Apparently, if you work in the Midwest League as a broadcaster, you have a hard time getting out of the league. But that doesn't mean you always stay with the same team.
The latest news in the broadcaster world is that the West Michigan Whitecaps have hired Ben Chiswick as their new play-by-play broadcaster. First of all, congratulations to Ben.
Secondly, let's try to track some broadcaster/media relations movement around the league.
Ben is now in West Michigan.
Ben used to be the play-by-play guy for the Quad Cities River Bandits.
Quad Cities is no longer doing radio (bad move in my opinion).
Ben's intern in Quad Cities was Nick Devlin.
Nick is the new broadcaster for the Burlington Bees.
Sticking in the Western Division, Jeff Hem remains at the mic for the Kane County Cougars.
Jeff used to broadcast for the Battle Creek franchise, before that fell apart.
Not to be forgotten, Marcus Jacobs is the media relations director in Beloit.
Marcus spent some time working with Dave Lezotte in Clinton before ascending to his current position.
Jumping back over to the East, Tom Nichols enters his third season with the Dayton Dragons.
Tom originally broadcast for the Fort Wayne Wizards in the 90's.
I worked with Tom for the Dragons.
I'm clearly now the broadcaster for the South Bend Silver Hawks.
Got it all? Good. There will be a quiz later today. (Hopefully I'm not forgetting anyone).
Showing posts with label Broadcaster News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Broadcaster News. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Ford C. Frick Finalists
The finalists for the Ford C. Frick Award have been announced today. For those of you that don't know, the Frick Award is given annually for excellence in baseball broadcasting. Basically, it means one legendary broadcaster will be inducted into the Hall of Fame each year.
Upon reading that, you can understand why I find this interesting.
You can read all about the finalists here. I'm partial to Joe Nuxhall, simply because he was the color commentator for the Reds throughout my entire childhood. However, there are many other qualified candidates.
Upon reading that, you can understand why I find this interesting.
You can read all about the finalists here. I'm partial to Joe Nuxhall, simply because he was the color commentator for the Reds throughout my entire childhood. However, there are many other qualified candidates.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Broadcasters Aren't Biased
I read this great article today online at the New York Times website about baseball announcers and how fans perceive them to all be biased against their teams.
Obviously this hits home with me because of the job I do, but you'd be amazed at how many people hate announcers because they feel the announcers have something against their team. In an attempt at full disclosure, I will admit that I'm guilty of this at times as well.
The article makes an excellent reference to a series between Boston and New York years ago where NBC got 1,800 calls complaining about the announcers. There were 1,000 calls from New York complaining that the announcers were biased against their team, and there were 800 calls from Boston saying that the announcers hated the Red Sox. Oh, and if you are wondering about the 200 call difference...it was a toll call from Boston.
On a personal note, I was accused by a South Bend fan this year of rooting against the Silver Hawks in a game against Fort Wayne because I got "too excited" about a great diving play by a TinCaps player. I also received an email from a Beloit fan two years ago, saying that I talked too much about the Dayton Dragons on the air (I was broadcasting for the Dragons at the time). I realize that the Snappers didn't have a radio broadcast, but I politely reminded the fan that I was employed by the Dragons, and my broadcast was on the radio in Dayton! It's simply amazing.
Or then there are the comments that I get whenever I tell someone what I do for a living. My favorite is "I hate listening to Joe Buck. What do you think about him?" First of all, you can replace the name with whatever announcer floats your boat (Dick Vitale, Brad Nessler, etc.). Secondly, these guys are paid millions of dollars because they are good at what they do. My opinion on all of these guys is that I would love to have their jobs, because they are the best of the best.
I'm not writing this to criticize fans for their opinions -- and again, as I mentioned earlier, I have some broadcasters that bother me for the same reasons. However, I think it is important to realize that very rarely is a broadcaster truly biased against a team. As a line in the article says, the bias is not in the voice, it's in the ears.
Obviously this hits home with me because of the job I do, but you'd be amazed at how many people hate announcers because they feel the announcers have something against their team. In an attempt at full disclosure, I will admit that I'm guilty of this at times as well.
The article makes an excellent reference to a series between Boston and New York years ago where NBC got 1,800 calls complaining about the announcers. There were 1,000 calls from New York complaining that the announcers were biased against their team, and there were 800 calls from Boston saying that the announcers hated the Red Sox. Oh, and if you are wondering about the 200 call difference...it was a toll call from Boston.
On a personal note, I was accused by a South Bend fan this year of rooting against the Silver Hawks in a game against Fort Wayne because I got "too excited" about a great diving play by a TinCaps player. I also received an email from a Beloit fan two years ago, saying that I talked too much about the Dayton Dragons on the air (I was broadcasting for the Dragons at the time). I realize that the Snappers didn't have a radio broadcast, but I politely reminded the fan that I was employed by the Dragons, and my broadcast was on the radio in Dayton! It's simply amazing.
Or then there are the comments that I get whenever I tell someone what I do for a living. My favorite is "I hate listening to Joe Buck. What do you think about him?" First of all, you can replace the name with whatever announcer floats your boat (Dick Vitale, Brad Nessler, etc.). Secondly, these guys are paid millions of dollars because they are good at what they do. My opinion on all of these guys is that I would love to have their jobs, because they are the best of the best.
I'm not writing this to criticize fans for their opinions -- and again, as I mentioned earlier, I have some broadcasters that bother me for the same reasons. However, I think it is important to realize that very rarely is a broadcaster truly biased against a team. As a line in the article says, the bias is not in the voice, it's in the ears.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
A Legend Lost
Hall of Fame third baseman and legendary Detroit Tigers broadcaster George Kell has passed away at the age of 86.
A 10-time All-Star, Kell is best known in his playing days as edging out Ted Williams for the 1949 batting title by .00015 points.
Kell was in the broadcast booth from 1959-1996, announcing games with another legendary broadcaster in Ernie Harwell.
Read the full story here: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9374802/Hall-of-Fame-3B-George-Kell-dead-at-86?MSNHPHMA
Or watch the tribute video from YouTube below:
A 10-time All-Star, Kell is best known in his playing days as edging out Ted Williams for the 1949 batting title by .00015 points.
Kell was in the broadcast booth from 1959-1996, announcing games with another legendary broadcaster in Ernie Harwell.
Read the full story here: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/9374802/Hall-of-Fame-3B-George-Kell-dead-at-86?MSNHPHMA
Or watch the tribute video from YouTube below:
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