Next for Frick 2008

[hartman74]

Who do you think will be the next candidate for the Ford Frick award for baseball broadcasting in 2008 ?

Here is a list of candidates and their years of broadcasting ?

1. Dave Niehaus 30 years with Seattle and 9 years with California Angels
2. Dave Van Horne 7 years with Florida Marlins and 32 years with Montreal Expos.
3. Mike Shannon 37 years with St Louis Cardinals
4.Jon Miller 35 years with various teams including Orioles and Giants
5. Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren 32 years with Atlanta Braves
6. Lanny Frattare 32 years with Pittsburgh Pirates

[ChrisLDuncan]

Hawk Harelson

[rdonahue]

Hawk Harelson

I hope you're kidding (which I'm sure you are). God is he awful.

[ChrisLDuncan]

I hope you're kidding (which I'm sure you are). God is he awful.

I was, he's the worst broadcaster in sports. If you ask me there really is no one deserving of the Frick award anymore. They should hand it out to bloggers because people who cover sports for a living suck at it.

[Cougar]

One of these years they're going to give it to Tim McCarver. He deserves it too; he's fallen off badly with FOX (some due to network style, I think), but he was a really, really good announcer in the 1980's and 1990's.

Of the above -- they're all deserving. Niehaus is the name that seems to jump off the page at me, though. Miller's obviously very good too. Skip Carey's very solid...it's been hard for him in the shadow of Harry.

[Los Bravos]

I could about guarantee that Skip and Pete would very much prefer that their former partner, Ernie Johnson, Sr., precede them. He's well overdue.

[Brad Harris]

I'll take Jon Miller any day of the week.

As someone who's listened to Mike Shannon for more than a decade, I can say that longevity is certainly no guarantee of quality.

[Senor Octobre]

Eligible or no, I'll take Jacques Doucet over any of those guys, respectfully.

[Paul Wendt]

(I'm not sure who was or is eligible or nominated.)

FYI all, from "(Joe) Morgan Aiming for a Hall Triple Play (http://web.baseballhalloffame.org/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071203&content_id=5755&vkey=hof_news)" by Jack O'Connell, MLB.com, published at the NBHOFM website 2007-12-04.

There have been three former players who have won the Frick Award: catchers Joe Garagiola and Bob Uecker and infielder Jerry Coleman. But no one who has been elected to the Hall of Fame as a player has also been recognized as a broadcaster.

Another Hall of Fame player, pitcher Dizzy Dean, is on the ballot with Morgan and also has a chance to pull off this Hall "first." Dean was one of the first players to move into the broadcast booth, particularly in his television years on the "Game of the Week" in the 1950s and early 1960s.

[Los Bravos]

That'll be a really popular choice :)

They set the bar awfully low with Garagiola, so...

[KCGHOST]

I grew up with Dizzy Dean and the Game of the Week. I would be hard pressed to vote for someone else over him.

[TheSlaff]

Eligible or no, I'll take Jacques Doucet over any of those guys, respectfully.

JACQUES DOUCET
:clapping :clapping :clapping

33 years with the Expos, all games from 1972 to 2004, and some replacements between 1969 and 1971.
He was with the Expos from the first day until the last day.
Still a baseball ambassador here in Québec.

Some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Doucet_%28sportscaster%29
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05154/515468.stm
http://www.sabr.org/sabr.cfm?a=cms,c,1221,3,158

[jjpm74]

Are Skip and Pete the current TBS announcers for the Braves? If so, listening to them is like watching paint dry. I've never heard two more boring people in baseball.

I hope Mike Shannon gets the nod this year.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Are Skip and Pete the current TBS announcers for the Braves? If so, listening to them is like watching paint dry. I've never heard two more boring people in baseball.

I hope Mike Shannon gets the nod this year.

Broadcasters don't cover sports for a living. They cover a particular team via the broadcast booth. Bloggers belong nowhere near the baseball or any HOF. And, it seems most of them usually haven't been. I'd like to see Johnny Schmendrick at baseballgod.com try to go three innings without screwing up repeatedly.

At least Skip and Pete can pronounce the last names of the opposing players. Shannon is proof positive on-the-job-training doesn't always work. None of them are finalists for 2008, though. Nor is Doucet, who is deserving.

Niehaus, Bill King or Tom Cheek seem to me to be the best of the 10 finalists. McNamee is an absolute pioneer whose inclusion wouldn't hurt and Dean is as worthy as Garagiola, who probably got in for endless appearances on various shows.

[hartman74]

Today we should hear who wins the Ford Frick award for baseball broadcasting.

[RubeBaker]

I was pulling for Jon Miller (great voice, good counter to the buffoonery of Joe Morgan, and just plain fun to hear when he gets excited), but the winner is Dave Niehaus.

[gojays]

Tom Cheek.
Someday...