made an appearance, which means that they have made the top 10. There has to be some merit to these ratings, as Hawk Harrelson is so despised that the ChiSox ended up last in the rankings, even with the brilliant Steve Stone in the booth. This is also where I found this gem. I can’t wait until FanGraphs does it for radio.
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Here’s the #10 – #1 countdown which places Rod & Mario 8th, and the final standings. Monday FanGraphs will start balloting for the radio guys.
Apparently, Prince Fielder hit a 611 foot bomb yesterday. Though I don’t think we should be counting the roll.
Your title implies that you are stunned by the idea that Rod Allen is top 10 worthy. Don’t get all Biff Mayhem on everyone. Don’t forget that Rod Allen spent time giving you and your silly blog an interview.
I love Rod. Thanks for stopping by, let us know if there are other topics you’d like to see more often.
Well, I’ll say it. Rod Allen tries hard but is not really good. I listen to the visitors broadcast on most Tigers games because of him. Except for when they play the White Sox. Then I listen to old Ernie Harwell broadcasts and watch the game with the sound off.
If you search the comments of the survey, a couple of the commentators express shock that Rod Allen isn’t in the Bottom Ten.
Rod Allen…#8 on this list, #1 in my heart.
Seriously, I will never understand why people do not like him as an analyst. Is he corny sometimes? Sure. Does he get a little silly? Absolutely. Does he offer insights into the game from a player’s perspective for both teams without getting negative or coming across as an obnoxious homer? I say yes. What more do you want? He and Mario make a great team, and I believe they get a little better every year.
Being out of the area, I don’t watch much. But based on limited viewing, I tend to agree with Adam.
Anyway, I just signed up for mlb.tv after a year off, so hopefully I’ll be hearing a lot from them this year!
An interesting exercise and one that is certainly open for debate. For many years (10), I have had both the MLB Direct TV package and XM Satellite Radio. I have come to enjoy Rod and Mario and even enjoy the sometime, but much needed silliness of Ron. You need such over the long season and Rod peppers it carefully out to the fans. I hope he continues.
On the radio side, I rate Dan and Jim much higher as they are more friendlier to the fans. If you wander up in front of the broadcast at Rangers games, they will talk with you before the game and are interested in meeting you. (Ron and Mario seem to be a bit too busy for such with their pre-game preps but that may be because of their TV commitments.)
Also, I miss the Mariners’ Dave Niehaus who passed away in 2010. His style was very close to Ernie’s as he was very relaxing to listen to and just told you what was going on with the game.
My worst….Chicago White Sox radio announcers who continually talk about their golf games and of course former Tiger announcer Josh Lewis of now Ranger fame is a struggle.