Grades for ESPN baseball analysts

Heh - Steve Phillips being an analyst is a funny paradox.

He couldn't evaluate players well as a GM - what makes ESPN think he can evaluate players well as an 'expert' analyst (which is part of being a GM is it not?)

I, too, give him an F.

Berman...I can't believe he's still around. But yeah, F for him too.

Kurkjian, Gammons, and Stark are about the only baseball guys ESPN has that I like, though I don't watch as much now with the internet with the information I can't get from a TV show (at least not one I've seen).

Kruk - he always sounds like he's mad. Like he's upset that they made him come to work that day. :)

Kruk irritates the **** out of me. Gammons is probably still my favorite.

I can't stand Jon Miller. He just babbles and babbles. I'll take Morgan's idiocy any day over Miller.

Krukster is fine. I can stand him cause he takes the air out of his own tires from time to time.

Personally I love listening to Kevin Kennedy and Rob Dibble on XM 175.

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Originally Posted by Pavelb1

I can't stand Jon Miller. He just babbles and babbles. I'll take Morgan's idiocy any day over Miller.

Krukster is fine. I can stand him cause he takes the air out of his own tires from time to time.

Personally I love listening to Kevin Kennedy and Rob Dibble on XM 175.

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Ive caught Dibs and Kennedy a few times, and quite liked them, as well.

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Originally Posted by boomboom

Chris Berman - A (his old **** is still entertaining :)

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I never found it particularly entertaining to begin with.

He's actually pretty knowledgeble IMO, (although moreso about football than baseball), but you rarely see that because he has to do his schtick, and then it's time for a commercial or for someone else to talk.

Berman - F---------------------------------------------------

I enjoy Berman's 2-minute Drill segments during football season, but he gets annoying for a whole game.

Joe Morgan is one the least knowledgeable analysts out there. He often openly admits to not having seen certain teams this year. For instance, somebody asks if Andruw Jones can break out of his slump, and what he's doing wrong. organ answers "Well, I haven't seen the Dodgers play this year..." How is this even remotely possible? The #1 baseball analyst on ESPN, the largest sports carrier in the world, has not seen a Dodgers game this year? It's like he sleeps from Monday thru Saturday, and just wakes up to call Sunday Night Baseball. At least some of the things he does are unintentionally funny.

Tim Kurkjian knows what he's talking about, and Karl Ravech keeps it moving as the host, so they're both solid.

Fernando Vina's hair is AMAZING :)

Kurkjian, Gammons, and Olney irritate me with their voices. While informative and knowledgable, the voices kill the deal for me.

Berman needs to ride off into the sunset.

I like Morgan. Certainly not the best at what he does but he has a soothing voice and at times is funny - doesn;t matter if he means to be or not.

Phillips sounds like he knows what he is talking about but as has been pointed out, wasn't the best GM, so what makes him an expert?

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Originally Posted by beerchaser

Fernando Vina gets a big fat F from me for for that ugly *** combo moustache/goatee thing he has. That's F as in Ferretface, which is what I think every time I see him on TV.

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But isn't this thread grading on insight, rather than image?

I love Berman like a brain tumor.

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Originally Posted by Rongar

But isn't this thread grading on insight, rather than image?

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No. You can grade the guys however you want. I used both insight and their image, sound, whatever. For a TV personality, the way they present themselves is huge.

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Originally Posted by HoustonGM

No. You can grade the guys however you want. I used both insight and their image, sound, whatever. For a TV personality, the way they present themselves is huge.

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For me, the only question is: "Do they know the game, and can they impart that
knowledge to me"

For the rest, "the onus is on the recipient" to ignore such trivia as long whiskers;
fat face; grating voice; whatever

Tonight on Baseball Tonight, Buster Olney, Steve Phillips, Tim Kurkijan, and Eric Young had an incredibly intelligent and interesting discussion on the danger of MLB players using maple bats.

So to all of you people who hate the BT crew, maybe you should reconsider...

I like Erric Young :)

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Originally Posted by metsguy234

Tonight on Baseball Tonight, Buster Olney, Steve Phillips, Tim Kurkijan, and Eric Young had an incredibly intelligent and interesting discussion on the danger of MLB players using maple bats.

So to all of you people who hate the BT crew, maybe you should reconsider...

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Give them a topic that is actually about the game of baseball, and not the dangers of bats, and they'll EPIC FAIL, like when Steve Phillips proclaimed Cliff Lee the best left-hander in the American League back in 2006.