Lists are just about the most played out things on the planet these days, but when you put together a ranking of the "Top 50 Broadcasters", I'm going to post on it. The ASA has released such an article, and the interesting thing isn't the Top Ten, but rather some of the other names on the list. Most notably Joe Buck at #31 and Chris Berman at #35. Here's the list via Farther Off The Wall....

1. Vin Scully
2. Mel Allen
3. Red Barber
4. Curt Gowdy
5. Howard Cosell
6. Bob Costas
7. Jim McKay
8. Keith Jackson
9. Al Michaels
10. Dick Enberg
11. Jack Buck
12. Ted Husing
13. Jack Brickhouse
14. Don Dunphy
15. Graham McNamee
16. Ernie Harwell
17. Marv Albert
18. Harry Caray
19. Jon Miller
20. Bill Stern
21. Chick Hearn
22. Marty Glickman
23. Jack Whitaker
24. Jim Nantz
25. Chris Schenkel
26. Lindsey Nelson
27. Russ Hodges
28. Ray Scott
29. John Madden
30. Bob Prince
31. Joe Buck
32. Milo Hamilton
33. Bob Wolff
34. Chuck Thompson
35. Chris Berman
36. Phil Rizzuto
37. Marty Brennaman
38. Clem McCarthy
39. Bill Walton
40. Foster Hewitt
41. Harry Kalas
42. Johnny Most
43. Bob Elson
44. Brent Musberger
45. Pat Summerall
46. Merle Harmon
47. Dick Vitale
48. Dick Stockton
49. Tony Kubek
50. Bud Collins

While you can't argue with most of the names on that list, as I said above, there are a few questionable ones included. The best part is that Bill Walton is the chairman for ASA, and somehow he magically appears in the top forty. Stop voting for yourself, Bill!

The whole Top 50 ASA list, from Scully to Collins and beyond (Farther Off The Wall)

There seem to be about eighty different broadcasting Hall of Fames, but the "official" one is the on SVG (Sports Video Group) created in 2007. The "Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame" only has eleven members, but will be adding nine more this December. The are all walks of "Sports Production" life, but the class will be highlighted by Vin Scully, Curt Cowdy and Charlie Steinberg. Via the SBHoF press release....

The Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame 2008, formed in 2007 to honor sports TV industry innovators and leaders, announced its 2008 inductee class today in New York. Marvin Bader, Chet Forte, Curt Gowdy, Teddy Nathanson, Don Ohlmeyer, Val Pinchbeck, Vin Scully, Bob Seiderman, and Charlie Steinberg will be officially inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame on Dec. 16 in New York in a ceremony hosted by Jim Nantz, CBS Sports lead play-by-play announcer.

More than 80 industry leaders from national broadcast networks, cable sports networks, leagues, teams, and related organizations participated in the selection process this past summer. Honorees were elected in seven categories: management, production, technical operations, engineering, leagues and teams, manufacturers and vendors, and on-air talent.

Back in May, Vin Scully hinted at a retirement, or at least a reduced role for next season. The 80 year old stated that he wanted to spend more time with his wife, but today there are reports that he's definitely coming back for yet another season with the Dodgers. The LA Times is reporting that the longtime announcer will be back for his 60th season as the team's announcer and that his wife, Sandy, has given the plan her blessing....

Vin Scully will be back for his 60th season as voice of the Dodgers.

The Hall of Fame broadcaster said he received the blessing of his wife, Sandy, to postpone retirement. Scully, 80, is in the final season of a three-year contract.

Scully said he does not intend to re-sign for more than a year, adding, "I'm really weary talking about beyond this afternoon. . . . There's a beginning, a middle and an end for all of us. I know that I have a lot more yesterdays than I have tomorrows."

Because of the amount of time his wife will have to continue to spend alone, Scully said he felt he had to talk over his plans with her. He intends to keep the same work schedule, which includes games at home and as far east as Colorado. "She pays a terrific price," he said. "What it means is that Sandy is so selfless and unselfish and she would go through it again because she knows how much it means to me."

I don't know how you could hate someone who gave us one of the most memorable calls in Baseball history, but apparently Jeff Kent's ire knows no bounds. In an interview with LA Times' TJ Simers, Kent decided to rail on Vin Scully and the rest of Sports Media. Via SbB....

"Vin Scully talks too much," Kent said.

Now that's funny, the guy who normally doesn't say much, this time saying way too much.

"You can't say that," I told Kent, and he said he had just spoken to 200 women (at a Dodgers function) "and I told them the same thing, and they laughed.

"We all love you, Vin," Kent added with a mischievous grin, "but you still talk too much."

Ran that by Scully. He had nothing to say. NEXT WEEK, I presume, Kent will go after the Pope. Now how would Kent know what Scully is saying? If he's playing second base, the consummate pro that he is, why is he listening to the TV or radio? How do we know he doesn't have Scully and Charley Steiner mixed up?

Then who has the problem?

"Scully is making the same point everyone else is making," I said. "He says the stats indicate you are having success hitting behind Ramirez -- tell me that isn't the case."

"See my answer to the first question," said Kent, and sometimes you wonder if he sleeps with his bed against a wall forcing him to always wake up on the wrong side. "Listen, I'm so tired of talking about this stuff. It diminishes my whole career and all the hard work. I take it as an insult. I'm 40. You don't get better when you are 40."

Kent's batting average has increased by more than 20 points in the past 10 days since hitting third. Manny being Manny has rejuvenated Kent. It's so much fun telling him that.

"It's so pathetic," he said. "You guys write about things happening in a week's time. That's why we don't like you. Baseball is a six-month game. What did I hit last year? Without Manny? How do you explain that? What's my career average? What will I be hitting at the end of this season? Everyone says I'm hitting now because some guy says so on TV?" he says, and first time someone has ever called Scully "some guy."

Oh well, time to push all his buttons, Kent ranked No. 47 on the all-time RBI list only because they walked Barry Bonds ahead of him so often.

"You write too much," cracked Kent, who can be both funny and deadly serious in the same sentence.

One of the people can't say anything wrong about LA Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. He's been the voice of the Dodgers since 1950 when they were located in Brooklyn and his contract is up following this season. He didn't come out and say that he was going to, but he hinted at it during a talk at Fordham University. Via the NY Times....

But his contract expires after this season, and he said he would follow the advice of his wife, Sandy, about continuing a run that began in Brooklyn in 1950 and has spanned the ownership of the O’Malley family, Rupert Murdoch and Frank McCourt.

“I want to spend a lot of time with her,” he said at the dinner at Sotheby’s that honored him and another renowned Fordham alumnus, Charles Osgood, of CBS News.

“There’s a lot of hoopla in this job, but it’s lonely for the wife,” he said. “So I want to talk seriously with her about her feelings. I want to know what’s in her head. We’ll talk it out over the long summer and then we’ll talk to Frank.”

He said that he did not know what his wife would say. “She’s so selfless,” he said, “that she’ll probably say, ‘Whatever you feel you should do, we’ll do,’ and then we’ll be back at Square 1. It’s a question I get asked a lot at this age.”

Interviewer Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle says it best: "This is my eleventh season covering major league baseball. I received my first Hall of Fame vote this year. But I still become a child every time I hear your voice and your voice."

The voices he is referring to are those of Los Angeles Dodgers broadcasting legends Vin Scully and Jaime Jarrin, two announcers who have combined for more than 100 years of service to the team. Both are members of the Hall of Fame's announcers wing: Scully was honored for his contributions to the game in 1982, Jarrin in 1998.



The most jarring thing about this video is Scully's appearance vs. his voice. For the first twenty seconds, while Ortiz sets up the interview for the audience, Scully sits idly by and waits to be addressed. He looks like any other 80-year-old man. Then his mouth opens and magic happens. No exaggeration. He talks and you can almost hear sixty years of history in his voice. Does that make sense?

Jarrin also comes off as likeable - I might compare him to Red Sox radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione, only Jarrin announces the games in Spanish and with a much stronger voice than Duke's father. He just seems like the type of guy who loves baseball, loves the team he works for and possesses almost unlimited knowledge about the game. I envy those who have the chance to listen to either of these guys on a regular basis (although NESN's Orsillo and Remy are two of the best in the business, in my opinion, so I'm lucky to have them).