Justin Barcode's recent Fanshots on the search for George Grande's replacement in the booth got me to thinking about my favorite announcing crews and individual analysts. This is a subject I've seen bandied about elsewhere on the web, but I'm not sure we've ever had a focused discussion at RR.

There are enough readers here with varying sports interests and who follow various smaller sports entities that I thought it might be interesting to see who our favorites are among the live sports commentariat and why? Maybe a post detailing your favorite and your least favorite. Consider both past and present.

I think John McEnroe and Mary Carillo are the best color analysts of any sport I watch regularly, but, tennis (particularly Grand Slam tennis) is a little easier to do well. So, I'll say that NU alum Gary Danielson is the most genuine and interesting college football live analyst I've ever heard. He's frequently infuriating, but more frequently right on the money. Ever SEC fanbase is convinced he has it out for them, and he's clearly made Verne Lundquist a looser and, therefore better, pbp guy. Four years ago the cameras caught him eating nachos as they went live. It didn't phase him in the least.

To the bad side, I have to throw in Vitale. I hate to be so unoriginal, but he doesn't even attempt to do anything serious anymore. He's just an ingratiating ESPN mascot with no genuine interest in the Xs and Os of basketball.

via i.a.cnn.net

Today we mark the day that our beloved Brendan was born.

What can be said about Brendan that hasn't been more adamantly said about me? The wittiest, smartest, and best looking of a witty, clever and handsome brood at RR.

Here's a picture of him with German chancellor Angela Merkel taken from the window of a speeding tamale cart:

via i182.photobucket.com

Please add your own birthday wishes and antonyms for our favorite game-thread dominatrix below.

Hmmmmm......

via www.theloveofsports.com

The official word is that Griffey hasn't made a decision yet, but all the noise out of Atlanta is that Griff's people and the Braves are finalizing the deal as I type this.

I'll update this fanpost (!!1!) if there seems to be a final word, at which point you can return your "Griffey is all class for ending his legendary career where he started it" and pick up your "Griffey is all class for wanting to be close to his family and maybe play for a contender one last time." No additional cost.

UPDATE: The AJC's Braves blogger seems certain that it's a done deal.

UPDATE 2: Griff changed his mind (again). You may now resume your appreciation for our fully-boxed Odysseus as he returns to rainy Penelope in Brian B's thread here: http://www.redreporter.com/2009/2/18/763710/griffey-to-mariners

As most of you know the Reds will be playing two exhibition games against a team of their "future stars" -- one on April 3rd in Zebulon, NC and one on April 4th in Dayton, OH.

This is a smart and savvy move by the organization to welcome in the new Double-A affiliate and to reward Dayton fans for their remarkable support of the Dragons.

Tickets for the April 3rd tilt in Zebulon have been on sale since the late fall, but, with the beginning of Spring Training, the promotion for the event will be quite heavy in the local markets. Many good tickets are still available, but I anticipate a rush starting in late February.

Aside from your Cincinnati Havoc-Wreakers, the Mudcats squad will probably feature a lineup with Todd Frazier, Yonder Alonso and Juan Francisco among other young men of exceptional prospect.

So I wanted to put out an early call to any Red Reporters (both the jerks we know and the jerks who lurk) who are interested in going to check your schedules. Also, if you want to send me an email, I can organize an email list that might help us with tickets, updates, rides, places to stay, etc. You can find an email for me on my profile page.

Zebulon, NC is a small town to the east of Raleigh and is an easy enough trek out from the capital city. Here's some information on the event from the N&O:

Tickets for the Carolina Mudcats' April 3 exhibition game against their new major league parent club, the Cincinnati Reds, will go on sale at 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Mudcats announced Monday.

The game, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, will pit the major league team and its Double-A Southern League affiliate.

Tickets will be available at the stadium box office or can be purchased by credit card via phone at 919-269-2287 or at www.carolinamudcats.com.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20081008/SPT04/810080352/1071/spt04

Fay reports on Jocketty's "decision":

He hasn't talked to representatives for Corey Patterson and Paul Bako, and he probably won't.

"We're going to move on," Jocketty said. "In the case of Bako, we're looking to improve the catching. (Ryan) Hanigan had a good year. We're probably going to go younger."

 

and gets some passive-aggressive kicking in as well:

Patterson and Bako were two players fans loved to hate this year. Both also played for manager Dusty Baker in Chicago. Both signed late at Baker's urging.

 

Let the days of feasting continue apace.....

Relevant Graph:

"We're excited to bring someone of his knowledge into our organization," Jocketty said. "Over his career of more than 30 years, he has worked in almost every facet of professional operations, as a player, as a league officer and even as a member of the media. We will benefit from his experience and insights."

This hire might strike a few of you as strange, but you can't argue with the wealth of the man's experience. I think he understands the direction the Reds want to take and is emblematic of their current thinking with regard personnel.

Seems to me like a good fit.

 Thank you, thank you, thank you Threepenny Review and Arts and Letters Daily.

The Red Reporter with a "Utility Belt"?

Yeah, more like a dance belt and a tube of chapstick:

At the beginning, both the name and the maneuver it labeled were a kind of gimmick, something to set him apart from the hundreds of tap dancers still flooding show business. In another way, Slyde was already unlike most of the other black hoofers of his generation and older. Their motto was "Never took a lesson in my life"; he learned his craft in a dancing school.

It wasn't just any dancing school. Located across the street from the New England Conservatory of Music, where young Jimmy took violin lessons, Stanley Brown's school was a hub of the black entertainment world. The greatest dancers of the age—Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, John Bubbles, and others—came by to visit, observe, teach a little, inspire. The students were required to practice tap fundamentals and take ballet, and the recitals were like professional shows, with agents in the audience.

One of the regular instructors, "Schoolboy" Eddie Ford, was a specialist in slydes, and he put together an act for Slyde and another student, Jimmy "Sir Slyde" Mitchell. As the Slyde Brothers, the two teenagers did flips and splits in the manner of the Nicholas Brothers, but slydes were their trademark.

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via MLB Trade Rumors.

Tim sorts available position players by OBP and includes BB%.

Why BB%, because...

I also included BB%, the percentage of plate appearances in which the hitter drew a walk.  This helps identify those whose OBPs may be deceiving because of reliance on batting average (Hairston's .338/.388/.475 line is an example).

Natch. Hairston's 6.6 BB% is good for second lowest on the list. Only Mark Grudzielanek's is lower, and he's ancient and one of Dusty's former players, so he might be one to watch if he doesn't decide to retire.

Milton Bradley does extremely well by this isolation, and Jason Giambi, Fernando Tatis and Doug Mientkiewicz look more appealing than they might otherwise.

Dierkes sorts starting pitching by K/9.

The only one of these pitchers I could see the Reds making a legit run at is Burnett, who does well by this dips.