Dear Santa

[Ron Brand]

Please send the Astros a decent radio crew, one that talks about the game and not everything but. In English. Thank you.

[JaneDoe]

Please send the Astros a decent radio crew, one that talks about the game and not everything but. In English. Thank you.

Y'know if Drayton wants to save money, he could just pipe the TV feed of Brownie and JD to the radio.  That would be just peachy keen for me.  And he would save 3 salaries. 

[Ron Brand]

I'm so tired of getting in the car and yelling at the radio. Tonight, DoRay are preaching morality when talking about Chase Utley and public expletives. I got so pissed off I turned it off and started listening to Dead City Radio. In my anger I was half-listening, and Burroughs with a musical background reminded me of the Red Lectroid propaganda on the PA in Buckaroo Banzai.

[strosrays]

On the Phillies broadcast tonight, Larry Andersen was all over Gervacio about his delivery, insinuating he "takes lessons from Valverde" and hotdogs it all the time, all the way.  Something about a lengthy pause just before he strides toward the plate, which Andersen called the "Statue of Liberty".  He said Gervacio stops "and shows the ball to the 3rd baseman" before moving toward the plate.

Since I was listening on radio, I had to go by memory.  Is Gervacio's stop that pronounced?  I don't remember it that way, but then I've only seen him pitch a few times, and I probably wasn't watching very closely.

I've always thought of Andersen as affable and funny, but he was bitching all night tonight.  When discussing Gervacio and Valverde, he said something about how modern players quit playing baseball awhile ago, and now everything is just showtime out there.  He was doing a pretty good impression of a bitter old man.  Maybe he was kidding, I don't know.  It didn't sound like it.

His p-b-p guy just went along with it.  Talk about a suck-ass broadcast.

Andersen went on and on about Valverde, too; but I imagine a lot of opposing announcers do.  I probably would.

[Ron Brand]

That's too bad, because it's a crock of shit. There is a rich history of flamboyant Latin pitchers to begin with, and it goes back at least to the early 20th century. Flamboyant players from all countries have been around since the game was invented. That kind of thing pretty much regulates itself in baseball, unlike football.

The Phillies are a grind-it-out, professional ballclub and I think they market themselves as having a 'Workingman's' style but it hasn't always been the case. Maybe he's playing to that particular ethos. I hope Andersen isn't always that cranky.

I also remember that Gervacio has a little hiccup, a brief pause in his delivery but there's nothing weird about that either.

Valverde's antics can be a little much, but in his defense he doesn't aim them at the opposing batter and that makes a lot of difference.

[das]

On the Phillies broadcast tonight, Larry Andersen was all over Gervacio about his delivery, insinuating he "takes lessons from Valverde" and hotdogs it all the time, all the way.  Something about a lengthy pause just before he strides toward the plate, which Andersen called the "Statue of Liberty".  He said Gervacio stops "and shows the ball to the 3rd baseman" before moving toward the plate.

Since I was listening on radio, I had to go by memory.  Is Gervacio's stop that pronounced?  I don't remember it that way, but then I've only seen him pitch a few times, and I probably wasn't watching very closely.

It is pronounced.  Melvin and I were reasonably astonished when we saw it Monday night.  We were sitting on the 3rd base side and had a very good view of the "action".  He has a herkey-jerkey routine that includes a funny pawing of the mound with his left foot (like a horse counting numbers) and about a third of the time, has this really comical move where he faces and leans towards the 3rd base dugout, shows the ball in his palm with big, wide-open eyes then jerks to the set position.  It really is bizarre.  Here's a pic:
http://i626.photobucket.com/albums/tt343/das_photos/astros%20-%20nats/Astros%20Phils/gervacio.jpg

[Ron Brand]

You're right Das, I don't know who I was remembering. It is a weird thing he does but it is part of the setup, not part of the windup a la Tiant.

Gervacio's googly eyes make it especially strange to see on TV.

[Ty in Tampa]

Frank Deford today with a very nice tribute to two greats and what it means to be "the voice" of a team.

[Guinness]

Frank Deford today with a very nice tribute to two greats and what it means to be "the voice" of a team.

That was a good article, Deford does some good work, although sometimes he can be sappy.  Thanks for the link.

[Ty in Tampa]

That was a good article, Deford does some good work, although sometimes he can be sappy.  Thanks for the link.

Agreed, but that one was on.

[VirtualBob]

That's too bad, because it's a crock of shit. There is a rich history of flamboyant Latin pitchers to begin with, and it goes back at least to the early 20th century. Flamboyant players from all countries have been around since the game was invented. That kind of thing pretty much regulates itself in baseball, unlike football.

The Phillies are a grind-it-out, professional ballclub and I think they market themselves as having a 'Workingman's' style but it hasn't always been the case. Maybe he's playing to that particular ethos. I hope Andersen isn't always that cranky.

I also remember that Gervacio has a little hiccup, a brief pause in his delivery but there's nothing weird about that either.

Valverde's antics can be a little much, but in his defense he doesn't aim them at the opposing batter and that makes a lot of difference.

Why is it that (for example) Fidrich and the Mad Hungarian are/were viewed so positively for their antics, but the latin players are viewed negatively?

[strosrays]

Why is it that (for example) Fidrich and the Mad Hungarian are/were viewed so positively for their antics, but the latin players are viewed negatively?

I thought it was odd that Andersen, who as a player (in my mind) went out of his way to have himself categorized by the media as a "flake", wore a conehead in the bullpen, etc., would be so vehement about Gervacio being a "hotdog", whose antics, he intimated, were a contributor to the deniegration of the game.

Valverde's antics can be a little much, but in his defense he doesn't aim them at the opposing batter and that makes a lot of difference.

That's true, and it does make a difference.  I do remember being more irritated by his routine when he was a Snake, however, than I do now.  I haven't studied it, but I'd bet many opposing announcers have commented negatively on his more flamboyant gestures on the mound, at one time or another.

[Ron Brand]

That's a good question, although I can think of instances to the contrary. Hrabosky's antics bothered a lot of people, and Tiant and Marichal were looked upon favorably because they had exaggerated motions.

[JimR]

only if Valverde is on your team would you think his antics are ok. Gervacio has the worst mechanics i have ever seen , but i have not noticed showboating.

[juliogotay]

only if Valverde is on your team would you think his antics are ok. Gervacio has the worst mechanics i have ever seen , but i have not noticed showboating.

Doesn't Gervacio look like an arm blowout waiting to happen?

[JimR]

Doesn't Gervacio look like an arm blowout waiting to happen?

not necessarily. he looks like a serious beaning waiting to happen.

[strosrays]

That's a good question, although I can think of instances to the contrary. Hrabosky's antics bothered a lot of people, and Tiant and Marichal were looked upon favorably because they had exaggerated motions.

Don't forget Turk Wendell.  I used to get pretty irritated by his stupid little affectations.

One reason I did not get Andersen's Valverde reference is that Gervacio's move is more a part of his delivery, rather than an attention-getting superfluous affectation, which is where I'd put Valverde's post pitch act.

I wonder if Tiant would be able to get away with the multi-level pre-set flutterings of his hands and glove these days?  I can picture some of today's umpires calling his gyrations a balk, regularly.  Tiant's back-to-the-plate windup was pretty singular, too.  The only other pitcher of that era I can recall using it, off the top of my head, was Gene Garber.

Tiant was definitely one of a kind.  Most people remember him for his terrific seasons in Boston, but he might have had even greater career numbers had he not essentially lost a few seasons to injury just before that.  In 1968, the "Year of the Pitcher", Gibson and McLain rightly got most of the notice, but Tiant had a remarkable season pitching for the Indians that summer.

[Ron Brand]

Yeah, didn't he have something like a 1.61 ERA?

[BatGirl]

went to the game last saturday and sat behind
third base dugout, so we had a perfect view of gervacio
we were also surprised by his mound routine
he most definitely takes an "awkward pause" before he begins his windup
i thought it was something he maybe only did with no runners on, but
we saw him repeat this motion before every single pitch he made, regardless

it was kind of amusing to watch; even the reds players got a chuckle out of his pose
but it didn't look like showboating to me

[Limey]

I'm so tired of getting in the car and yelling at the radio. Tonight, DoRay are preaching morality when talking about Chase Utley and public expletives.

Fuck that shit.

[Ron Brand]

That's part of what I was yelling at the radio.

[geezerdonk]

Zambrano and Dempster are in the top two of my annoying pitcher category.

[Reuben]

Remember Mike Fetters?

[Jose Cruz III]

I remember seeing Bill Caudill pitch one time with the left side of his beard shaved off and the right side still intact. That was weird.

[strosrays]

Remember Mike Fetters?

Some of his antics were the result of asthma and anxiety attacks.

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