Rob Dibble Fired As Washington Nationals Television Analyst
Nasty Boy
Back on August 24, we posted the story of then current Washington Nationals television analyst Rob Dibble basically calling Nationals pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg soft and to “suck it up.” Now Dibble has been fired by MASN and the Nationals as the team’s television analyst. Many will point to those comments he made about Strasburg as for the reason he was fired and probably correct in that assessment. However anyone that lives in the Washington DC area or is a subscriber to the MLB package like myself knows he was absolutely no Vin Scully.
The Nationals haven’t named a permanent replacement but have asked Ray Knight, who isn’t a hell of a lot better, till fill in for the time being.
Vin Scully Gets An Introduction To A Mullet
Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully is one of the best and sadly one of the few great ones the game of baseball has left. The other night Scully got his first introduction to a mullet hairstyle courtesy of Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki’s. Scully being old school naturally thinks of a fish and not NASCAR.
It proves you can teach an old dog new tricks as Vin is 82 and just learned what a mullet is, so I’d say they are wrong.
R.I.P. Ernie Harwell
"He took his cut, and now he takes his seat."
It’s no secret the state of Michigan has been hit extremely hard this year. Everything from the problems with the automakers, Detroit Lions going 0-16. When the state tried to rally behind the universities that bare it’s name, they saw the Michigan State basketball team get man-handled in its own backyard during the championship game and the University of Michigan football team lose to its three rivals as well as finishing the season 3-9.
But some really sad news came from Detroit as legendary Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell passed away at the age of 92 from a cancerous tumor in his bile duct. The Hall of Famer Harwell declined surgery or treatment saying he was ready for a new adventure. Harwell called baseball games for Tiger fans for 42 years, together they went hand in hand and it’s hard to listen to Tigers games today and not reminisce Harwell’s soft-spoken southern accent calling the game. Fans probably know Harwell best for his catchy home run call, “that one is looooooooong gone,” and his creativity in naming off random Michigan cities as hometowns for fans who grabbed foul balls.
“He stood there like the house by the side of the road,” he might say of a batter taking a called third strike.
To me, the list of great baseball announcers is a short one of Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell and the late Harry Kalas and Jack Buck. Thanks you the memories. I can’t help but admire how he conducted himself, even to the very end.
I say thank you for the memories
Vin Scully Will Tickle Your Ears Once Again In 2010
TOP 5 ALL TIME
Vin Scully who is one of baseballs greatest announcers of all time has decided to stick around the broadcast booth in 2010 and do what he does best, announce Los Angeles Dodgers games.
Scully who turns 82 later this month, has seen his share of amazing moments through his 60 years as a play-by-play guy. There was Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series…
“Got him! The greatest game ever pitched in baseball history, by Don Larsen! A no-hitter, a perfect game in a World Series. Never in the history of the game has it ever happened in a World Series. And so our hats off to Don Larsen — no runs, no hits, no errors, no walks, no baserunners. The final score: The Yankees: two runs, five hits and no errors. The Dodgers: No runs, no hits, no errors… in fact, nothing at all.”
And another ace for Sandy Koufax in 1965…
“And Sandy Koufax, whose name will always remind you of strikeouts, did it with a flourish: he struck out the last six consecutive batters—so when he wrote his name in capital letters in the record books, that K stands out even more than the O-U-F-A-X.”
Game 6 of the 1986 World Series which Boston Red Sox fan will never forget…
“Little roller up along first… behind the bag! It gets through Buckner!! Here comes Knight and the Mets win it!”
Scully was there for Fernando Valenzuela’s 1990 perfect game as well…
“If you have a sombrero, throw it to the sky!”
But quite possibly the most important call for Scully came on April 8, 1974 when Hank Aaron nailed his 715th career home run…
“What a marvelous moment for baseball. What a marvelous moment for Atlanta and the state of Georgia. What a marvelous moment for the country and the world. A black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol. And it is a great moment for all of us, and particularly Hank Aaron.”
If you’ve never heard Vin Scully call a game then your only doing yourself the injustice, his words are like strokes of a paintbrush and it will be hard to replace greatness once he is gone but at least we won’t have to worry about that in the 2010 season.
Ernie Harwell Diagnosed With Incurable Cancer
"He took his cut, and now he takes his seat."
It’s no secret the state of Michigan has been hit extremely hard this year. Everything from the problems with the automakers, Detroit Lions going 0-16. When the state tried to rally behind the universities that bare it’s name, they saw the Michigan State basketball team get man-handled in its own backyard during the championship game and the University of Michigan football team lose to its three rivals as well as finishing the season 3-9.
But some really sad news came from Detroit today as legendary Detroit Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his bile duct. The 91-year old Harwell has declined surgery or treatment and the cancer will likely be terminal for the Hall of Famer. Harwell called baseball games for Tiger fans for 42 years. Harwell and Tigers baseball goes hand in hand and it’s hard to listen to Tigers games today and not reminisce Harwell’s soft-spoken southern accent calling the game. Fans probably know Harwell best for his catchy home run call, “that one is looooooooong gone,” and his creativity in naming off random Michigan cities as hometowns for fans who grabbed foul balls.
“He stood there like the house by the side of the road,” he might say of a batter taking a called third strike.
Harwell knows what his diagnosis means and he is taking it in admirable stride:
“We don’t know how long this lasts. It could be a year, it could be much less than a year, much less than a half a year. Who knows? Whatever’s in store, I’m ready for a new adventure. That’s the way I look at it.”
“I’d like to thank them for their loyalty and support over the years. And their affection, which I don’t know whether I deserve or not, but I accept it. And also, to let them know that when I heard the news, that I had this cancer, that I had a feeling of security and serenity…but I also had a feeling of acceptance because of my belief in Jesus and the Lord,” speaking about his many admirers across America said Harwell.
To me, the list of great baseball announcers is a short one of Vin Scully, Ernie Harwell and the late Harry Kalas and Jack Buck. Thanks you the memories. I can’t help but admire how he conducts himself, even to the very end.
