Thirteenth in a series.
Broadcast: Cincinnati Reds on FSN Ohio, Pittsburgh at Reds, 6/30/08; Announcers: George Grande (play-by-play), Chris Welsh (analyst)
Listening to George Grande, I expected to check his bio on the Reds’ website and find that he’s been with the Reds forever and that he, like Seattle’s Dave Niehaus (see my Mariners’ review), was a Hall of Famer. He reminded me of one of these grand old gentlemen such as Niehaus.
It turns out that he’s only been with the Reds since 1993. Not that 15 years isn’t a long time, but compared to Niehaus or the Dodgers’ Vin Scully or the Phillies’ Harry Kalas, Grande is just a baby. But he and Chris Welsh have worked together for all of those 15 years, making them the longest-running TV duo in Reds history. (Grande holds another distinction: he was the anchor of the very first ESPN SportsCenter, on September 7, 1979.) For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed their work — so much so that I didn’t write down a whole lot of specific notes.
One particular time where they were especially effective occurred in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Thirteenth in a series.
Broadcast: Cincinnati Reds on FSN Ohio, Pittsburgh at Reds, 6/30/08; Announcers: George Grande (play-by-play), Chris Welsh (analyst)
Listening to George Grande, I expected to check his bio on the Reds’ website and find that he’s been with the Reds forever and that he, like Seattle’s Dave Niehaus (see my Mariners’ review), was a Hall of Famer. He reminded me of one of these grand old gentlemen such as Niehaus.
It turns out that he’s only been with the Reds since 1993. Not that 15 years isn’t a long time, but compared to Niehaus or the Dodgers’ Vin Scully or the Phillies’ Harry Kalas, Grande is just a baby. But he and Chris Welsh have worked together for all of those 15 years, making them the longest-running TV duo in Reds history. (Grande holds another distinction: he was the anchor of the very first ESPN SportsCenter, on September 7, 1979.) For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed their work — so much so that I didn’t write down a whole lot of specific notes.
One particular time where they were especially effective occurred in the bottom of the 8th inning. With the Reds trailing the Pirates 3-2, and runners at first and second with no outs, Cincinnati’s Joey Votto tried to bunt the runners over, and failed miserably before striking out. Grande talked about the debate between “old-timers” who say that any player ought to be able to bunt when called upon and those who say the players should be allowed to do what they do best. Both Grande and Welsh fell in with the “old-timers,” with Welsh calling Votto’s bunt attempts “embarrassing,” saying Votto had a “look of fear” on his bunt attempts, and adding that every major league player should be able to get a bunt down, even non-pitchers such as Votto.
In the midst of that at-bat Welsh had a less-than-stellar moment when he addressed pinch-runner Corey Patterson directly, saying, “Just make sure they don’t pull a pickoff play on you.” I’m sure Patterson would have appreciated the advice if he actually heard it. Welsh also got goofy earlier in the game when the camera showed, from behind, a young couple sitting together, and behind them was some sort of stuffed animal hanging on the back of their seats. The way the girl’s arm was positioned when she leaned on her companion made it look as if the animal’s head was right under her armpit. Welsh circled it with the telestrator and asked, “Boy, how does that smell right there?”
The Reds failed to score in the 8th but won 4-3 on a two-run walk-off homer by Ken Griffey Jr. Grande’s voice on the call was excited but not overly obnoxious. (Compare that to a Marlins’ broadcaster who screamed like an idiot calling a walk-off homer for his team Monday night. Boy, I can hardly wait to look at one of their games in full.)
After Griffey’s homer a graphic labeled “Chase For 600” appeared. Why there’s still a “Chase For 600” when the homer was the 603rd of Junior’s career is a mystery.
Interestingly, when Grande read a promo for FSN’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period” he left the d-word out entirely. The show’s title was shown in full in the on-screen graphic, and was used in full during a between-innings commercial, so I assume Grande skipped over it on his own.
I don’t know if the Reds ever use a roving reporter. When they came back from one commercial there was Jim Day, cohost of the postgame show, sitting in the left-field bleachers “with my people.” But his only purpose was to promote the postgame show and to engage in brief chitchat with the booth. Grade: B. — Joe Guckin
