POTD Dave Niehaus: Passion (3)
Bill James was once asked, do you ever not think about baseball? Bill's reply, hmmmmm... once in a while in a movie I forget about baseball for a few minutes, but it has to be a good movie.
Think about where James, and saber, was in 1975, and think about where his passion has taken him...
Bill's passion was never for being published. It wasn't for his own reputation. He didn't burn with longing to be highly esteemed by his peers; hey, from 1975-1988, he literally didn't have any peers.
Baseball people would sneer at James, and we mean huge baseball celebrities. Sparky Anderson, early on, referred to Bill as "that little *(**& (*&( who thinks he knows baseball."
How would, say, myself or SABRMatt or Silentpadna react if Lou Piniella called us out by name?
James laughed. "Sparky's nine inches shorter than me," he mused. James isn't about recognition. He is about bases gained and bases lost. The rest is conversation.
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=== Zig Instead of Zag, Dept. ===
There's no replacing Dave Niehaus.
We don't say it as a cliche; it's just that you can't go find the other announcer who has gusto, and Americana, and the smoky voice, and who was there when Segui threw the first pitch.
You need to go a different direction entirely. The next orange won't be as juicy; you've got to go find us a strawberry.
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But one of the non-negotiables is genuine passion for Mariners hardball.
Yes, we know that everybody who rides the busses and planes is passionate for the game, in a broad sense.
We're not talking about passionate for one's career, or glad to be around the game, or that kind of stuff; we're talking Niehaus passionate, where the pitcher bends over to pick up the resin bag and Niehaus is absorbed in the details of it.
Passion is necessary but not sufficient. It certainly is not the only absolute requirement for a #1 baseball announcer. But it's one of the requirements. Don't give us a guy who doesn't hurt when the Mariners lose.
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Presuming that the M's aren't going work around Dr. D's schedule ;- ) and assuming for the sake of argument that we aren't talking out-of-market radio announcers: there are two local choices that SSI knows of.
Kevin Calabro and Mike Curto.
I'm not opining that either guy would be the right choice. Merely that either would bring the possibility of success in following, um, Dave Niehaus.
Curto (we suspect) and Calabro (we know for a fact) have the hearts of #1 baseball announcers.
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Cheerio,
Jeff