To get you ready

This call by the awesome, legendary, and awesome Andres Cantor should get you ready for USA v. Ghana in the World Cup.

This is one of those cases when the language barrier does not matter.

By the way, great job by the person who put the slide show together with the goal call....I'm sorry...the GGOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL! call.

True story, I once pulled out an Andres Cantor-like goal call in a Gamblers Hockey game in Des Moines. People around me in the broadcast position there laughed. It was awesome, hilarious, and awesome.

So, you want to be an announcer?

Baseball America had this online last week, but I just got to it last night as I was playing catchup on my reading after the rainout.

I am going to leave this at the top. The starting lineups for the Rattlers in game one will be underneath this one once it gets posted.

Astros Announcers Take Hard Road To Majors

When things get a little slow on the road, Astros radio announcers Brett Dolan and Dave Raymond like to compare the paths that brought them to the major leagues.

It is a fitting game for the duo, as each of them labored through 12 years in the minors, making stops in cities like Sonoma, Calif., Beloit, Wis., and Brockton, Mass., before finally getting their big league broadcasting breaks.

Yet as they try and outdo each other with tales of the bizarre that could happen only in the minor leagues, it becomes evident that declaring a winner is neither possible, nor their goal. Briefly reliving a colorful past is enough.

A Rough Beginning

Raymond's career almost ended before it got started. He and a friend accepted a job out of college in 1995 as the broadcast team for the Southern Oregon A's (Northwest). However, the $500 a month salary turned out to be for both of them, and the free housing was a dump. After living out of his car for a few weeks, and getting shooed out of parking lots by police, Raymond quit before the season started, and left town with the team owner promising he would never work again. Ultimately, he landed a better gig with the Sonoma County Crushers of the independent Western League (now defunct).

Dolan's career got off to an equally shaky start. His first broadcasting gig was with Beloit in the Midwest League. When his paychecks dried up in the offseason, Dolan resorted to living out of the umpires clubhouse at the ballpark and giving plasma twice a week to help make ends meet.

"A lot of the people I was giving with were homeless. I said, 'I'm not homeless, I'm living in the umpires dressing room,' " Dolan recalls with a laugh. "I had a lot of closet space because of all the lockers, but there was no heat."

I am lucky -- in that my plasma donating days happened when I was working in the seedy world of Sports Information at a University of Wisconsin System School and that when I was starting with the Timber Rattlers I was also announcing for the Green Bay Gamblers to call somewhere in the vicinity of 200 games a year. Yep. Lucky.

But, seriously, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Go read it all.

Ernie Harwell: One of the Greats.

In his own words.



Here is the entire speech from the year that he won the Ford C. Frick Award. Here is the excerpt from the video above:

Baseball is the President tossing out the first ball of the season and a scrubby schoolboy playing catch with his dad on a Mississippi farm. A tall, thin old man waving a scorecard from the corner of his dugout. That's baseball. And so is the big, fat guy with a bulbous nose running home one of his (Babe Ruth's) 714 home runs.

There's a man in Mobile who remembers that Honus Wagner hit a triple in Pittsburgh forty-six years ago. That's baseball. So is the scout reporting that a sixteen year old pitcher in Cheyenne is a coming Walter Johnson. Baseball is a spirited race of man against man, reflex against reflex. A game of inches. Every skill is measured. Every heroic, every failing is seen and cheered, or booed. And then becomes a statistic.

In baseball democracy shines its clearest. The only race that matters is the race to the bag. The creed is the rulebook. Color merely something to distinguish one team's uniform from another.

Baseball is a rookie. His experience no bigger than the lump in his throat as he begins fulfillment of his dream. It's a veteran too, a tired old man of thirty-five hoping that those aching muscles can pull him through another sweltering August and September. Nicknames are baseball, names like Zeke and Pie and Kiki and Home Run and Cracker and Dizzy and Dazzy.

Baseball is the cool, clear eyes of Rogers Hornsby. The flashing spikes of Ty Cobb, an over aged pixie named Rabbit Maranville.

Baseball just a came as simple as a ball and bat. Yet, as complex as the American spirit it symbolizes. A sport, a business and sometimes almost even a religion.

Why the fairy tale of Willie Mays making a brilliant World's Series catch. And then dashing off to play stick ball in the street with his teenage pals. That's baseball. So is the husky voice of a doomed Lou Gehrig saying., "I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”

Baseball is cigar smoke, hot roasted peanuts, The Sporting News, ladies day, "Down in Front", Take Me Out to the Ball Game, and the Star Spangled Banner.

Baseball is a tongue tied kid from Georgia growing up to be an announcer and praising the Lord for showing him the way to Cooperstown. This is a game for America. Still a game for America, this baseball! Thank you.

No, Mr. Harwell. Thank you.

Jon Miller, Hall of Famer

The newest winner of the Ford C. Frick Award is Jon Miller.

Growing up in the Bay Area, Giants play-by-play man Jon Miller spent hundreds of days and nights listening to Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons call Giants games.

On Monday, Miller received the ultimate honor for a baseball broadcaster, one Hodges and Simmons each earned.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame announced that Miller was selected as the winner of the Ford C. Frick Award, given annually to recognize excellence in baseball broadcasting.

Miller, on vacation in Cartagena, Colombia, got the news in phone calls from Hall President Jeff Idelson and Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan, Miller's partner on ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" telecasts for the past 20 seasons.

"The first people I actually thought of were Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons," Miller said in a conference call.

"It really is kind of astounding to me, that I'm the recipient of the award, because Russ and Lon were larger-than-life people to me. They were as big as the biggest movie stars to me."

I just hope that if Mr. Miller says the name of the man for whom the award is named, he has better luck than his time as a hockey announcer for the California Golden Seals when he...well, here is the excerpt from From Peanuts to the Pressbox by Eli Gold.

ESPN's Jon Miller admits that during the first game he called for the NHL's California Golden Seals way back when, he got tongue-tied while trying to say, "The puck fell." Instead he said...well, you know what he said. According to Miller, ever after he has advised aspiring hockey announcers to refer to the puck as "it".

Vin is the man

I will admit to you that -- as a youngster -- I was a bit of a announcing heretic. Vin Scully drove me crazy. I couldn't stand him. There was always something, I don't know...too perfect about his calls.

I have come around on him though. The man is in the hall of fame and has been the voice of the Dodgers for 60 years...make that 60 Freaking Years...for a reason.

Here are the last 15 minutes of the game between the Dodgers and Cardinals from last night. It's Scully's radio call synched up with the TBS video.

Transcribing from just before the two minute mark.

Line drive to left...Coming up in hurry to grab it..and drop it is Holliday. Loney goes into second base...Oh, what a big break...(cheers)...(cheers)...(cheers)...Matt Holliday had the game over...and somehow...missed the ball with his glove. It hit him right in the groin...hopefully, he's wearing a cup...and it landed in front of him...You talk about a PAINful ERRor for Matt Holiday.

That is some Hall of Fame announcing right there.

That is much better than a call by another young announcer I knew.

Storytime:

One time at UW-Platteville, this young announcer...not me...tried to describe a catcher taking a foul ball off a rather sensitve area. He went with: And there is a bit of a delay as the catcher takes some time to recover from taking a foul ball off his Groinicalogical area.

I don't believe he stayed in sports broadcasting.

I remember Merle

Former Brewer announcer Merle Harmon was one of the first radio announcers I remember. From 1970-1979, he was the play-by-play announcer for the Brewers. He has passed away.

I remember having the transistor radio (yes, transistor radio) next to the bed for the west coast games and listening to the game on the porch after coming home from little league games. It was Mr. Harmon's voice that was there.

This is a story all broadcasters should take to heart.

In his book, "Voices of Summer," Smith said Harmon's first radio call came in 1949, a Class C doubleheader in Colorado.

"It lasted eight hours, the temperature was 104 and I had a headache," Harmon told his audience that day.

"Don't tell us your troubles," a listener said to him. "Broadcast the game."

I remember always stopping in at Merle Harmon's Fan Fair in Southridge Mall whenever we made the trip in there. There may still be some of that stuff in the basement at my parents house.

Bob Uecker, Harmon's partner on Brewer Broadcasts, had this statement on the Brewer website yesterday.

"Merle was a great friend and a wonderful partner in the booth, and the memories he leaves us with will be cherished forever. His dedication to family and broadcasting were second to none, and I will always be grateful for the latitude and direction he gave to me as I was entering the profession. My heart goes out to his family, and I speak for everyone at the Brewers in saying that this is a very sad day for all of us."

See the voice

Dan Walsh of Sports Bubbler.com has a three-part interview with Cory Provus, the new radio announcer of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Good stuff in there,including this: Provus has a cousin by the name of Brad Sham. You know. Brad Sham!?!? The play-by-play announcer for the Dallas Cowboys?!?! Brad Sham!

Okay, maybe I was the only one that found that interesting. But, isn't that what blogging is all about?

Hear the voice

Right Field Bleachers has an interview with Cory Provus, the new radio voice of the Brewers.

There is audio and a transcript. Here is the start:

Can you talk a little about the interview process? How did you decide you were interested in the job and how did the whole process play out?

Well, let me tell you I was interested from day one. There have been a couple of jobs that have been open the last couple of seasons, but this is the only one that I’ve applied for because of the situation for a variety of reasons. I think it’s an exciting time to be a part of this team coming off a playoff run. It’s a young, exciting team. It’s a great offense. That played a role. The fact that the Brewers call Miller Park home, which is a terrific ballpark, and the fans are tremendous both home and on the road, that was a factor. Working alongside a guy like Bob Uecker, you know, I’m a student of the game of baseball. I’ve always loved it and there’s so much about the game that I know that Bob can teach me. That was a big role as well. And then I would say to top it all of is that I’m a family guy. I’m a Midwestern guy. My family is all in the northern suburbs of Illinois and that’s where they’re at and the fact that they’re only going to be about 50 minutes away from Milwaukee really kind of made this a perfect situation for me.

The interview process was great. It started picking up steam probably in mid January and that led to some phone calls and some interviews both at the radio station and with the team. And last week, actually two weeks ago, I flew out to Arizona and I had dinner with Bob and we had a great time for three hours, just kind of talking shop for maybe five minutes and then it was just laughing and telling stories for the remaining two hours and 55 minutes. So, everything kind of just fit in perfectly for me and I’m just excited to get going.

First broadcast on WTMJ is next Wednesday.

Official

Cory Provus has been finally been announced as Jim Powell's replacement in the Milwaukee Brewer radio booth.

Bob Wolfley of the Journal-Sentinel SportsDay column charts some fan reaction.

If blog posts are representative, some Milwaukee Brewers fans are not willing to forgive new team broadcaster Cory Provus for at least two sins they think he has committed, which he really has not.

First, he grew up in Highland Park, Ill., and followed the Cubs. Horrors. Then he went on to work for the Cubs the last two seasons on WGN Radio broadcasts. Double horrors.

The fact is, had he not worked for the Cubs, Provus would not have been the broadcaster WTMJ Radio announced Monday as the replacement for Jim Powell, who left to join the Atlanta Braves.

Provus, 30, will work Brewers games on radio with Bob Uecker.

Fans being fans, they think Provus' heart and soul is owned by the rival Cubs. They ignore the notion that WTMJ and the Brewers hired a broadcast professional, not a fan.

The same complaint was heard when the voice of the Chicago Bears, Wayne Larrivee, was hired to become the voice of the Green Bay Packers. After a time, what really was a non-issue became a forgotten non-issue.

I haven't seen any blog posts, but Matt at Chuckie Hacks has been charting some of the comments at the JS Online blog.

Back to SportsDay and the process...

Steve Wexler, the Journal Broadcast Group executive vice president of television and radio operations, said in a release that the station "considered hundreds of candidates" for the job.

"Cory came out on top," Wexler said. "His enthusiasm for baseball, his strong work ethic and his play-by-play skills will make him an excellent addition to our staff."

Provus said he would have a presence on WTMJ Radio during the Brewers' offseason. He said he might be used on WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) on occasion as well. His exact role in both those areas has not been worked out.

Provus said on Feb. 2 that he had dinner with Uecker in Scottsdale, Ariz., and it went on for three hours.

"We maybe talked shop for 5 minutes, and the rest was me laughing at his stories," Provus said.

"It was as pleasant and as nice as I could have hoped for," Provus said. "I got to know Bob a little the last two years, but this was the first time I really had a chance to talk to him."

Provus said he did not view his dinner with Uecker as a kind of interview, at which he had to pass Uecker's inspection.

"I really didn't look at it that way," Provus said. "Maybe others did.

First game on WTMJ is on Wednesday, February 25.

A profile on the Timber Rattler announcer...

...the TV announcer. From the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram:

Of all the TV stations in Wisconsin that have carried Bob Brainerd's voice and image during professional and prep sporting events, Eau Claire's WEAU was the first.

His broadcasting career spans about 25 years, including calling Milwaukee Brewers games for Fox Sports Wisconsin and minor league games throughout the state for Time Warner Cable.

But he credits his first job reporting on local sports in Eau Claire as a time when he learned that people demand coverage for local teams, just as they would for the majors.

"After a while I got to see the passion everyone had for it, and I figured it out," he said during a phone interview from his Delafield home.

Brainerd spent the first 8 1/2 years of his career working for WEAU, which has been the longest he stayed at one job.

A little employment history is followed by either a typo or a mistake.

Occasionally, Brainerd gets back to Eau Claire when the Express baseball team plays the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of Appleton or the Green Bay Bullfrogs.

I'm feeling generous based on the amount of mistakes I'm making around here lately...But, when did the Midwest League add Eau Claire?

Update on that Brewer announcer story

This is what I get for not checking the main site.

The Brewers' flagship radio station has dramatically shortened the list of potential replacements for departed play-by-play man Jim Powell and could be down to a single finalist.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday that the field was down to two -- Chicago's Cory Provus and Arizona's Jeff Munn. Both men host pre- and post-game radio shows and do occasional play-by-play for their club's network of radio affiliates, and would be moving to a higher-profile position as Milwaukee's No. 2 radio voice.

MLB.com subsequently learned that Munn was out, leaving Provus, a 2000 graduate of Syracuse University, as the leading contender to join Bob Uecker in the Brewers' radio booth.

Syracuse. It's always Syracuse. It's like they've got a decent broadcasting school that has churned out high level announcers the way that Penn State used to develop linebackers.

Someone else was a candidate, too. This paragraph not only tells that story, it also give me a pretty good excuse to use.

Andy Masur, the San Diego Padres' No. 2 man on radio who has roots in Illinois, withdrew his name from consideration earlier this week. He worked for WGN in Chicago from 1999-2006 and would have been a strong candidate to replace Powell because he fit WTMJ's top criteria: He has some experience calling Major Legue games.

So, Cory, if you have any questions about the Brewer prospects in Appleton, you know where to reach me.

Then, there were two

There are a pair of finalists to replace Jim Powell in the Brewer broadcast booth.

Cory Provus, who handles the Chicago Cubs pre-game show for WGN Radio, may be the leading candidate, followed by Jeff Munn, who handles pre- and post-game radio shows for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

There should be word soon, if not already.

I haven't mentioned this before...

But, now seems like a good time.

A lot of you have probably noticed that Jim Powell is leaving the Brewer broadcast booth and taking a job in Atlanta.

A few of you have e-mailed -- Hi, Uncle Jerry -- to ask if I would be going after the opening at Miller Park. Truthfully, I thought about at least sending something in just to get my name out there for the future...for about a day.

A few things stood in the way:

Unlike most of the radio announcers I know, I do not have a tape (or what the kids these days call a CD) and resume ready to go at a moments notice.

By the time I heard about the opening and where to send the information, it was too late to get something down to Milwaukee. The need for me to be on the phone and in meetings selling for this Timber Rattler season took precedence over taking a day and a half to put together something in a rush that would have gotten me laughed out of the building.

In the end I am -- above most things -- a realist.

WTMJ-AM (Radio 620) and the Milwaukee Brewers have narrowed their search for a replacement for broadcaster Jim Powell, who is leaving to become the play-by-play for the Atlanta Braves.

All of the finalists have major-league experience. Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers' executive vice president for business operations, said today that both the franchise and WTMJ hope to have a replacement in time for the first spring-training game on Feb. 25 in Arizona.

The main point/stumbling block is in bold.

Powell remains classy to the end.

The future of this team looks bright and of course Bob and his new partner will do a great job bringing the games to you. I was not in any way trying to get another job...my family loves Milwaukee and I loved my job. Going to my hometown to work for the team I rooted for while growing up is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I just could not ignore it. I hope you understand. How many people on this earth besides Ueck and now me actually get to broadcast the Major League games of the team with which they grew up? Can you name anyone else? My family and I will always love Milwaukee and I will continue to follow the Brewers very closely. I hope the Braves and the Crew meet for the NL title every year!

That's part of a thank you message he placed on a Brewer message board over at Sports Bubbler.com

Thanks to Right Field Bleachers for making those links easy to find.

Wonder what this means

The Peoria Chiefs have been on WOAM for the last several years. Now, this happened.

So did the computers demand a raise? That's my question after hearing that radio stations WOAM 1350 and WPMJ-FM 94.3 shut down last week.

These were two stations that basically ran in an empty building (now owned by the bank) picking up satellite signals from afar.

Bob Kelly, who owns the stations, lays the blame for the closings on the economy. Both stations were on the block for years but no one snapped them up. How odd that a small AM station in need of a signal boost and a minor FM station wouldn't draw a hungry crowd of suitors?

Anything from our Peoria reader?

Good night, Skip

Growing up when I did and enjoying baseball as much as I did, it was hard not to catch an Atlanta Braves game on Superstation TBS.

Skip Caray was not nearly as flamboyant as his father, but he was a great announcer and he made Braves games seem interesting even when the Braves themselves were not.

Skip died on Sunday.

Skip Caray, a voice of the Atlanta Braves for 33 years and part of a family line of baseball broadcasters that included Hall of Famer Harry Caray, died at home on Sunday, the team said. He was 68.

The cause of death was not immediately known, but various health problems had limited Caray to calling only Braves home games this season.

"We've all lost a very good friend," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "For me, he was a good buddy -- at the park and away from the park. We always had a lot of great laughs. He will be very sorely missed."

You got that right, Bobby.

I am happy that I found one of my favorite Caray family stories in this old Sports Illustrated article.

Harry Caray , in point of fact, used to interrupt his Cardinal broadcast every night at 8:30 to say, "Good night, Skip." This became something of an embarrassment to Skip when he took up football at Webster Groves High School outside of St. Louis . "Just before the snap," recalls Skip, "the big guy across the line from me would always snarl, 'Good night, Skip.' "

The call he is best known for is Sid Bream's dash for home in Game 7 of the 1992 NLCS against the Pirates.

But there were so many other.

Good night, Skip.

Way to make the news, Brad

See what happens when I take some time off. I miss stuff like this:

Announcer reports theft from the Cove

The Lansing Lugnuts split their four-game series with the South Bend Silverhawks last week, but the visitors' radio announcer came away from the trip a loser.

Announcer Brad Tillery reported to South Bend police the theft of his headphones, binoculars, carrying case and a Mr. Potato Head toy from the Coveleski Stadium broadcast booth, according to a police report. The theft was believed to have occurred between 11 p.m. July 1 and 3 p.m. July 2, when Tillery showed up to call the next night's game.

Tillery had received the Mr. Potato Head as a gift from Lugnuts Booster Club member LeAnn Cook, an avid minor league baseball fan who happens to live in Mishawaka.

Tillery makes occasional references to the toy on the air, sometimes mentioning it as if it is a real person. He dresses the toy up in different outfits, and only changes the outfit when the Lugnuts lose.

We baseball announcers are a different breed, are we not?

When reached Saturday by The Tribune, Tillery, 24, declined comment. Cook also declined to speak publicly when reached, saying she was following the wishes of "higher-ups" in the Lugnuts organization.

South Bend police officer Derek Dieter, who took the theft report, said Tillery quickly replaced the Mr. Potato Head.

"He said it was like a good luck charm," Dieter said. "He said it had all the accessories. It was the deluxe model."

In all seriousness, Dieter said the items had an estimated value of about $1,000. Dieter said there were no signs of forced entry into the broadcast booth.

You want a picture? You got this Lansing State Journal picture.
I had a good luck charm calling hockey playoffs with UW-Superior. It was a shot glass that was shaped like a hockey skate that I picked up in Bemidji, MN. It worked...right up to the Frozen Four...Well, it still works, just not for wins.

Predictions...I got one prediction

Dave Skoczen is the radio announcer for the five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time Midwest League Champion West Michigan Whitecaps. And he is a braver man than I.

It starts out okay.

Dave Skoczen's childhood friends always knew he'd end up working in radio.

Growing up in Ohio, Skoczen would narrate their Nerf basketball games as if he already was auditioning for a radio position.

For a while, he thought he might want to be a weatherman.

Sounds like the childhood of a certain radio announcer with a blog you may know...Except for the whole Ohio thing...and the weatherman thing...and the childhood friends thing.

Then, predictions. I don't like to make predictions. Dave on the other hand:

The Whitecaps have won the past two Midwest League championships, and Skoczen doesn't see any reason why the team can't be successful again.

"It's a brand-new coaching staff, and it's the type of team on paper that could do very well," Skoczen said. "The fun part about this is you never know. But we should have a pretty good idea in about three weeks."

You're the Whitecaps, man. I think 3-0 is a pretty good idea.