The Homerun Derby Is Back, Back, Back!
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
I really have no idea why I watch the nonsense that is the Homerun Derby every single year, but it's almost become a rite of passage for me. Every year Chris Berman gets more and more ridiculous and the recent of Joe Morgan has made the broadcast borderline unbearable, but for some reason I watch every minute.
Well there's good news for those of you who like train wrecks! The duo of Berman and Morgan are back, but they've brought along a few friends. Everyone welcome to the broadcast, Steve Phillips and Rick Reilly!!!
Chris Berman will host the Derby (also available in high definition on ESPN HD), joined on the field by Hall of Famer Joe Morgan and analyst Steve Phillips. Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech will also provide commentary with analysts Peter Gammons and John Kruk and ESPN The Magazine’s Rick Reilly. Erin Andrews will report and provide interviews on the field. ESPN will utilize 20 cameras to capture the excitement of the Derby, including the use of “Ultra Mo,” a replay device recapping action at 1,000 frames per second.Hopefully they can keep the broadcast under 8 hours this year and just for the fun of it let's relive some of the Best of the 2007 Derby....
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“It could be a national “Holiday” by the time we’re done here”- Chris Berman on Matt Holliday
“I walked up to him in the batting cage today and I was speaking to most of the players and I said….Who is that?”- Joe Morgan on Alex Rios
“Albert Winnie the Pujols”- Chris Berman
“We have many dollars invested in this project….I just hope someone hits one over the wall”- Kenny Mayne on his kayak project (no balls were hit in the Cove)
“I think that one landed on Treasure Island”- Chris Berman
“I saw you jamming out there with the Crows”- Dusty Baker
“It was the Counting Crows!”- Chris Berman
“You were counting em’ too!”- Dusty Baker
“It’s off the platform in right centerfield….how interesting is that”- Chris Berman
“There’s a rainbow!”- Dusty Baker
12 Comments:
What the heck is Rick Relly doing there? I know ESPN is payig him a bucnh of money but come on. Eevery year Doepey Berman coems up with some stupid nickhame for one of the players in the competisioion, its anoying. I think te Home Run derby has become like the slam dunk contest.
"That one landed in *Add town/village in NYC, Westchester County, Long Island, New Jersey, and Farfield County Here*" is a sure bet, right?
This is too good to be true. Morgan/Reilly could be like matter/antimatter and annihilate each other.
Berman? Morgan? Phillips? Reilly? IT'S THE RAPTURE.
By putting Berman, Morgan, Phillips, AND Reilly on the Derby together, I think this much is obvious: ESPN is now intentionally throwing broadcasts. There's just no other explanation for it. There's no way ANYONE with a normally functioning human brain can think such a crew is a legitimately good idea.
i heard michael kay was doing the homerun derby he said it on TV
Is it really necessary to have 300 people covering what is essentially a glorified batting practice? I know I sound old saying this, but I actually enjoyed this exhibiton game before they had this tomfoolery, the selection shows, celebrity games, etc. The game used to be enough....i'm sad it's no longer that way. I'm all for progress but in this case less would be much more.
8 commentators and 20 cameras? They have truly lost it over at thw WWL. Does anybody really care what these people think? This is like drowning out nonsense with hyperbole. But, for the same reason people in SoCal slow down for the car wreck, I just may watch some of this circus.
I actually like the Home Run Derby. I don't much care for the commentators, but I like the actual event.
as much as i like and respect Rick Reilly, can someone shut his mic off? what a freakin moron playing the race card and making DUMB comments... learn the rules on how they pick players for this thing before you speak. they need to have a longer delay so espn can bleep out everything he says before it hits the airways.
Joe Morgan has been and remains the biggest "a" hole in sportscasting history. You can hear the pain in his voice as he describes todays athletes doing it better and more spectacular than he ever did it. And ok there was a great team known for a few years as the big Red Machine. Joe relishes telling evryone in earshot about their greatness and how they spanked the Yankees in 1976. Unfortunately, "No neck" Morgan is the perfect example of how a classless individual can bumble and stumble over every word he mumbles and hold his job because of the race card.
If it weren't for Tivo and a mute button, this whole event would be intolerable.