Over the course of this week, we’ve been releasing the results of our television broadcaster rankings — itself the product of reader crowdsourcing that started in late November. Click the relevant links to read the Introduction and 31st-ranked team, broadcast Nos. 30 – 21, Nos. 20 – 11, and Nos. 10 – 1.

In this post, we’ll reflect briefly on the project, and then look at ahead at a similar endeavor for radio broadcasters.

Specifically, like this:

1. Final TV Broadcaster Rankings
2. Comments and Questions
3. On This Same Thing for Radio Broadcasts

Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 148
Today’s guest, Jon Weisman, is both owner-operator of Dodger Thoughts and a writer/editor at Variety, for whom he covers television and the television industry. This episode begins with a protracted discussion on the nature of self-doubt and learning how to fail — amazingly, without even once mentioning the Los Angeles Dodgers. Also covered: Modern Family’s Phil Dunphy and the post-McCourt Dodgers.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 52 min. play time.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for the thing that’s now called Daily Notes.

1. Injury Reports: Howard, Sanchez, Sizemore
2. Actual Game Result: Philadelphia vs. FSU
3. Actual Future Games: MLB.TV This Weekend

Injury Reports
Howard Maybe Doesn’t Not Not Suffer Setback
Three or so days ago, manager Charlie Manuel told reporters that first baseman Ryan Howard had suffered a setback in his recovery from Achilles surgery. The day after that, the club clarified Manuel’s statement, noting that Howard had a condition known as seroma — a pocket of clear fluid that sometimes develops in an area after surgery, and which is relatively common following the sort of procedure Howard had undergone. Now, this morning, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Howard underwent a “small procedure” Monday to remove stitches from Howard’s wound. Howard must allow the new wound to heal before resuming rehab, is the point, and is sidelined indefinitely — which, if you don’t know, now you know.

Read the rest of this entry »

Introduction and #31
#30 – #21
#20 – #11

Beginning in late November, we’ve spent much of the offseason asking readers to rate the television broadcast teams (on a scale of 1-5 for charisma, analysis, and then overall) for all 30 major-league clubs — with the intention, ultimately, of determining which broadcasts might best reflect the sorts of inquiry and analysis performed here at the site. (Click here for more on this project.)

Below are the 10th- through 1st-ranked television broadcast teams, per the FanGraphs readership.

But first, three notes:
• Teams are ranked in ascending order of Overall rating. Overall ratings are not merely averages of Charisma and Analysis.
• I’ve attempted to choose reader comments that are either (a) illustrative of the team’s place in the rankings or (b) conspicuously amusing.
• A complete table of ratings and ballots cast will appear in these pages Friday.

10. Tampa Bay Rays
Broadcasters: Dewayne Staats and Brian Anderson
Ratings (Charisma/Analysis/Overall): 3.3, 3.2, 3.4

Three Reader Comments
• “Brian Anderson was a huge upgrade over Kevin Kennedy.”
• “Generally good, except for too frequent gigglefits from Brian Anderson.”
• “Dewayne… dominates too much with the same canned pregame notes over and over (Johnny Damon’s hit counts being a big example). By the end of the year, BA was almost openly making fun of him, which was a big part of why we liked him.”

Notes
The comments for the Rays broadcast team don’t match up particularly well with the favorable rating. There are a number of negative — if not particularly expansive — comments not published here. The 35 votes received by the Rays broadcast was among the lowest of any team, and might explain the lack of consistency between the numbers and written responses.

Read the rest of this entry »

Table of Contents
Here’s the table of contents for the thing that’s now called Daily Notes.

1. Injury Reports
2. Other Assorted Headlines
3. GIF: Josh Banks’s Kunckleball

Injury Reports
Freeman Injures Knee, Out Maybe Two Weeks
Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman has a sublux (partial dislocation) of the right kneecap after being injured during a fielding drill near the end of Tuesday’s workout, reports David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal Constitution almost verbatim. MLB.com’s Mark Bowman notes that the injury occurred as Freeman was attempting to pick a low throw out of the dirt and might force the Braves first baseman to miss upwards of two weeks — i.e. how long it took him to recover after suffering a similar injury in May 2010 at Triple-A Gwinnett.

Read the rest of this entry »

Introduction and #31
#30 – #21

Beginning in late November, we’ve spent much of the offseason asking readers to rate the television broadcast teams (on a scale of 1-5 for charisma, analysis, and then overall) for all 30 major-league clubs — with the intention, ultimately, of determining which broadcasts might best reflect the sorts of inquiry and analysis performed here at the site. (Click here for more on this project.)

Below are the 20th- through 11th-ranked television broadcast teams, per the FanGraphs readership.

But first, three notes:
• Teams are ranked in ascending order of Overall rating. Overall ratings are not merely averages of Charisma and Analysis.
• I’ve attempted to choose reader comments that are either (a) illustrative of the team’s place in the rankings or (b) conspicuously amusing.
• A complete table of ratings and ballots cast will appear in these pages Friday.

20. Pittsburgh Pirates
Broadcasters: Some combination of Greg Brown, Tim Neverett, Bob Walk, Steve Blass, and John Wehner
Ratings (Charisma/Analysis/Overall): 3.1, 2.9, 3.0

Three Reader Comments
• “Walk and Brown are very good, Blass and Wehner are pretty weak. Neverett has the chops but lacks the personality in his short time on the job.”
• “Tim N. and Wehner are probably the least annoying combo, but also the least frequent.”
• “They truly detract from the experience of enjoying a game on TV, which is basically the worst thing one can say about announcers.”

Notes
There’s some disagreement among respondents as to whom, precisely, is most deserving of their scorn — besides Blass, perhaps, about whom readers are mostly unified in their scorn. Speaking anecdotally, I found this interview by Bob Walk with Charlie Morton from last May to be enlightening.

Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 147
In this episode, both host and guest Dayn Perry attempt a “reading” of the recent Ryan Braun press conference as if it were a text — a technique borrowed from the discipline known as Cultural Studies. And, as will someday happen to the hearts of everyone reading this, they (i.e. host and Dayn Perry) fail completely. Also discussed: Al Hrabosky, gangs.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 37 min. play time.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Ack.

With the beginning of Spring Training comes actual reports of actual baseball players. Today’s edition of Daily Notes looks at five injury situations from the earliest days of spring camps.

Tampa Bay’s Moore Has Slight Abdominal Situation
Rays left-hander Matt Moore missed his scheduled batting practice session on Monday due to a mild lower abdominal strain, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Apparently — again, per Topkin — the strain become evident on Friday, while Moore was throwing a bullpen. Moore, as FanGraphs readers likely already know, has been among the top three players on basically every top-whatever prospect list and also signed a decidedly team-friendly contract this offseason. Moore struck out 15 of the 40 (37.5%) major-league batters he faced following a late-season promotion last year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Introduction and #31

Beginning in late November, we’ve spent much of the offseason asking readers to rate the television broadcast teams (on a scale of 1-5 for charisma, analysis, and then overall) for all 30 major-league clubs — with the intention, ultimately, of determining which broadcasts might best reflect the sorts of inquiry and analysis performed here at the site. (Click here for more on this project.)

Below are the 30th- through 21st-ranked television broadcast teams, per the FanGraphs readership. (Note: teams ranked in ascending order of Overall rating. Other note: Overall ratings are not merely averages of Charisma and Analysis.)

30. Los Angeles Dodgers (Away)
Broadcasters: Eric Collins and Steve Lyons
Ratings (Charisma/Analysis/Overall): 2.2, 2.1, 2.1

Three Two Reader Comments
• “Steve Lyons while calling a Dodgers/Cubs game in May 2010 said ‘Xavier Nady literally has no throwing arm.’ I’m still laughing about that comment today.”
• “Eric Collins is always busy asking questions to Lyons. I’m not sure if they’re disingenous because at times they are seem incredibly rudimentary. To the point where I wonder, ‘Why/how is he broadcasting a baseball game if he doesn’t know THAT?’ Perhaps it’s just Collins indirectly attempting to educate the layman viewer at home by asking Lyons these questions.”

Notes
There were only 22 votes submitted for the Dodgers away broadcast, and two of those were (obviously, given the reader comments attached to them) for Vin Scully, and thus not counted. As a result, it was only really possible to find two — as opposed to three — publishable reader comments.

Read the rest of this entry »

Episode 146
After a fortnight of luxurious vacationing, managing editor Dave Cameron has returned home — and to his Monday podcast timeslot, as well. Topics discussed: the Sean Marshall extension, what it means for the Reds; the Ryan Zimmerman extension, what that means for the Nats; in what order Cameron would rank Bryce Harper, Matt Moore, and Mike Trout at the top of his prospect list; and Justin Morneau’s ongoing difficulties with concussion symptoms.

Don’t hesitate to direct pod-related correspondence to @cistulli on Twitter.

You can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio after the jump. (Approximately 39 min. play time.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS