Johnny & Suzie – Have You Heard Them Yet?
There’s been some reader opinions left in comments recently to this blog regarding the Yankees radio broadcast team: Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling.
And, this got me thinking about how I feel about the Waldman and Sterling duo. And, to be candid, overall, I guess I’m not a fan of their work.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m somewhat sure they are both extremely nice people – the kind that you would want to have as your next door neighbor, etc. And, they’re both baseball lifers – having worked in the game for so many years. Lastly, the two of them do seem to care, very much, about the Yankees and their fans. So, those are three big things in the favor.
And, I’ll admit, at times, I do laugh at Sterling’s over the top calls, etc.
However, that all said, there’s just “something” there – regarding their work – that rubs me the wrong way. At first, I thought it was whole “Pinstriped Pollyanna” approach of theirs – where no Yankees player or member of the organization can do wrong. Anyone who knows me knows I think that’s that just living with Yankees blinders on…
More so, for me, I think the issue is that Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling “dumb it down” when they speak to you – assuming that you know less about the game (than them), and, in a sense, they “talk down” to the listener while covering the game. And, while maybe this works for some listeners…say… many of those under the age of ten or over the age of seventy…it really doesn’t work for me.
Further, I would think that most people do not enjoy being “talked down to” by anyone who knows less about a subject than they do…no matter what the subject…but, maybe it’s just me?
After all, many baseball fans today are pretty savvy. And, perhaps it’s time for broadcasters, in general, to stop playing to what they think is the lowest common denominator and start talking to listeners with the assumption that the audience has a clue as to which players are good or bad (overall or in certain situations) and that they understand what’s important or not in baseball games…ya think?
Again, this is no knock, personally, towards Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling. It’s just that I wish their broadcasts came from somewhere other than from an ivory tower – this make sense?
My main problem with Sterling is that he has all the time in the world for interpretation, discussion, and opinions about the game he’s calling, the Yankees in general, and baseball issues, but cannot stay focused enough to properly do the one job that it is absolutely necessary that a radio play-by-play man do: provide an accurate description of the play of the game.
He misses umpire strike/ball calls too often, and thereby has to correct the count he’s given several times a game. He has severe trouble on accurately judging fly balls, resulting in a ridiculous amount of “It is high, it is far, it is….CAUGHT/FOUL” calls. These calls are insanely aggravating, if you cannot see the game yourself. And he’s usually good for a random play miscall in every game.
Waldman is well…meh/OK/mediocre. I don’t feel she adds much in analysis of the game, but she does do excellent clubhouse/interview work. I can take her or leave her. As an announcer, I mean.
This is a problem going on throughout baseball. I’ll admit, and i’m sure im not the only one, that when games are telecast on FOX or ESPN, I’d rather turn on sterling and listen to the game. This is why I don’t mind Sterling, or Kay or anyone else. It can be worse. A lot worse.
On a television broadcast, I don’t mind it so much, because I can SEE what’s happening for myself. On radio, the only “picture” of the game is the PBPcaster’s description. That’s what makes Sterling’s gamecall a real problem for me.
Couldn’t agree more Evan. Sterling’s biggest flaw is the inaccurate play calling. It’s TERRIBLE.
@ Evan3457:
ah, see i dont ever listen to him without watching it. If i’m not home i’ll just watch the tv broadcast with sound from my dvr.
that being said, it still seems like “the cool thing to do” to rip sterling…I just wanted to point out that it can always get worse, thats all
For better or worse, Yankee fans and Mets fans always compare every aspect of their team to the other. Which is the better stadium, who’s fans are better, etc. In this regard (radio broadcasters), the Yankees come in a distant second. I’ll sometimes listen to Mets broadcasts when the Yankees aren’t on, and their radio team is so much better than the Yankees it’s not even close. They keep you informed of what’s going on (with the score, inning, and outs), manage to get most of the actual play by play correct (a novel idea) and keep the banter to relevant, baseball related topics. Sterling and Waldman fail in all of those areas. It stings a little more that it normally would because we’re conditioned to think, as Yankee fans, that anything associated as part of the Yankees should be the top of the line, and in this case, NY’s second team clearly has the upper hand.
Here’s my feeling: Sterling and Waldman aren’t good at their jobs. They miss plays, dumb things down, or are flat-out wrong on rules (I can think of at least 2-3 times that Suzyn has been plain wrong on certain rules). As for Sterling, I don’t really care when people trash him…
…but with Suzyn, I think people’s attacks are pretty uncalled for. She gets abused by her NY media peers and I think it’s unfortunate. She sucks at her job as a play-by-play person but there’s no reason to make fun of her the way WFAN does.
Lombardi said:
“…they “talk down” to the listener while covering the game. And, while maybe this works for some listeners…say… many of those under the age of ten or over the age of seventy…it really doesn’t work for me.”
I asked my 89 year old mother about this view of things. She said people over seventy are even more annoyed than people under seventy at being talked down to, and pointed out that she knew both sides of the age line that you drew. According to her, those on her side of the line have accumulated more knowledge than those of us still on the other side, and have good reason to think that the rest of us know less than they, even if we can take the stairs faster.
She watches the games on TV, usually with the sound off. If she’s left with any questions, she calls up the sports department at the Bergen Record to clear things up. Evidently they know enough to talk sense to her.
@ MJ:
I totally agree that she gets mistreated by her NY media peers. The whole Roger Clemens “Goodness Gracious!!” comment was def. silly and over the top, but they would not stop ripping her about it, especially Francesa and Russo (not that I expect either of those clowns to exhibit any sort of class).
Evan3457 wrote:
Agreed. It was unfortunate that YES replaced an outstanding clubhouse/postgame interviewer with Jones, who couldn’t carry Waldman’s mic, while Waldman got shifted to doing radio color, not her strength. I understand that the visuals were the key to that move, but surely there was another way to get a younger blonder woman into camera range?
@ G.I. Joey:
Funny that we’re talking about this because Boomer & Carton were trashing her again this morning for something she said during Old Timer’s Day. Basically WFAN is a bunch of classless idiots which doesn’t surprise me since they’re the flagship station for the Mets.
its funny that the FAN rips her cause she was the first ever voice heard on the FAN
cr1 – does your grandmother have a Twitter account, because, I want to start following her!
Seriously, I know there are always exceptions to the rule, etc. But, I do know many people over the age of 70 myself, and, my experience has been that they prefer/tend to keep it simple when it comes to following the game – by this, I mean, talk in terms of BA/HR/RBI and not in terms of WPA, OPS, RCAA, OWP, UZR, BABIP, etc. and really don’t get too bogged down in analysis, etc. And, it seems like that’s the crowd that JS & SW are aiming at…the Jerome from Manhattans, Doris from Rego Park, etc., type of fan as opposed to the one who reads several blogs, BBTF, BP, THT, etc.
TV, radio…all the announcers seem like they’re paid for by the Yanks. Rarely is there a critisism. Now, they’re emphasizing how much Arod’s homers REALLY count. Please.
Of course, my all time favorite was The Scooter, followed by Bobby Murcer. Two guys who bled pinstripes.
So, I guess I accept former Yankee players, who I really loved, only saying really good things; but, I tire of those who never wore the pinstripes, who I wasn’t as crazy about.
re: Sterling: I agree with the general sentiment that his biggest drawback is that you can’t really follow the game when listening to him. I have gotten to the point where if he calls a Yankee HR then I wait a moment to see if he will correct himself.
re: Waldman: I remember enough of her on the FAN doing Knicks then Yankees reporting that she is much better than what she is able to do now with Sterling. My guess is that she compromised having to work with Sterling in order to get what she wanted which is a role as TV commentator for the Yanks.
Aside on Sterling: does anyone remember the old World Hockey League NY Raiders? (mid 70′s I would guess). Their radio announcer had an over-the-top trademark call: “Raider Goal!!!. I recently learned that the guy was the same John Sterling.
OK. Correct my comment about Suzyn to radio commentator.
I actually like Sterling and Waldman, but I don’t feel they are talking down to me. I just feel they want the Yanks to win, a lot too. I like that Sterling is a big homer, he pisses me off at times, but when the moment is tight and the Yanks pull it out then he yells like I want to.
I find Sterling entertaining, the last thing I want is for my radio announcer to bore me to death talking about VORP, ERA+ or anything other SABR stat. I think enough at work.
I agree that he misses the call on the field, I want to say ‘on occasion’ , but he does that a lot too. But that’s a part of his quirkiness.
Now, Michael Kay, if you want REALLY want to talk about talking down then I think nobody is better than Kay.
Apart from the fact that he knows very little about baseball, Sterling can’t see anymore (flyballs to the middle of the OF provoke a HR call), so it’s kind of ridiculous that he still is employed as a broadcaster.
Waldman is a good reporter, but may be the worst broadcaster I have ever heard.She is also a close talker. If her face got any closer to a player’s face during an interview, she would break her nose if they stopped short.