Questions for "that announcer for Blue Jays Baseball"

For an sampling of his handiwork, this link will take you to the MLB webpage for the Jays-Rays game on April 24th.

Why does he sound like a player down on the field with a wad of "Big League Chew" in his mouth?
Why does he skip consonants when he garbles sentences like "Struck...'em out" and "Fly Baw...right field...it's gawn"?
Why does he sound like he is going to say something else, and then stops talking?
Why does he continue to mangle the Spanish language?
Why is he more than a little depressed when the other team scores?

In listing these "pet peeves", I learned something about how we feel about baseball announcers: You can't please everybody. Jerry Howarth is a wonderful man with a wonderful voice for baseball; if you asked me to imitate him, I believe I could do fairly well in that department, as would Don Landry from the FAN 590 radio station here in Toronto. However, some of my friends don't like him because they think "his voice is more suited to a dentist's office than a baseball game". Perhaps, announcers are an extension of the baseball team? Unlike the players on the field, announcer fill a role during the game. They have streaks of great games, and then they have slumps. Finally when they move on or be replaced, the new announcer tries to fill the void the previous commentator left behind, just like in baseball.

I suppose I can live with this arrangement for now, but if this continues past 2011 I move Bob McCown and Jamie Campbell broadcast Jays games on Tuesday nights.

What is this "Cease and Desist" order doing in my mailbox? Oh well...

In the meantime, enjoy...

Dad visits Fenway Park

Aiya...

If you are not careful, you could walk right past and not know it. It was warm, clear April afternoon when my Dad and I spotted the pine green paint of the old building on Yawkey street. Crossing onto Van Ness, I took as many low resolution pictures as I could. There is something about one hundred year old stadiums you can't find in modern sports palaces of today. I'm not talking about the history, particular moments, or players that made these theaters roar. Rather, it is the smell.


Dad asked if this was the place Babe Ruth built. I looked at him like he was crazy, and then shook my head. "Wrong place" I said to him, and we continued on. There are pennants numbered with specific years on the west side of Fenway Park facing the row of Pro Shops and sweat shacks across the street. Numbers such as 2007, 2004, and 1918 are printed on red flags, but other numbers like 1946, 1975, and 1986 are on navy flags. I stopped at 1986 to take a picture; it's a bad one...I think I have it somewhere on my camera.

Before stepping onto Brookline, I told Dad "I suppose I would need to choose between Red Sox and Yankees now." My older sister went to Fenway Park many times since moving to Boston. However, she lived in New York before this, and when the Jays started losing she started supporting the Yankees. "Never wear a Yankees hat in Boston" She told me once, "Under ANY circumstance". I wore my Pittsburgh Pirates jersey at the time, and I did receive some looks. "These guys sure hold a grudge." I said to Dad as we walked along the outside of the Green Monster, "The 1903 World Series was only 107 years ago, but they will not let things go." I checked my camera again before taking another picture of Bostonians walking up and down the terraces of the left-field wall. Dad shook his head as we looked up at the structure, and said "it's not that tall."

Before reaching Lansdowne, I spot a sign...
"No charge?" I utter. Without asking, I run inside the restaurant and find the nearest and largest mesh fence leading to the inside of Fenway Park. At first, I just stood there and looked; almost like that first night out to sea from Buenos Aires, only it is daylight and no stars are out (not even the baseball kind). I pulled out my camera and started recording a video; at first I take shots of the stadium behind the fence, and then try fitting the lens through the mesh capture the whole of the stadium: The Green Monster, the stand behind home plate, the championship pennants, the red coloured seats, and that pine green around the ballpark. I was so happy I wanted the whole world in my hands, even if Dad said "the place is too small", and how "television makes it larger than it actually is". The manager said he needed to close the fence because flies were buzzing into his eatery, nevertheless it was time to leave.


Dad asks if the guy in the picture up ahead is Lou Gehrig. I look at the picture of Ted Williams and do a vintage "Jean-Luc Picard" facepalm. Then, Dad asked me "Who is Ted Williams?" Double Facepalm.

That was only last Tuesday when Dad and I went to Fenway Park. He still asks questions about sports, and I answer some and facepalm others. Much like that old ballpark in Boston, I doubt he will ever change.
That's him walking down the street beside Fenway Park, by the way.

Quick Clips

Alright, stop me if you heard this one: The Ottawa Senators were down three games to one in a playoff series...


The New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals finished one of the longest baseball games in history as the Mets prevailed against the hometown Cardinals 2-1 after twenty innings of play. One of the incredible features was how each team held the other scoreless in the first eighteen innings. Mets Coach Jerry Manuel was pleased with the decision, although he was confused why Maple Leafs hockey coach Ron Wilson keeps leaving call back messages on his answering machine.

Red, White, and Blue Monday

While researching and writing "Treason", I wanted to include a video of Rick Monday hitting the homerun that sealed the Expos' fate in the 1981 NLCS. However, I received links to various videos and responses to Rick Monday doing something else.

What is Phil talking about?

I thought the tale was inspiring, and presented a side about a player I only knew as a "heart breaker" years previous. For more on Rick Monday, check out the links provided in the video or scope out Youtube. Be sure to consult an adult before going online, kids; some Youtubers have a way of spinning things and assuming too much. The video link seems safe enough though :)

Treason

That is what she called it...treason.

Wearing my Nationals jersey, which I recently acquired with authentic patches and no number on the back, I walked downstairs and headed for the living room. Sure, the shirt was size 40 and too tight for my body, but I was stylin'. My older sister, who returned home from Boston for a visit, spotted me in my Washington Nationals gear and paused. I wore everything: Navy socks, navy jeans, road grey Nationals jersey with "Washington" printed in bold letters, Under Armour Coldgear navy mock underneath, and the authentic navy hat with the white "W" emblazoned on the front.

One word escaped her lips: Treason. The Nationals left the cozy confines of the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, several years before, but she remembered the day the Montreal Expos 'deserted' their loyal fans and left for the U.S. capital. Treason: For a Canadian to celebrate the departure of one of Canada's last professional sports franchises, much less an institution and symbol of pride in the province of Quebec, by wearing the clothes of their evil clone was an outrage.

I don't wear my Nationals gear around her anymore, nevertheless I don't find much use in wearing it now, save for my Nationals' hats. I waited my entire life for a baseball team that has the letter "W" for a logo; I'm not going to give that up.

I miss the Expos, though; I really do miss them. ESPN Classic still shows replays of "Blue Monday", which is the moniker for the disastrous defeat to the Dodgers in the decisive playoff in 1981, the closest the club ever got to a World Series. The team, which introduced Gary Carter, Steve Rogers, Andre Dawson, Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, Larry Johnson, and Vladimir Guerrero to the baseball world, will hold a special place in my heart. I remember when the stars aligned for the Expos in 1994, and how no one in the National League could touch them as "Les Expos" coasted towards a 100-win season and a certain championship berth. However, the strike happened, and those dreams remained unfulfilled...

Perhaps my Yankees fan sister was right, but only if we do not remember and celebrate the history of Canada's first professional baseball team. They were a collection of "not quites" and renegades (see Larry Walker bio), symbolizing the ingenuity and never-say-quit attitude of Canadians, even while no one watched.

Here's to you, Youppi. Keep sliding...!

Youppi says for more on the Expos, go to your local library, Wikipedia, or ask Phil Wood (...What?)