After all, as a fan, you are exposed to the voice of your team on nearly a daily basis. It is important to be captivated when tuning in, rather than annoyed. The perfect commentator should keep you informed and entertained. Through anecdotes, jokes and candor, a commentator can make you not only a fan of the team, but a fan of the booth.
The Red Sox are fortunate to have a knowledgeable and entertaining broadcasting duo in Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy. You never know what you may get from the tandem, and it makes for a very enjoyable experience when tuning in to a Red Sox game.
Some teams are less fortunate, and it makes you wonder how their fans feel watching games over the course of the long baseball season.
But who has been the best of the best when it comes to entertaining the audience? Here’s a look at the top five most entertaining baseball commentators of all time.
5. Dave Niehaus
Seattle Mariners fans have been delighted with Niehaus��� humor since the club’s inception in 1977. For many of those years, the Seattle Mariners team itself was a joke, which made Niehaus’ day-to-day performance even more crucial.
In a blog post following Neihaus’ induction into the Hall of Fame in 2008, Ken Levine said of him, “You’re not just getting play-by-play. You’re being told a tale by a master storyteller.”
Neihaus, of course, has developed plenty of famous catchphrases that are used by fans all across Major League Baseball. His “fly away” for home runs and “my, oh my” are simply enthralling. And how could you not like a guy who refers to grand slams as “grand salamis” and insists that you break out the bread and mustard?
4. Jack Buck
When Jack Buck tells you to go crazy, how can you not? His famous “Go crazy, folks! Go crazy!” call of Ozzie Smith’s walk-off home run in the 1985 NLCS will forever be one of the most passionate and appropriate calls in major league history.
Buck had a knack for capturing the moment. With calls like that, Buck knew not only how to depict what had just occurred, but put into words what everyone watching was just thinking.
Alongside Harry Caray, Buck made a name for himself and eventually went on to become the lead commentator for the St. Louis Cardinals, at which point he made the famous ’85 NLCS call.
Following Cardinal wins, Buck would routinely proclaim, “That’s a winner.” Well, in the minds of baseball fans around the country, Jack Buck was the real winner.
3. Vin Scully
Calling a game is difficult. Calling one by yourself? Well, that just seems downright impossible. Yet Scully continues to do it for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Scully is in his 60th season as the voice of the Dodgers, and all of them have been memorable.
His eloquence and passion have created some of baseball’s most unforgettable calls and have made him a commentator that even non-Dodgers fans can appreciate.
His resume includes calling Kirk Gibson’s home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, and Bill Buckner’s error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series — sorry, Red Sox fans.
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2. Harry Caray
Despite calling games for the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox, Caray’s name is forever linked to the Chicago Cubs.
Caray was the perfect commentator to man the booth for the lovable losers. He was as consistent at putting a smile on your face as the Cubs were at playoff futility.
He was so vested in his team’s crowds that he began singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” to the Chicago faithful during the seventh-inning stretch, sometimes even from the bleachers.
With Caray, you had your “Holy Cow!” and would even get to hear him announce players’ names backward for fun.
Even in his later years, after suffering from a stroke, Caray was still as lovable as his Cubbies.
1. Bob Uecker
“Juuuust a bit outside.”
Uecker has been so hysterical during his broadcasting career that he earned a role in the Major League film series, where he delivered that famous quote, but it is Uecker’s everyday humor when calling real baseball games that has put him at the top of the list in terms of baseball entertainers.
Whether it’s making fun of his own less-than-illustrious playing career, or commenting on the performance of others, Uecker always knows how to slip in some baseball-related humor.
It is his carefree personality that even led to him hosting a weekly baseball show.
Some may knock Uecker because it appears as though he really doesn’t have a serious side. To those people, though, I say lighten up and enjoy the best entertainer the sport has ever known. Everyone needs a good laugh, and Uecker can provide them like no else can.
Editor Note: Video no longer available.Â
Screen grab courtesy of YouTube.
