Top 10 Worst Announcers

We discussed great announcers earlier in the week. These were the greats that fans love to listen call games. As great as many of them were, there are an equal number of atrocities at the other end of the announcing spectrum. Bad announcers typically share several traits. They talk over the game action, they're arrogant and pompous, and generally grate on the ear. Everyone on this list meets those critetia in my opinion.

10. Phil Rizzuto
9. Bob Costas
8. Rick Sutcliffe
7. Chris Wheeler
6. Skip Caray
5. Jon Miller
4. Tim McCarver
3. Don Sutton
2. Joe Buck
1. Joe Morgan

Top 10 Best Announcers

This list represents the best in-game announcers that I've heard call a game. As such, this will clearly not be the be all end all list of best announcers. I know, by reputation, many of the great game callers in history. However, I have no frame of reference to effectively rank them.

Before the proliferation of widespread cable access, baseball announcers were generally regional. Each team had their own announcer that fans grew to love as much as their favorite players. As free agency became commonplace, the fans could still rely on the announcer to be there year after year. As media has grown, I have had the opportunity to hear many of the greats call a game. Here's my list, help me fill in the gaps with some of the older greats of yore.

Clutch Hitters: Players That Deliver When It Counts

Everywhere you turn this week, we've been inundated with opinions about LeBron James, what it means to be "clutch," and guys that take over games when it counts. That got us thinking about hitters that perform in the clutch, when their team needs it most. Statistics are not readily available prior to the 1970s concerning average with runners in scoring position (RISP), 2 out RBI, game winning RBI, etc. Therefore, this list is post 1970. I'm far from a stats guru, but I looked at RISP, runners on 3rd with less than (LT) 2 outs, and runners on 3rd with 2 outs. I also heavily weighted post season numbers including average and runs created (either by scoring or driving them in). This is not necessarily a list of most intimidating, but more guys who consistently got it done when it mattered most. Also, I backed off my staunch no PED players on a list. I don't think PEDs have much to do with getting clutch hits.

Top Ten Baseball Movies (Comedy)

Time to do the best baseball comedies of all time (in my opinion of course). Feel free to disagree and let your feeling be known with a comment. Here we go...

10. It Happens Every Spring - This one is for Hersh. I was struggling to come up with a tenth, and he suggested this one. I have not seen it, but I trust his opinion. If he says it's funny, I'm sure it is. Now on to my picks of movies I've actually seen.

9. The Sandlot - Yes, a family film, but watching this movie reminded me of getting all the guys in my own home town together to play baseball every day in the summer. Complete with nasty, snarling dog on the other side of the fence when we hit homers. Some of the most fun I ever had was playing backyard baseball in the summer.

Top Ten Baseball Movies (Drama)

There have been a number of great baseball movies made in the form of both fiction and biographies. When compiling my list, I felt the need to separate dramas from comedies. The dramas are listed here with comedies to follow at a later date.

10. Bang The Drum Slowly - It's been quite a while since I've seen this and admittedly, I don't remember a whole lot about the movie except that DeNiro was a bit of a simpleton and was dying.

9. For Love Of The Game - Costner revisits key moments in his life while pitching a no hitter. A lot of people thought it was hokey, but I enjoyed it. John C. Reilly and JK Simons round out a good cast.

8. The Babe - Not a terrific movie, but there was something about John Goodman's portrayal that I liked. It seemed to exaggerate things a bit and really highlighted the faults of Ruth.

7. The Natural - Fictional story of Roy Hobbs, the mysterious man who comes from nowhere to achieve greatness. I didn't like this movie as much as some, but recognize its place among the great baseball dramas. Some may have this higher on the list.

Top Ten Baseball Video Games

RBI Baseball - OCP Fav and Chris Getz' Walk-Up Music

First off, this is not necessarily a list of the most realistic, deepest simulation, or best graphics. Certainly, games of today would destroy their previous generation counterparts in those categories. Top ten lists are about opinions, and although I'm satisfied this list is a good one, it represents my opinions alone. This list is about the impact these games had on me when I was playing them, and the utility I got out of them at the time. Enclosed are my favorites with a couple of highlights about each game and why I loved them so much.

10. Color Baseball (RadioShack Tandy TRS-80)
I was probably about 8 or 9, and I think this was the first computer (if you could call it that) my family ever owned. It had some cool games, none better than Color Baseball. The TRS-80 had a one button joystick, and I remember it was the first game I saw where you could create the lineups. The only problem was they couldn't be saved, so you had to create them every time you turned on the game. I must have created the 1986 Mets 200 times. That's probably why I'll always have that team memorized including batting order.