Jason Benetti = Mario Impemba

[oblong]

My memory is having a hard time distinguishing between Harry Carey and Will Ferrell's Harry Carey.... like a Tina Fey/Sarah Palin kind of thing.  "DId he say that or was it the parody?  I swear I heard him say that...."

 

 

[Tigerbomb13]

I like Benetti a lot. He seems to be somewhat polarizing with Tiger fans, especially with the older ones. He’s such a massive upgrade from Shep. 

[holygoat]

33 minutes ago, Tigerbomb13 said:

I like Benetti a lot. He seems to be somewhat polarizing with Tiger fans, especially with the older ones. He’s such a massive upgrade from Shep. 

I don't think anyone who has criticized Benetti disagrees that he's a massive upgrade from Shep.

[oblong]

I like Benetti's style because baseball is a long season with a lot of downtime.  I was thinking about this the other day in terms of going to games.  I attend about 30 a year, 25+ in the same spot near the same people.  That's a lot of hours.  At some point you find yourself just dazing around and distracted from the actual game.  Same as in a booth.  A random July game on the west coast and the two guys are talking about a TV show or focusing on a fan eating ribs or chicken wings. We can see the game in front of us, we don't need constant analysis on that. 

Although the last few years at Comerica they've amped up the filler between downtime.  Not a fan of that.  Every spare second has to be monetized.  Between that and the pitch clock I feel rushed as a fan.  Let us savor things.

 

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, Tigerbomb13 said:

I like Benetti a lot. He seems to be somewhat polarizing with Tiger fans, especially with the older ones. He’s such a massive upgrade from Shep. 

For whatever one might think Benetti's shortcomings are, you can't argue with this.

[chasfh]

37 minutes ago, oblong said:

I like Benetti's style because baseball is a long season with a lot of downtime.  I was thinking about this the other day in terms of going to games.  I attend about 30 a year, 25+ in the same spot near the same people.  That's a lot of hours.  At some point you find yourself just dazing around and distracted from the actual game.  Same as in a booth.  A random July game on the west coast and the two guys are talking about a TV show or focusing on a fan eating ribs or chicken wings. We can see the game in front of us, we don't need constant analysis on that. 

Although the last few years at Comerica they've amped up the filler between downtime.  Not a fan of that.  Every spare second has to be monetized.  Between that and the pitch clock I feel rushed as a fan.  Let us savor things.

 

Sure, a sidebar is fun and interestig every once in a while but it is just so, so much with Benetti and Dirks. My thought is, if I want to hear a couple of guys talking to amuse themselves while the game is on TV, I'll go to a bar.

[Tigermojo]

I think the issue is they added Benetti but didn't upgrade the rest of the broadcast.

[CMRivdogs]

1 hour ago, Tigerbomb13 said:

I like Benetti a lot. He seems to be somewhat polarizing with Tiger fans, especially with the older ones. He’s such a massive upgrade from Shep. I think a lot of it is who you grew up listening to. Tiger fans are very fortunate to have had some excellent announcers, particularly Harwell. Ernie is the gold standard, even when he got older. 

I'm a Benetti fan. 

Every PBP announcer has their own style, it takes some getting used to. Benetti is very good, it takes skill to be able to work effectively with different partners and adapt their differing styles and personalities effectively. Not to mention all the extra curricular stuff the modern day broadcast has to contend with.

But then I view the TV broadcast as a supplement to the game. The game is on the screen, I don't need anyone to explain every detail to me even though I'm usually multitasking during the game. The commentary is just background noise. It's a bit like overhearing a couple guys around you discussing the game and other stuff. That's what most people do when they go to the park.

If you want straight PBP, get a radio. 

 

[Tenacious D]

I like Benneti.  A Lot

I like Dirks. A Lot

I dislike them together. A Lot

it's like trouble makers in school—they need to be separated.  Split them up with the Dan’s on TV and radio.

[Tigerbomb13]

1 hour ago, CMRivdogs said:

I'm a Benetti fan. 

Every PBP announcer has their own style, it takes some getting used to. Benetti is very good, it takes skill to be able to work effectively with different partners and adapt their differing styles and personalities effectively. Not to mention all the extra curricular stuff the modern day broadcast has to contend with.

But then I view the TV broadcast as a supplement to the game. The game is on the screen, I don't need anyone to explain every detail to me even though I'm usually multitasking during the game. The commentary is just background noise. It's a bit like overhearing a couple guys around you discussing the game and other stuff. That's what most people do when they go to the park.

If you want straight PBP, get a radio. 

 

Exactly. Dan is one of the all time greats, but Benetti is perfect for television. 

[Tiger337]

3 hours ago, holygoat said:

I don't think anyone who has criticized Benetti disagrees that he's a massive upgrade from Shep.

Shep was horrible as were Morris and Monroe.  It's a huge upgrade all around.  

[gehringer_2]

4 hours ago, chasfh said:

Sure, a sidebar is fun and interestig every once in a while but it is just so, so much with Benetti and Dirks. My thought is, if I want to hear a couple of guys talking to amuse themselves while the game is on TV, I'll go to a bar.

Funny you should say this. During the last broadcast Benetti was talking about being a young broadcaster and working with Steve Grilli when Grilli was doing color instead of being busy being a pitching coach, and I it think he said Grilli, or maybe someone else on the that broadcast team, gave him the advice that the best baseball broadcast should sound like you are sitting with two guys watching the game at the bar - so if that's what you hear in the broadcast, it's no accident.

Edited Friday at 07:03 PM by gehringer_2

[oblong]

I guess I'm confused as to what we expect from a TV play by play guy?  We can all see what is going on.  I want to be entertained a little bit. I like the concept of watching "with" someone.  Like MST3K in a smaller sense.

 

 

[gehringer_2]

3 minutes ago, oblong said:

I guess I'm confused as to what we expect from a TV play by play guy?  We can all see what is going on.  I want to be entertained a little bit. I like the concept of watching "with" someone.  Like MST3K in a smaller sense.

And this is exactly what Shepherd still refuses to believe. He made a conscious choice not to be 'in' his broadcast because he thought his was the way it should be done. But the opposing view has prevailed for now.

[CMRivdogs]

I guess it's what your used to hearing/watching as well. 40 some years ago when cable had Super Stations those of us in non MLB markets were treated to the likes of Harry Carey, Ralph Kiner, Milo Hamilton or Ernie Johnson Sr.  Was never a big fan of the first two I could handle the Braves broadcasts on occasion. Growing up in the Pittsburgh market, mostly radio, we were treated to Bob Prince and Jim Woods. Occasionally during the  Prince PBP you could discern what was happening on the field, but the fans loved him (mostly).

I won't even get into Hawk when we lived in Chicago...

Detroit is blessed with their PBP teams. It could be much worse

[gehringer_2]

2 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

I won't even get into Hawk when we lived in Chicago...

LOL -But Hawk had Stone. I used to hear them sometimes and I always thought that Hawk was a good analyst - as long as the Sox were losing and he was in 'down' mode. Once they they were ahead the was such a fan boy that analysis sort of went out the window. 😂

[CMRivdogs]

3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

LOL -But Hawk had Stone. I used to hear them sometimes and I always thought that Hawk was a good analyst - as long as the Sox were losing and he was in 'down' mode. Once they they were ahead the was such a fan boy that analysis sort of went out the window. 😂

Hawk was OK, He was teamed with Tom Paciorek I preferred their radio team. (John Rooney and Ed Farmer)But then I was usually commuting around game time for the Sox. The Cubs were mostly during the day back then, night games were still a bit of a novelty (and a drunk fest if you were commuting in the evening and post game) 

[chasfh]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

Funny you should say this. During the last broadcast Benetti was talking about being a young broadcaster and working with Steve Grilli when Grilli was doing color instead of being busy being a pitching coach, and I it think he said Grilli, or maybe someone else on the that broadcast team, gave him the advice that the best baseball broadcast should sound like you are sitting with two guys watching the game at the bar - so if that's what you hear in the broadcast, it's no accident.

It’s one thing if they talk about the game like you might hear two guys in a bar talking about a game on TV. It’s another to hear two guys in a bar talk about which Stars Wars movie was their favorite and why while the game is on TV—which I don’t mind, ‘cos it’s a bar.

[1776]

48 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

I guess it's what your used to hearing/watching as well. 40 some years ago when cable had Super Stations those of us in non MLB markets were treated to the likes of Harry Carey, Ralph Kiner, Milo Hamilton or Ernie Johnson Sr.  Was never a big fan of the first two I could handle the Braves broadcasts on occasion. 

I remember the mid-eighties WTBS baseball lineup of Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, and John Sterling. I enjoyed their work. 

[gehringer_2]

21 minutes ago, chasfh said:

It’s one thing if they talk about the game like you might hear two guys in a bar talking about a game on TV. It’s another to hear two guys in a bar talk about which Stars Wars movie was their favorite and why while the game is on TV—which I don’t mind, ‘cos it’s a bar.

To improve the effect you could always just drink more when you watch the game at home.  

 

[Biff Mayhem]

The best recent broadcast team IMO was Josh Lewin and Whimpy. They were great together. 
 

I even learned to really enjoy Price and Dickerson because it was obvious that their friendship was genuine. 

[HeyAbbott]

The first time I was very conscious of whom Benetti was, he was on a national college football broadcast( Washington vs Utah maybe??). He was super. During the first season that Benetti was our PBP, far too many times, regardless of whom he was paired with, the whole presentation sounded like a simulation of Beavis and Butthead doing play by play.

This year, the presentation seems to be more focused on the game with some fun thrown in, but I am not completely sold. Given the current trend of the TV broadcasts, I most probably will not subscribe to Fanduel Sports Detroit next season. I want the ballgame to be front and center and not some sideshow act in a Vegas Hotel. Given the sports ads , the constant missing of important plays due to in game interviews, and the drunken bar stool spiel, I think starting next year it will be radio only. The constant distractions in the broad cast are just not worth it.

[holygoat]

3 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

I won't even get into Hawk when we lived in Chicago...

Detroit is blessed with their PBP teams. It could be much worse

Hawk was awesome. Once I got over his corny tag-lines (He gone!), he was just a great laid-back, old-school announcer, which is my preference for TV. I like some analytics, but I don't need to be beaten over the head with them, and I don't need every second of every telecast to be filled with talking. People always accused Hawk of being a homer, but that's kind of the job of every local announcer. 

[GalagaGuy]

Benetti clowns around too much when he's doing Tigers games.  He's a completely different person when he's doing a national broadcast.  

Edited Friday at 11:28 PM by GalagaGuy

[oblong]

I liked Hawk too.  His audience was Sox fans.  His voice was similar to George Kells.