FS1 Booth: Pierzynski, Wainwright, Amin

[Seth Stohs]

I wasn't a fan of AJ Pierzynski as a player. His perceived arrogance on the field annoyed me, and I thought it would in the booth too. 

Adam Wainwright just finished playing, so I don't expect him to add anything more than things he might do or about players he's faced over the years. 

Adam Amin is the play-by-play guy.

I was surprised in Game 1 that I was actually really impressed with the call of the game. That doesn't mean I will be in the remainder of the games, but for one game, I thought they did well.

Unlike many of the national guys, AJ does have a relationship with the Twins and has done several of their games, and has played against the organization. And I do think he is good in terms of analysis. I think he does a nice job of just calling it as he sees it and analyzing. 

I actually think Wainwright did a nice job in explaining some things from a pitcher's perspective. He also didn't force things. He didn't overanalyze and talk just to talk. 

And I thought Amin did a nice job of using both of them and calling the game. 

Overall, did they talk more knowledgeably about the Astros? Of course, they're the team that has been to the ALCS the last 5-6 years. We all know a ton about them. But they had a good enough knowledge of the Twins players. 

There was praise for Verlander... as their should have been. But they also fully acknowledged his early innings struggles, but he worked out of them. They were honest about Ryan Pressly's track record in equal parts with his 2nd half struggles. 

So yeah, I thought they did a nice job... I don't expect it to be a Twins broadcast team. I understand the Astros history. But I thought the conversation and analysis were very fair, very good.

Do you agree? Disagree? Discuss. 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I agree and I too am a little surprised.  I thought that AJ was really knowledgeable, combining his own understanding of baseball and converting most of it into simple terms for the audience.  I never expect a national broadcast team to be all that versed in Minnesota Twins information -- I distinctly remember an announcer being "surprised" that the Twins were using Mauer at first base about two years after he was no longer a catcher.  I'm also not trying to demean AJ, I both liked him as a player and he did net us some very nice trade returns, and I speak as a guy with a face for radio -- but the guy has a face for radio.

[big dog]

Too much talking. Way too much talking. Too much talking over each other. Too much talking about Verlander's family. Too much talking. Missing pitches because we had see shots of his wife and daughter, or him smiling at the crowd? Ridiculous.

I think my feelings are clear.

[Seth Stohs]

7 minutes ago, big dog said:

Too much talking. Way too much talking. Too much talking over each other. Too much talking about Verlander's family. Too much talking. Missing pitches because we had see shots of his wife and daughter, or him smiling at the crowd? Ridiculous.

I think my feelings are clear.

I mean, the guys in the booth don't decide what is shown on TV. 

[CRF]

I'm generally not a fan of the three person booth. Too much chatter. The PBP guy is doing his job and does most of the talking calling the game, and the other two guys are trying to talk and get their points across. Sometimes all of them are talking over one another, or interrupting one another. It's one person too many. It's even worse when they have three people in the booth for a football game. I'm ok with just two...PBP and analyst. 

[tony&rodney]

Cory Provus is a good listen, but I really enjoyed most of the national broadcast yesterday. The Twins television broadcast can be painful due to the over the top homerism even though that is expected. A. J. has a good handle on the game. Most of his comments are right on. An example late in the game was when he chided the Twins batters for swinging at breaking pitches up 2-0 in the count in the 9th inning. The crew stayed away from any controversy as well, which is good. There were several strike three calls that should have been ball four but the pitches were close and the broadcast team avoided unnecessary criticism. Wainwright gave  the pitcher's view on Wallner by citing his weakness on high fastballs, although that is the case for others as well. I agree that yesterdays game was handled well by the broadcast team.

[FlyingFinn]

They are off to a rough start tonight, practically begging for a Polanco steal attempt (with his recent injuries, don't think he's going anywhere). Then, they are talking about it being a smart move to get Correa up in the order, to #4, implying it's because of how he has hit so far. The Twins lineup is just so different against lh's and it think it's much more about that. I expect Correa in the 5 hote on Tuesday as he's looked better than Kirilloff so far.

[Shaitan]

I like AJ on TV. Not so much on the field...

He's also been on TV a lot, and I think he's learned from his experience.

[Aggies7]

Honestly I enjoyed Michael Kay and ARod better than this crew 

[Teflon]

I share your sentiments about AJ in the booth. Not a fan of Wainwright, however. Maybe he'll grow on me as he gets more experience but I didn't think he was adding much and there was a lack of chemistry between him and AJ. 

Speaking of a 3-man booth, I really liked when the Twins did it this year with either Perkins & Morneau or Plouffe & Morneau joining Dick. Pairing the ex-teammates made everyone more candid. It was fun to hear Morneau loosen up a bit. I hope the Twins consider doing it more in 2024.

[Rosterman]

I turn off the TV volume and have ALexa play WCCO.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I said this in the game thread - I’m annoyed at how much I like AJ as an announcer.  He’s really good.  Insightful, funny, down-to-earth, self-deprecating.

It’s also pretty cool that the Twins traded AJ to the Giants for Francisco Liriano in 2003, who was traded to the [Blue Jays] [edited to] White Sox for Eduardo Escobar in 2012, who was traded  for Jhoan Duran in 2018.  

Twenty years later, AJ in the booth, Duran closing out the win.

[kenneth frank]

I enjoyed the broadcast team but I agree, three in the booth is too many, to much talking. I thought AJ was particularly good with his analysis but they could do better on descriptions of individual player histories... in particular the non-house hold name players history. A little more homework needed to be done before the broadcast rather than rely on the script handed to them.

[JDBrocks]

I think Wainwright could be good, but I don't think he's got a feel for the game quite yet to know when to pick his spots.

AJ is pretty good, although he does seem at times to talk about things from one teams perspective for long stretches of the game. "The Astros need to..." for 3 or 4 innings.

Adam Amin is great at his job. As a Bulls fan and season ticket holder, we're lucky to get him calling most of our home games. The Chicago market has some really talented guys in Amin and Benetti.

[HokieRif]

They definitely seemed to know more about the Astros in general.  They lost me a bit last night when someone, might have been Amin (it wasn't AJ) asked something like "what was that vest he had on?" after Farmer's home run.  This coming after at least one mention of how the Twins were one of the better HR hitting teams this year... The vest isn't new, and you would think they would have seen it at least a few times this season on the highlight reel.  Instead it seemed like a brand-new celebration that they brought into the dugout just for the post season.

[HokieRif]

10 hours ago, Aggies7 said:

Honestly I enjoyed Michael Kay and ARod better than this crew 

[strumdatjag]

When AJ was a player, I hated him.  Now that he’s a broadcaster, I hate him a little less.   (Channeling Ozzie here).  

[strumdatjag]

Just now, strumdatjag said:

When AJ was a player, I hated him.  Now that he’s a broadcaster, I hate him a little less.   (Channeling Ozzie here).  

Actually, I thought his playing style was entertaining. And like him as an announcer too.  Then again, I’m also a pro wrestling fan, AEW more than WWE

[Beast]

Wainwright was absolutely gushing over Lopez all night.

[Squirrel]

4 hours ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

I said this in the game thread - I’m annoyed at how much I like AJ as an announcer.  He’s really good.  Insightful, funny, down-to-earth, self-deprecating.

It’s also pretty cool that the Twins traded AJ to the Giants for Francisco Liriano in 2003, who was traded to the Blue Jays for Eduardo Escobar in 2012, who was traded  for Jhoan Duran in 2018.  

Twenty years later, AJ in the booth, Duran closing out the win.

Liriano was traded to the White Sox for Escobar, not the Blue Jays. Just a little nit in your lineage there. Still ends the same way, though. 🙂

[2wins87]

1 hour ago, strumdatjag said:

Actually, I thought his playing style was entertaining. And like him as an announcer too.  Then again, I’m also a pro wrestling fan, AEW more than WWE

I definitely got the impression that AJ knew what he was doing as a player being a heel, to the pro wrestling point.

You liked him if he was on your team but couldn't stand him as an opponent, and I think getting under the other team's skin was often very much the point.

[jaimedude]

It's awesome that the AJ Pierzynski trade in 2003 still paid off dividends in 2018 with adding Johan Duran. I had forgotten the Eduardo Escobar trade in 2018 did that. That is a cool tidbit and bit of history for 2023.  

[jmlease1]

did not like the crew one bit on sunday night. wainwright added very little to the broadcast, and while I appreciated him being so into Lopez's statement after coming out of the game, I would have liked more from him in breaking down how he was attacking the Houston lineup. Lot of fluff, little substance from him. AJ talked a lot, but wasn't particularly insightful, and he and Amin were both just repeating too many obvious things on the field for my liking. (I get they were both trying to pull Wainwright in, but unless someone can tie it to the action or the players on the field, doing a "well, in your day..." bit isn't very interesting most of the time)

If my friend's teenager can spot that Correa was asking the ump about the catcher blocking the sliding lane when he was thrown out in the 7th, I expect the booth to not be confused about it.

unimpressive and superficial presentation from the booth, IMHO. Verducci's dugout interviews were ok. Still better than the useless babble from the studio, I guess, but they can do better than this for a playoff game.

[IndianaTwin]

7 hours ago, AlwaysinModeration said:

I said this in the game thread - I’m annoyed at how much I like AJ as an announcer.  He’s really good.  Insightful, funny, down-to-earth, self-deprecating.

It’s also pretty cool that the Twins traded AJ to the Giants for Francisco Liriano in 2003, who was traded to the Blue Jays for Eduardo Escobar in 2012, who was traded  for Jhoan Duran in 2018.  

Twenty years later, AJ in the booth, Duran closing out the win.

So the A.J. trade was even better than I thought!

[IndianaTwin]

4 hours ago, HokieRif said:

They definitely seemed to know more about the Astros in general.  They lost me a bit last night when someone, might have been Amin (it wasn't AJ) asked something like "what was that vest he had on?" after Farmer's home run.  This coming after at least one mention of how the Twins were one of the better HR hitting teams this year... The vest isn't new, and you would think they would have seen it at least a few times this season on the highlight reel.  Instead it seemed like a brand-new celebration that they brought into the dugout just for the post season.

I'm pretty sure it was Wainwright who asked about the vest. I'll give him more of a pass than I would have Amin or AJ. 

I thought Wainwright added more beneficial pitcher's perspective than I usually get in a broadcast (other than Steve Stone, whose been at it a long time).  

[AlwaysinModeration]

3 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Liriano was traded to the White Sox for Escobar, not the Blue Jays. Just a little nit in your lineage there. Still ends the same way, though. 🙂

Ha—I even looked up the transaction sections for Liriano and Escobar before I typed it, but still got it wrong!  Thanks for correcting me.  Anyway, even better symmetry, since AJ went on to win his ring with the White Sox.

[BillyBallLives]

Casting my + vote for AJ, not just yesterday, but for his full body of work, several other games I've heard  him work. His career in broadcasting will continue to grow and expand. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

2 hours ago, 2wins87 said:

I definitely got the impression that AJ knew what he was doing as a player being a heel, to the pro wrestling point.

You liked him if he was on your team but couldn't stand him as an opponent, and I think getting under the other team's skin was often very much the point.

You have to admit, the fact that the White Sox created a “Punch AJ” campaign for him to make the All Star Team in the Last Player Vote-In was absolutely perfect from every angle.  

[wavedog]

I am enjoying the broadcast team - particularly Adam Wainwright's observations.     Seems a lot fresher and covering new material than the typical broadcast group.  

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

22 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

I wasn't a fan of AJ Pierzynski as a player. His perceived arrogance on the field annoyed me, and I thought it would in the booth too. 

Adam Wainwright just finished playing, so I don't expect him to add anything more than things he might do or about players he's faced over the years. 

Adam Amin is the play-by-play guy.

I was surprised in Game 1 that I was actually really impressed with the call of the game. That doesn't mean I will be in the remainder of the games, but for one game, I thought they did well.

Unlike many of the national guys, AJ does have a relationship with the Twins and has done several of their games, and has played against the organization. And I do think he is good in terms of analysis. I think he does a nice job of just calling it as he sees it and analyzing. 

I actually think Wainwright did a nice job in explaining some things from a pitcher's perspective. He also didn't force things. He didn't overanalyze and talk just to talk. 

And I thought Amin did a nice job of using both of them and calling the game. 

Overall, did they talk more knowledgeably about the Astros? Of course, they're the team that has been to the ALCS the last 5-6 years. We all know a ton about them. But they had a good enough knowledge of the Twins players. 

There was praise for Verlander... as their should have been. But they also fully acknowledged his early innings struggles, but he worked out of them. They were honest about Ryan Pressly's track record in equal parts with his 2nd half struggles. 

So yeah, I thought they did a nice job... I don't expect it to be a Twins broadcast team. I understand the Astros history. But I thought the conversation and analysis were very fair, very good.

Do you agree? Disagree? Discuss. 

Agreed. Was dreading the broadcasts but I think they did really well. Enjoyed Wainright's perspective.