Morneau

[AZTwin]

You folks remember Herb Carneal on 830? He was pretty monotonic, and had dry sense of humor. I like announcers and commentators that are satisfied to let the game remain the focus of the broadcast, radio or TV.

He was the best. I grew up listening to him. Just about every game and it was as I was becoming a fan.

[Trov]

 

I have to totally disagree, Morneau is by far, the worst. Analyzes every single pitch, monotone voice, and never shuts up. As a color commentator it's his job to comment, like Bert did. I know I'm in the minority on this forum, but there have been many articles in the Strib with many commenters agreeing with me. My wife and I watch every single game and she agrees, we turn the volume way down.

He is very monotone.  However, I am of the opinion that color guys on TV should talk more than play by play guys.  I mean do I really need to hear the play by play guy tell me what I just saw?  On radio the play by play guy needs to tell a story for me to see in my mind, but on TV they are telling me what my eyes are watching.  A good color guy will give context as to why players or teams are doing things.  I am not saying Justin is that guy, but your statement that the color guy talks too much I will have to disagree with.  If it was the radio broadcast I would fully agree with you. 

[woolywoolhouse]

You want to get Morneau more personality in the booth? Require him to dress like this for every broadcast.

 

http://apps.startribune.com/blogs/user_images/randmid_1262633643_justin-morneau-rob-bowen.jpg

[Don't Feed the Greed Guy]

Aaron Gleeman and John Bonnes have really positive things to say about Morneau toward the end of yesterday's "Gleeman and the Geek" podcast. A good riff on Morneau's understated demeanor: https://gleemangeek.libsyn.com/episode-520-opening-weekend

[shortround81]

 

You folks remember Herb Carneal on 830? He was pretty monotonic, and had dry sense of humor. I like announcers and commentators that are satisfied to let the game remain the focus of the broadcast, radio or TV.

 

True. I always thought he was the steady one and John Gordon was super-jazzy compared to him. I think they complimented each other's styles well.

[Longdistancetwins]

 

He was the best. I grew up listening to him. Just about every game and it was as I was becoming a fan.

I, too grew up listening to Herb Carneal in the 1970s, in New Jersey, no less.  I could often get WCCO on clear nights but only after the local public station signed off at 11:00 Eastern time (just in time for the relievers to blow the game, I used to lament).  I had to go to my older brothers' attic bedroom to get reception, and they were very accommodating to my sitting in a corner of their room in the late hours.  The activity was known to us as "listening to Herb."  

[USAFChief]

Morneau does nothing for me. I find him mind numbingly dull.

 

And he is one of my favorite Twins ever.

[strumdatjaguar]

I’d prefer more LaTroy and less Justin. It would be best to have AJ, but he has a national gig with FS1.

[Nine of twelve]

 

On radio the play by play guy needs to tell a story for me to see in my mind,

Corey Provus does a very good job of this. Dan Gladden does a very poor job of this.

[Squirrel]

Corey Provus does a very good job of this. Dan Gladden does a very poor job of this.

When I was visiting my Mom last month, we were out for a long Sunday drive and had on a radio broadcast of a ST game when she declared ‘This announcer is terrible. I don’t like him, at all.’ I said, ‘Mom, that’s Dan Gladden.’ She said, ‘No it’s not.’ So I said, ‘Yes, that’s Gladden.’ Then she paused and said, ‘Well, he is not good.’ She doesn’t listen to many games as she’s out of state and gets a cable package, so doesn’t listen to radio games. While some might think she’s just an old lady and what does she know, she knows announcers. During summers years ago, the game was always on the radio. One summer, she even sat and score-kept every game while she listened. Not sure why, but she did. Couldn’t do that if it were only Gladden in the booth because you’d hardly know what was really happening to properly score a game.

[Trov]

 

Corey Provus does a very good job of this. Dan Gladden does a very poor job of this.

I agree Corey Provus is good radio guy.  If you ever got to listen to Vin Scully he was the best and understood the difference when he was on radio than when he was on TV.  If you ever listen to teams that are cheap and only have one crew, like Pittsburgh does, their radio broadcasts are the worst.  This is because they are doing TV and the radio just picks up the feed, so when they say things like "and you can see there," or "if you look here" which no I cannot because I am listening on the radio.  You need to tell me what is going on. 

 

Also, when on radio you cannot have dead air or people will think they have lost feed, so you need to keep talking.  Scully would transition between stories and the game like none other.  

[snotboogie]

 

You folks remember Herb Carneal on 830? He was pretty monotonic, and had dry sense of humor. I like announcers and commentators that are satisfied to let the game remain the focus of the broadcast, radio or TV.

Oh yes I do. He was the soundtrack of my summers growing up. When I went to visit Cooperstown, I made sure I paid homage at his plaque in the broadcaster section. Herb was great in an understated way. Very Minnesotan even though he was from Virginia.

 

I like Justin, although he could learn from Herb that “dead air” is ok. It was nice to hear Wally the Beer Man loud and clear once in a while. 

[snotboogie]

 

 

Also, when on radio you cannot have dead air or people will think they have lost feed, so you need to keep talking.  Scully would transition between stories and the game like none other.  

I gotta disagree. Maybe WCCO did a great job of micing the crowd, but I always remember hearing the murmur of the crowd when the announcers weren’t talking. Never thought the game was tuned out. 

[TheLeviathan]

I really like Morneau, but Hawkins is the best guy they bring up there.  I feel like a three man booth with those guys would be ideal.  Hawkins will bring the conversation out of Justin and bring the energy and Morneau will continue to give really good analysis.

[lecroy24fan]

 

I gotta disagree. Maybe WCCO did a great job of micing the crowd, but I always remember hearing the murmur of the crowd when the announcers weren’t talking. Never thought the game was tuned out. 

Something has happened this year though. I was listening to the games early last week and there was quite a bit of dead air. No crowd noise, baseball noises, anything. I noticed it last year on occasion but wasn't listening as much as I do now.

[D. Hocking]

 

Sometimes there are guys that for whatever reason, just rub you the wrong way and it's tough to like them.  For me, that's Paul Allen doing Vikings games.  

You are not alone.  If I am listening to the game while driving, I often have to flip the station for awhile to get a breather from him.  He would make Gilbert Gottfried seem understated.  I think he has a decent radio voice, if he would just tone it done he would be a lot more bearable.  I have not listened to his radio show in a long time.  That was even more painful.

 

I also like Corey.  I have grown to like Dan with Corey, but I think Corey does the lion share of the work now.  I remember in the semi-distant past getting in the car and getting frustrated because more than an inning would go by before I would get a score update.

[Aggies7]

provus is fantastic. wish he was the telecast guy

[Dodecahedron]

 

Corey Provus does a very good job of this. Dan Gladden does a very poor job of this.

 

The only good thing about Gladden is he will occasionally drop truth bombs out there. They are very short and sweet, and if you miss them you'll never hear them again, but he can give some good insight about the team and players that is happening behind the scenes that no one else will say. You could call this "putting his foot in his mouth" if you like.

 

The biggest example I can think of is when Mauer was telling everyone in spring training one year about how he was seeing the ball better thanks to his new Nike shades, and Gladden pointed out Mauer's big endorsement deal with Nike was what was really going on....

[IndianaTwin]

Some on TD have convinced me that Gladden is okay doing color. The issue is that he's so BAD in his three innings of play-by-play that it's hard to give him a break during the other innings.

 

It is such a welcome break when Gladden is on vacation and we get Provus and Atteberry. 

 

[IndianaTwin]

 

When I was visiting my Mom last month, we were out for a long Sunday drive and had on a radio broadcast of a ST game when she declared ‘This announcer is terrible. I don’t like him, at all.’ I said, ‘Mom, that’s Dan Gladden.’ She said, ‘No it’s not.’ So I said, ‘Yes, that’s Gladden.’ Then she paused and said, ‘Well, he is not good.’ She doesn’t listen to many games as she’s out of state and gets a cable package, so doesn’t listen to radio games. While some might think she’s just an old lady and what does she know, she knows announcers. During summers years ago, the game was always on the radio. One summer, she even sat and score-kept every game while she listened. Not sure why, but she did. Couldn’t do that if it were only Gladden in the booth because you’d hardly know what was really happening to properly score a game.

 

That's my kind of mom. 

 

[Nine of twelve]

 

That's my kind of mom. 

Mine too.

[Nine of twelve]

 

(Paul Allen) would make Gilbert Gottfried seem understated.  I think he has a decent radio voice, if he would just tone it done he would be a lot more bearable.

While I haven't been inside Canterbury for over 30 years I remember hearing recordings of him calling races there. I thought his vocal skills worked well in that setting.

[peterb18]

 

Morneau can be a bit robotic but he’s a good analyst and a hard worker. I’ll take that over the clownish antics and outdated analysis of a certain previous color guy.

Robotic can be fixed. Justin is already much more conversational than he was two years ago.

Disagree with your analysis. To me Bert was not clownish but humorous. And I don’t agree that Morneau’s robotic style can be fixed. You can’t change personality. 

[Dodecahedron]

 

Some on TD have convinced me that Gladden is okay doing color. The issue is that he's so BAD in his three innings of play-by-play that it's hard to give him a break during the other innings.

 

Good point. He sounds like he is sleepwalking when he is the only one in the booth.

[Dodecahedron]

 

I really like Morneau, but Hawkins is the best guy they bring up there.  I feel like a three man booth with those guys would be ideal.  Hawkins will bring the conversation out of Justin and bring the energy and Morneau will continue to give really good analysis.

 

 Hawkins is a genius. I am surprised we never heard about how smart he is when he was playing for the Twins.