This is something you can’t fully appreciate until you’ve listened to the other\u00a0announcers around the league.\u00a0\u00a0The majority of color men basically\u00a0fall into two categories.\u00a0 First, there are the guys that get the job done but are really boring, only\u00a0touch the surface of what’s happening\u00a0in the game, and basically sound exactly like 70% of the other\u00a0color men out there.\u00a0 The other type of\u00a0guy is\u00a0completely incompetent, and only bearable at all\u00a0because you’re waiting to hear what ridiculously dumb thing they’ll say next.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.buzztab.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/Rob-Dibble.jpg\" "\\"dibble\\"")
Recently fired Nationals color man, Rob Dibble, falls into the latter category.\u00a0 You may remember Dibble from his years as a “Nasty Boy”\u00a0with the Reds, who helped them win the ’90 World Series, and\u00a0who apparently had some sort of interesting personality.\u00a0 You may also remember him as an incompetent analyst for Baseball Tonight on ESPN for a number of years.\u00a0 Well, the level of awfulness he brought to Nationals broadcasts was something to behold.<\/p>\n
He constantly acted like the Nationals were one of the best teams in baseball.\u00a0 During an April series against the Phillies this year, he was talking about how the Phils’ hitters really work counts and wear out opposing pitchers, then he says, “Just like our hitters do to opposing pitchers.”\u00a0 Uh, yeah, the only difference being that the Nats ranked 22nd in baseball in runs scored in ’09, while the Phils were 4th.\u00a0 Another minor difference being that the Nats lost 205 games in ’08-’09, while the Phils were NL Champs both years.<\/p>\n
In that same series he talked about Jason Marquis like he was a perennial All-Star, and claimed that it would be so great for the Nats young pitchers to “watch and emulate” him all year.\u00a0 Too bad Marquis has a 4.56 career ERA, and a 8.13 ERA in just 8 starts this year.\u00a0 Hopefully the Nats pitchers have been watching him very closely.\u00a0 He also compared Nats SS Ian Desmond to Alex Rodriguez.\u00a0 The only difference there being that, when A-Rod was the same age as Desmond is now, he had 189 career homers and 133 stolen bases, while Desmond has 13 and 15, respectively.\u00a0 But why let facts get in the way of delusional conjecture?<\/p>\n
So, it was with a certain amount of joy that I read about Dibble being fired a couple weeks ago<\/a>, for saying that Stephen Strasburg should “suck it up” and “stop crying” about his arm pain.\u00a0 Also, check out Dibble’s reaction a few weeks ago to spotting two women at a Nats game<\/a>.\u00a0 I’m sure the Nats were just looking for a reason to give him the axe, and he provided it with those Strasburg comments.\u00a0 However, before he disappears completely, I’d like to welcome him into the BSB Broadcaster’s Hall of Shame<\/a>.<\/p>\n It's 2010, Mr. Scully<\/p><\/div>\n And one further note on announcing.\u00a0 The Phils’ series in LA a couple weeks ago\u00a0gave me a chance to hear the legendary Vin Scully call the games.\u00a0 He’s the only announcer I know that does the whole game by himself, and listening to him makes you feel like you’re watching a game from 50 years ago.\u00a0 He comes to each game with so much information about the players.\u00a0 But, I think he might<\/em> be starting to lose it a little bit.\u00a0\u00a0On two separate occasions in the series, he claimed that Carlos Ruiz is the only hitter to ever pinch-hit for Johnny Bench!\u00a0 Now, a Google search reveals that the only player to ever\u00a0pinch-hit for Bench was actually a player named Chico Ruiz, in 1967.\u00a0 So, it’s not an entirely insane mistake.\u00a0 BUT, Johnny Bench\u00a0last played in 1983, when Carlos was 4-years-old.\u00a0 Carlos’s\u00a0ML debut came in 2006, a mere 23 years after Bench’s last game.!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a subscriber to MLB.tv, I get the\u00a0broadcasters of the opponent’s team for every Phillies road game.\u00a0 Among the things I’ve learned from listening to the other broadcast teams\u00a0around the league is this:\u00a0Phillie fans are lucky to have Chris Wheeler.\u00a0 … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.prorumors.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/vin_scully.jpg\" "\\"scully\\"")