announcer pet peeve

[ipitch]

When a team is trailing in the 9th inning with 2 outs and 2 strikes, many announcers say "...and the [insert team here] are down to their last strike..." :blah:

:grouchy Sorry Mr. Announcer, but there is NO situation where a team can ever be down to their last strike, because if the batter walks, they will have 3 more strikes.

Michael Kay said it last night and the batter got on base. He said it again when the next batter was up, and he got on base too. He must have finally figured out his error because the next batter had 2 strikes on him and he didn't say it. :applaud:

[GiambiJuice]

It is not incorrect to say a team is down to its last strike. If the pitch is a strike, than it's the last one.

[strosfan]

......Not if the strike is fouled off!!...and fouled off....and fouled off....

[AznInvasion]

It's pretty useless in my opinion because they just point out the obvious. It's like John Madden in football.

Here's a nice video of Frank Caliendo...for those who don't get the Madden thing.
http://http://youtube.com/watch?v=dnrPJSXWqsg&mode=related&search= (http://youtube.com/watch?v=dnrPJSXWqsg&mode=related&search=)

[Captain Cold Nose]

It's pretty useless in my opinion because they just point out the obvious. It's like John Madden in football.

When you pretty much have to talk for 2 1/2 hours without many breaks, you're going to point out the obvious quite a bit. Silence is the enemy of a broadcaster.

[ipitch]

It is not incorrect to say a team is down to its last strike. If the pitch is a strike, than it's the last one.

It's an incorrect statement at the time they say it, which is what counts.

[Captain Cold Nose]

It's an incorrect statement at the time they say it, which is what counts.

It's may just be a matter of semantics, but how is it incorrect when if the batter faces one more strike the game is over?

[digglahhh]

This is a pretty minor point and it is a matter of semantics. The down to the last strike statement is true at the time.

When you played video games as a kid, did you say, "Damn, I'm down to my last life, that is, of course, unless make it three more levels and get that 1-up located behind the fifth brick right before the jump where..."

But, if we're going to quibble over little stuff, I like when they announce the rules of conduct over the PA and then claim that violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Sorry dude, full is its own ultimate - either you're full or you're not, and if you are, there's no room to get any fuller...

[Captain Cold Nose]

This is a pretty minor point and it is a matter of semantics. The down to the last strike statement is true at the time.

When you played video games as a kid, did you say, "Damn, I'm down to my last life, that is, of course, unless make it three more levels and get that 1-up located behind the fifth brick right before the jump where..."

But, if we're going to quibble over little stuff, I like when they announce the rules of conduct over the PA and then claim that violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Sorry dude, full is its own ultimate - either you're full or you're not, and if you are, there's no room to get any fuller...

There's always room for jello.

My big announcer pet peeve is when they ramble on about nothing to do with the game in front of them. Here in Southwest Ohio, Frick Award winner Marty Brennamen does a heck of a job, but when certain newspapermen would visit the booth the conversation would turn to golf and the marriage of their third cousin and the old ice cream place on the old Dayton turnpike.

[GiambiJuice]

......Not if the strike is fouled off!!...and fouled off....and fouled off....

Foul balls do not count as strikes if you already have two strikes.

[ipitch]

It's may just be a matter of semantics, but how is it incorrect when if the batter faces one more strike the game is over?

Sure, sometimes it ends up being correct, but at the time they say it, it is an incorrect statement.

[GiambiJuice]

Sure, sometimes it ends up being correct, but at the time they say it, it is an incorrect statement.

I can't believe I'm having this argument, but that is not true. It is a correct statement at the time say say it.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Sure, sometimes it ends up being correct, but at the time they say it, it is an incorrect statement.

If they were actually saying it is the last strike, then, yes, they would be incorrect. But that's not what they are saying. And what they're saying is, based on possibility, not incorrect at all. It very well could be the last strike. If it turns out not to be the last strike it doesn't change the fact it still might have been. And that makes it correct.

[ipitch]

The down to the last strike statement is true at the time.

How can it be considered true at the time? "Last strike" means 1 more strike (at most). When Michael Kay said it last night, the Orioles got 6 (or whatever it was) more strikes. 1 does not equal 6.

[Captain Cold Nose]

How can it be considered true at the time? "Last strike" means 1 more strike (at most). When Michael Kay said it last night, the Orioles got 6 (or whatever it was) more strikes. 1 does not equal 6.

You're taking it too literally. It's true at the time because if the batters in question gets one more strike, the game is over. If is the key word there. And, in that case, it is correct.

[SamtheBravesFan]

The batter IS down to his last strike, because fouling off pitches essentially does not count as a strike. It's stuck on two. Only when the batter swings and misses or foul tips it into the catcher's glove is it strike three.

[Stray Cat]

Last night during the Cubs game the ESPN announcer said "That's a man's home run" when someone hit a home run. Last time I checked there are only men playing professional baseball. Not sure what he meant. :think:

[SamtheBravesFan]

Last night during the Cubs game the ESPN announcer said "That's a man's home run" when someone hit a home run. Last time I checked there are only men playing professional baseball. Not sure what he meant. :think:

It's a SUPER MANLY MAN'S home run :D

[Stray Cat]

It's a SUPER MANLY MAN'S home run :D
As opposed to a wimpy man's homer that just hits the top of the wall. :laugh

[Ytown Tribe fan]

Not an announcer peeve, but a baseball-related ad peeve that drives me nuts:

Continental Airlines, which is the official airline of the Cleveland Indians, runs an ad that, boiled down, states that flying their airline is "as easy as stealing second base on a wild pitch."

Look, I'm all for corny baseball-related ads during ballgames, but GET IT RIGHT. You simply cannot steal second base on a wild pitch.

Drives me nuts every time I hear it.

[JordanDL3891]

in the yanks game last night in the final inning, John Sterling didn't say "and the O's are down to their final strike" he said "they might be down to their final strike."

(yea, no one mentioned sterling yet, but I decided i'd throw this in. :atthepc


The "That's a man's home run" and the youtube John Madden Impersonation were really good :p

what inning was it, if that quote was from the TV announcers, I might be able to find it on MLB.com

[ipitch]

You're taking it too literally. It's true at the time because if the batters in question gets one more strike, the game is over. If is the key word there. And, in that case, it is correct.

Why in the world are you putting the word "if" in there?!? :disbelief: There are no ifs (or any qualifiers) in the statement "...and the [insert team here] are down to their last strike."

[ipitch]

in the yanks game last night in the final inning, John Sterling didn't say "and the O's are down to their final strike" he said "they might be down to their final strike."

(yea, no one mentioned sterling yet, but I decided i'd throw this in. :atthepc


Thanks for throwing that in! Glad to hear that someone gets it right.

[Erik Bedard]

By saying that a team is down to their last strike, that means that they only have one strike left to give. Regardless of whether they get more strikes or not, they were, at that point, down to their last strike. The announcer would only be wrong if he said "This is their last strike" or "This will be their last strike".

[bluezebra]

The total lack of rules knowledge, yet they pontificate as if they know better than an umpire with 30 years in The Bigs. Are you listening Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan?

One of my favorites is, "That foul tip went all the way to the backstop". Right behind is, "The foul tip hit the catcher/umpire in the face mask".

Bob

[Elvis]

It's may just be a matter of semantics, but how is it incorrect when if the batter faces one more strike the game is over?

it would be more appropriate to say the batter is down to his final strike.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Thanks for throwing that in! Glad to hear that someone gets it right.

You've never stated why it's wrong. Semantics schmatics.

[Brooklyn]

When a team is trailing in the 9th inning with 2 outs and 2 strikes, many announcers say "...and the [insert team here] are down to their last strike..." :blah:



They are down to their last stirke. If the next pitch is a strike, the game is over

Does it bother you in tennis when they say Federer has match point?


The one that does actually bother me is when announcers say, "the tying run is on second" instead of the "potential tying run is on second". I'm not sure why I find these one troublesome and not the last strike, but I do find them different

[ipitch]

After thinking about it some more, you guys are right, but I believe that I am too. "Down to their last strike" is ambiguous, IMO.

1. In one way, it's correct, since they are down to their last strike (at that point).
2. In one way, it's incorrect, since it can be interpreted as being down to their last strike of the game with no possibility of getting more strikes. When I hear "the Sox are down to their last strike", I interpret it as "the next strike (with the Sox at the plate) will end the game."

[AznInvasion]

After thinking about it some more, you guys are right, but I believe that I am too. "Down to their last strike" is ambiguous, IMO.

1. In one way, it's correct, since they are down to their last strike (at that point).
2. In one way, it's incorrect, since it can be interpreted as being down to their last strike of the game with no possibility of getting more strikes. When I hear "the Sox are down to their last strike", I interpret it as "the next strike (with the Sox at the plate) will end the game."

Ya, I agree but I think about it like it's the last strike for that particular hitter and therefore the last strike for the team he plays for. That all goes away if he reaches base. A fresh batter gives a brand new count and it's like a new situation.

[marlins739]

I hate when announcers start counting outs in playoff clinching games. Like when the Fox announcers start saying "And the Cubs have 5 outs to go for the World Series." It's annoying and it has jinxed it, because right after they said that, the Steve Bartman incident took place and you could see it in the Cubs fans faces on TV that it was over, and the Billy Goat was back.

The most annoying thing is on the radio when the announcers never say the score. Dave Van Horne of the Marlins is really bad at this. Radio announcers should say the game situation all the time, every time there's a second of dead air, for people just tuning in.

The White Sox announcers on WGN are hilarious. They have the funniest home run call "You can put it on the board....YES!" and good nicknames "Scotty Pods" and they're the biggest homers I've ever heard. "He gone" after a strikeout, "Get em Javy", saying the score like "4-3 good guys," things like that, they're great.

[Ytown Tribe fan]

I tune in WGN just to listen to that idiot.

Funny thing, with the team battling the Royals for last place, you shouldn't hear "SCOREBOARD!" that much, should ya?

I hate the Chi Sox, but WGN has turned the broadcasts into a decent drinking game.

[Urbanshocker13]

Any thing Kay says bugs me!

[Robin Yount]

I have no problem with the statement

[digglahhh]

How can it be considered true at the time? "Last strike" means 1 more strike (at most). When Michael Kay said it last night, the Orioles got 6 (or whatever it was) more strikes. 1 does not equal 6.

It can be considered true in the same way that you can be down to your last buck the day before payday, and then you get paid, and that buck yesterday wasn't your last.

In the same way that I could be down to the last slice of bread in my house - unless of course I decide to go to the store and get another loaf afterward.

The same way you can be down to your last life in a video game, and then get a free man (I dunno, I haven't played video games since Street Fighter 2 Champion edition, and they didn't have "extra men," but I assume the concept still exists."

The statement is conditionally true - based upon the conditions at the time under which it is said.

EDIT - I see that you've reconsidered, didn't mean to be a dead horse.

[digglahhh]

tuning in.

The White Sox announcers on WGN are hilarious. They have the funniest home run call "You can put it on the board....YES!" and good nicknames "Scotty Pods" and they're the biggest homers I've ever heard. "He gone" after a strikeout, "Get em Javy", saying the score like "4-3 good guys," things like that, they're great.

Novelty and sound bites are one thing. But Hawk and DJ are brutal. If I had to listen to them calling my favorite team's games on a daily basis, I would become very close with the mute button.

What stinks for me is that I dislike most baseball announcing, but I find it really annoying to actually watch the game on mute for some reason. So, I sit through it anyway.

[bluezebra]

Not an announcer peeve, but a baseball-related ad peeve that drives me nuts:

Continental Airlines, which is the official airline of the Cleveland Indians, runs an ad that, boiled down, states that flying their airline is "as easy as stealing second base on a wild pitch."

Look, I'm all for corny baseball-related ads during ballgames, but GET IT RIGHT. You simply cannot steal second base on a wild pitch.

Drives me nuts every time I hear it.

What they mean is that the runner starts his steal, and then the pitch is wild, and there is no throw to second. Technically, it's a stolen base, and no wild pitch is charged.

Bob