Anyone who watched SportsCenter on Sunday night is probably aware of the bizarre play that occurred late in the Yankees-Indians game on Sunday afternoon. Jorge Posada hit a fly ball that either: (1) cleared the wall and was a home run; (2) hit off the top of the wall and then landed on the field; (3) hit a fan who was leaning over the wall and was fan interference; or (4) hit a fan that wasn’t leaning over the wall. There were probably other options, but the point is that it resulted in a difficult call for the umpires, especially since the Yankees were trailing 3-2 at the time and a home run would have given them a 4-3 lead.
I was driving to Home Depot at the time and was listening to the game on WCBS radio. What followed was five irritating minutes from Suzyn Waldman during which she harped nonstop on the fact that the umpires should use instant replay to review the play, even though it was obvious to everyone that they were going to use replay given the ambiguity involved. After the umpires finished their on-field conference, they indicated that they would use instant replay, prompting Waldman to exclaim smugly: “Thank you very much.” Congratulations to Waldman for pointing out the obvious.
John Sterling, however, took the edge off my frustration with Waldman by strangely dropping an Akira Kurosawa reference. Sterling, discussing the fact that, even after watching the replay, it was hard to figure out what exactly happened, said (I’m paraphrasing): “This is like Rashomon – show this replay to three different people and you might get three different interpretations of what happened.” Even though I think there were four different perspectives in Rashomon, I’ll cut Sterling a break because it was a great reference. Now if I could only get him to stop all of his goofy home run calls (incidentally, once Posada’s hit was ruled a home run, Sterling said: “Jorgie, as they say, juiced one,” even though Sterling is the only one that says that).
Another irritating moment during the broadcast occurred when Sterling and Waldman were discussing the strangely high number of home runs hit during the first few games at the new Yankee Stadium. Sterling said he would be perfectly happy if the new stadium turned out to be a bandbox because he likes seeing home runs and enjoys high scoring games. Waldman disagreed, stating in her best “in awe of Yankee history voice” (I’m paraphrasing again): “But that’s never what the Yankees have been about.”
It’s hard to overstate the silliness and inaccuracy of Waldman’s comment. From 1996 – 2007, the Yankees averaged 896 runs scored per season, which works out to approximately 5.5 runs per game over twelve seasons. This includes the so-called “dynasty” of 1996 – 2001. All of Waldman’s handwringing over the recent Yankee championship teams being built on pitching and defense overlooks the huge numbers of runs that these teams scored.
Again, Sterling to the rescue. He was spot-on in his response to Waldman’s comment: “Well, uh, they didn’t call them the Bronx Bombers for nothing.”
Tags: Akira Kurosawa, Home Depot, instant replay, John Sterling, Jorge Posada, new Yankee Stadium, New York Yankees, Rashomon, SportsCenter, stating the obvious, Suzyn Waldman, umpires, unexpected references to classic Japanese cinema, WCBS radio
(4.88 out of 5)
I imagine that the worst part of being a Yankee fan (besides rooting for a bunch of tight-ass shitheads), would be having to endure their broadcast teams. For the moment I’m only talking about the radio, and it is insufferable. Sterling is so bombastic and idiotic that it’s almost funny (Giambino?), but Waldman is really the pits.
I’ve ever heard comedian Artie Lange tell a story about him at a Yankee game. He was being interviewed on tv during the game. When the reporter asked him why he came out to the game tonight he replied, “Because I won a Suzyn Waldman lookalike contest.”
Ouch
Sterling is fine, as long as you’re not looking for serious baseball analysis. Over the last few years, he’s gotten much goofier and doesn’t seem to be taking his job as seriously as he used to. Waldman, though, is intolerable.
At least there are some bright spots on the TV crew. Al Leiter is great, John Flaherty is very good, although a little serious, and I’m really enjoying David Cone’s work. Joe Girardi moving from the booth to the dugout was a big loss for YES, though, as was Jim Kaat’s retirement.
As someone who both finds great comfort in watching and listening to Yankee broadcasts but also great irritation, I will say that I personally like Suzyn Waldman a great deal. I don’t know why — a voice like her’s voice would normally cause me to have fits of dry heaving, and her cloying over-familiarity with the whole Yankees roster and coaching staff would otherwise destroy any and all credibility she has — but I think she’s a good talker, really loves baseball, and has great chemistry with Mr. Sterling. As for Mr. Sterling, I think he calls a game perhaps better than anyone else in the business, though his self-conscious invention of nicknames, gut-wrenchingly bombastic home-run calls, and complete dismissal of the objective measurement of talent via statistics make him personally much less likable. That being said, after the Mets’ broadcasters, who I think are totally awesome, the Yankees radio team will always be favorite. Doesn’t mean I don’t know them well enough to dislike them too.