OnlyBucs

Pirates going to steal this one . Braves letting them hang around. Wish I had a few bucks in a sportsbook and play this live. at + $$$$ odds

Nice outing for Contreras. Let's hope the BP doesn't let the game get out of hand.

I read this morning that Albert Pujols hit his 693 career HR last night. He's hit them off of 449 different pitchers, tying Barry Bonds for that distinction. I wonder if we could name the 49 non-Pirates pitchers on that list?

597479686F7E69292A1B0 wrote: Contreras had a very good 4th on 8 pitches. But Brown and Capps preferred to talk about ice cream.


Why would a very experienced broadcaster like Brown spend so much time talking about things not associated with the game?  Have the producers of the broadcasts, or maybe even the Pirates themselves, instructed him to do so to keep viewers from focusing on how bad the team is?  If I listened to the games, I probably wouldn’t last more than a couple of innings if that’s all I heard.
It's apparent that the producers are content to make the announcers the focal point of the broadcasts. In every game we are treated to countless camera shots of the announcers in the booth. Right now we are watching them eat ice cream. We get Brown's constant attempts to be funny and Block's constant chattering about whatever crosses his mind. The former Pirate analysts seem to have been hired mostly to talk about their own careers rather than the game being played in front of them. The game seems to be nothing more than the excuse for putting the announcers in the booth to entertain us. I really wonder if any fans actually enjoy the format of these broadcasts. I find them cringe worthy. Now we're watching Brown and Capps look for napkins after eating their ice cream. Really??????


Have the ratings numbers for the games been made available recently? If so, how do they compare with the past few years? It's hard to imagine they can be better, or even comparable. There are lots of diehard fans in this area, like us, but there's only so much bad play and nonsense coming from the broadcasters that one can take.



When I used to listen to the games on the radio nightly, I loved listening to Brown. I felt him to be both knowledgeable and genuine. But you've been describing a different guy of late and that's disappointing.

0254425659435358554270575D51595C1E53300 wrote: Contreras had a very good 4th on 8 pitches. But Brown and Capps preferred to talk about ice cream.


Why would a very experienced broadcaster like Brown spend so much time talking about things not associated with the game?  Have the producers of the broadcasts, or maybe even the Pirates themselves, instructed him to do so to keep viewers from focusing on how bad the team is?  If I listened to the games, I probably wouldn’t last more than a couple of innings if that’s all I heard.
It's apparent that the producers are content to make the announcers the focal point of the broadcasts. In every game we are treated to countless camera shots of the announcers in the booth. Right now we are watching them eat ice cream. We get Brown's constant attempts to be funny and Block's constant chattering about whatever crosses his mind. The former Pirate analysts seem to have been hired mostly to talk about their own careers rather than the game being played in front of them. The game seems to be nothing more than the excuse for putting the announcers in the booth to entertain us. I really wonder if any fans actually enjoy the format of these broadcasts. I find them cringe worthy. Now we're watching Brown and Capps look for napkins after eating their ice cream. Really??????


Have the ratings numbers for the games been made available recently?  If so, how do they compare with the past few years?  It's hard to imagine they can be better, or even comparable.  There are lots of diehard fans in this area, like us, but there's only so much bad play and nonsense coming from the broadcasters that one can take.



When I used to listen to the games on the radio nightly, I loved listening to Brown.  I felt him to be both knowledgeable and genuine.  But you've been describing a different guy of late and that's disappointing.


I don't know about their ratings. But I'm certain that people who watch the games do so because they are fans of the team. If the team is bad, fans will either watch anyway because they are diehard fans or they will not watch. I can't imagine there's a large segment of fans who say, "the team is bad but I watch anyway because the announcers are entertaining."



I agree that Brown was always a good PBP announcer except for his obsession with nicknames and catch phrases. Bob Prince was famous for that and I believe Brown wants to be his own version of Prince. The difference was that Prince seemed to come upon nicknames naturally and Brown forces them because he needs to find nicknames. And if Prince said "a bug on a rug" we knew it was a ball scooting past the OFers on the turf. A "HR in an elevator shaft" was a mile high pop up. "Out by a gnat's eyelash" was a very close play. A "hoover" was a DP. But "trip, trip, triple' or "zip, zap kazoo" don't paint a picture. It's just Brown trying to be entertaining.



I think he changed when Steve Blass retired. They were very good friends and Blass is a very funny guy. He probably kept Brown in stitches when not on air. I spent a lot of time around Blass at fantasy camps and he is naturally clever and quick witted. His humor only came thru in short spurts during the broadcasts but he's a blast to be around. Probably could have been a nightclub comic as easily as a ballplayer. Since he retired, Brown seems to think he has to take over the role of the funny guy in the booth and tries to do it much more than Blass did. And Brown just isn't a funny guy no matter how much he laughs at his own comments.



But I don't think the announcers call the shots in the booth. Producers have to be dictating how often the camera is on the booth. We get numerous camera shots of the announcers talking to one another. For some reason the producers seem to think we want to look at the announcers when they talk. Then the producers think it would enhance the broadcast of the game if Robbie brought ice cream to the booth and we could watch them all talk about it. And they must have thought that segment was so entertaining that they had to milk it even further by having the cameras show us the announcers looking for napkins after they ate. I don't know who produces the broadcasts but I suspect they don't have experience in sports broadcasting. Maybe they pride themselves on the production values and see themselves as providing an entertaining product, anchored by the announcers, only a portion of which depends on the game action.

Ah, there is a secret to watching the game. The mute button. At least cuts off the sound. Doesn't help when they bring the camera to the booth but I do other things then. And when Robbie . . .

And now, back to the game that was played on the field:



Really nice start by Contreras. Only 2 runs allowed over 7 innings offers hope that he is the real deal.



While it was a bit of a meatball pitch, good to see Cruz connect.



Only 1 run off of Ordozzi does not bode well for the rest of this series.



With so many of the rookies struggling to adjust, now that one of them, Castro (a surprise to me), is showing signs of growth, he needs to continue playing every day after Hayes returns. Also, put him in the 2 hole, bat Reynolds 3rd, and move Hayed down to 5th or 6th.



I guess we also have the answer as to why the Pirates have so many 'color men' in the booth (Walk, Wehner, Capps, Young, and Walker, with Blass stopping in now and then) --- it increases the number of baseball stories to rotate and keeps them a bit fresher, and most importantly, serves as a distraction from the product on the field.

745850575C7B4C5A4A390 wrote: And now, back to the game that was played on the field:



Really nice start by Contreras.  Only 2 runs allowed over 7 innings offers hope that he is the real deal.



While it was a bit of a meatball pitch, good to see Cruz connect. 



Only 1 run off of Ordozzi does not bode well for the rest of this series.



With so many of the rookies struggling to adjust, now that one of them, Castro (a surprise to me), is showing signs of growth, he needs to continue playing every day after Hayes returns.  Also, put him in the 2 hole, bat Reynolds 3rd, and move Hayed down to 5th or 6th.



I guess we also have the answer as to why the Pirates have so many 'color men' in the booth (Walk, Wehner, Capps, Young, and Walker, with Blass stopping in now and then) --- it increases the number of baseball stories to rotate and keeps them a bit fresher, and most importantly, serves as a distraction from the product on the field.


Very impressed with Contreras. And loved the moonshot by Cruz. If he can just stop getting himself out by not knowing what to swing at. Also agree about Castro. He's hitting .326 since being recalled. He and Marcano are the ones making the most contribution among all the prospects given a chance thus year.

5B777F787354637565160 wrote: And now, back to the game that was played on the field:



Really nice start by Contreras.  Only 2 runs allowed over 7 innings offers hope that he is the real deal.



While it was a bit of a meatball pitch, good to see Cruz connect. 



Only 1 run off of Ordozzi does not bode well for the rest of this series.



With so many of the rookies struggling to adjust, now that one of them, Castro (a surprise to me), is showing signs of growth, he needs to continue playing every day after Hayes returns.  Also, put him in the 2 hole, bat Reynolds 3rd, and move Hayed down to 5th or 6th.



I guess we also have the answer as to why the Pirates have so many 'color men' in the booth (Walk, Wehner, Capps, Young, and Walker, with Blass stopping in now and then) --- it increases the number of baseball stories to rotate and keeps them a bit fresher, and most importantly, serves as a distraction from the product on the field.






it doesn't bother me that much that the Bucs have rookies who struggle to adjust. However, we need some by year two to be as successful as the Braves young players: Acuna, Riley, Swanson, and now it looks like Harris. So far the Bucs have Reynolds.

Bothers me that we have enough players at all experience levels who don't match up well to the competition. Hence, our record. Not only this year, either.



I don't care if Cherington gets kids out of the womb. If they can play, bring them on.



But, that hasn't exactly been the case, has it?