This afternoon, word very quickly spread that Joe Morgan will not be returning to ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. Jon Miller won't be returning, either, but it's Morgan who was the bigger news, and before long it was all over Twitter. The news was received on the internet exactly as you'd expect the internet to receive news a popular blog once dreamed of making a reality. It was simple, mass glee.
And of course, overall, it's a good thing. Morgan was neither a very good nor popular announcer, and the broadcast should benefit from his absence, even given that the very listenable Miller is leaving as well. However, there are a few things I feel one must keep in mind as he considers today's turn of events.
(1) Sunday Night Baseball airs, what, 25 times a year? Morgan worked for ESPN, but ESPN aired only a limited selection of games, featuring a limited selection of teams. This isn't going to have much of an effect on your life.
(2) How much did Morgan really spoil for anyone? Those who are irritated by poor announcing almost invariably develop the ability to tune it out. And one could argue that Morgan actually enhanced the broadcast by making it more interactive. Most anyone who knew enough to pick up on Morgan's redundancies or inaccuracies could joke about them with friends, or take them to Twitter or a blog.
(3) Morgan was never the enemy. The enemy is all those opposed to contemporary thought and analysis, and though Morgan was certainly a part of the group, this doesn't work like killing the head vampire. There's always going to be another guy, until there isn't. Lots of people complained about Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, and Ernie Johnson during the playoffs. They haven't gone anywhere.
Morgan's is a symbolic removal, and while symbolic removals have their place and are worthy of celebration, in the end they don't get much accomplished. The war against anti-intellectualism and misinformation rages on, and it will continue to rage on until one day, perhaps, it wins, and we can all get mad at something else.
4 recs | 45 comments
Little bit of a downer post here.
Joe Metro - November 8, 2010
The other angle is all played out
Jeff Sullivan - November 8, 2010
Rec'd for providing a different take!
ThundaPC - November 8, 2010
I'm waiting for tomorrow's article "Why you should always forget 9/11 and how it didn't change anything."
CapSea - November 8, 2010
I was into 9/11 when it was still ASCII.
Eyebrows - November 8, 2010
After 9/11 it became ASC..
CapSea - November 8, 2010
Speaking of people who are on fire today...
JAH - November 8, 2010
On a whole 'nuther plane of exellence.
PissedMick - November 9, 2010
Joe Morgan the player was pretty good...
Kevman22 - November 8, 2010
I was just going to say
It’s quite ironic that Joe Morgan was the embodiment of a sabermetric player, as I think BtBS noted a while back.
perfectstrat - November 8, 2010
I like Joe Buck
Robert - November 8, 2010
Strangely, me too
but in the way I like Brent Musberger. He has an announcers’ voice.
McCarver on the other hand…
seattlebruin - November 9, 2010
Joe Buck has said he doesn't like watching baseball
Fuck Joe Buck
Edgar for Pres - November 10, 2010
Also he sounds like a douche
I really hate Joe Buck.
Edgar for Pres - November 10, 2010
I'm glad for the opportunity to take my anger about misinformation into new and fresh directions
Gihyou - November 8, 2010
I'm more thrilled about Jon Miller.
I was neutral about him until this year. The Red Sox were often on Sunday Night Baseball and if I had to hear him call Beltre “Bell-tray”, with a goddamn French accent, one more time I was gonna shoot something.
It just pissed me off and I can’t get past that one thing.
truemsfan - November 8, 2010
I bet you had a great time with san-CHEZ in the World Series
Jeff Sullivan - November 8, 2010
Every time Jon Miller overpronounces a latino name
An angel (ahn-hell?) gets its wings.
Grady Clapp - November 8, 2010
Pre-emptive Dave Sims/Gutierrez remark
Jeff Sullivan - November 8, 2010
Kinda weird for ESPN to get rid of a recent Hall of Fame broadcaster.
I like Miller, though his bell-TRAY made me want to break things.
yuniform - November 8, 2010
goo-tee-
eLL-ez
tsunamijesus - November 8, 2010
He just needed to be more consistent
JLC - November 8, 2010
Beat me to it. Dammit.
RustyJohn - November 8, 2010
I still wait for the day when the baseball announcer equivalent of Michael Corleone decides to rub out a half-dozen bad announcers at the same time...
“You’ve got to answer for Santino, Rick Sutcliffe…”
Maybe a bullet in the eye of Tim McCarver.
Hawk Harrelson machine gunned in bed with his whore.
Joe Buck shot in the back by a cop writing him a traffic ticket.
And then the airways will be free…
Or, a non-lethal method would be to place headphones on the above forementioned individuals while they sleep and pipe in tapes of Mike Blowers commentating and they will soon fall into a deep, dark coma for the next 12 years.
RustyJohn - November 8, 2010
Mark Gubicza still lives.
44FAN - November 9, 2010
For me, the joy is less about the action than it is about the potential.
ESPN is not run by people who don’t know what they’re doing. Baseball is changing, and they don’t want to be left behind. Sure, they may bury guys like Keith Law and Rob Neyer, but they do employ them. I like to think that they know those guys represent a forward-thinking type of baseball analysis, and the fans are moving toward them. They’re not going to start putting Law and Neyer on the front page, but they know the time is coming where minds like that are what customers demand. They’re following the trend — wisely.*
*All this means jack shit if they hire some other knob.
Teej - November 8, 2010
I believe Morgan is being replaced by Orel Hershiser
Jeff Sullivan - November 8, 2010
All right then!
Teej - November 8, 2010
He used to wear glasses, which is something
Jeff Sullivan - November 8, 2010
He's a step up, at least.
I know ragging on Joe Morgan is trite, but he really was bad enough that even my pragmatic side is happy that he’s gone. I’m not going to throw a parade, but I’m smiling.
Teej - November 8, 2010
Problem solved!
Poochie - November 9, 2010
The reason you should temper your glee...
Dave Niehaus isn’t getting any younger (soon to be 76!) and won’t last forever. Soon there will be an open chair in the Safeco broadcast booth, and one Mister Joe Morgan, looking for a job…
doublemazaa - November 9, 2010
This is stupid and wrong-headed and probably meant to wound. Stop.
yuniform - November 9, 2010
Shut your face
Dave will die in the booth. During the 2036 season. Very sad, yes, but that’s practically forever from now.
fiftyone - November 9, 2010 via mobile
Not a bad move by ESPN.
Although Joe Morgan always provided some humor with his odd remarks, I will miss the soothing commentary of Jon Miller. Hopefully they’ll use Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser as replacements, just NOT Rick Sutcliffe!
Zombie Nation - November 9, 2010
Was that last bit about baseball
or is that social commentary I smell.
miracle_max - November 9, 2010
"The war against anti-intellectualism"
Did anyone else find that rather oxymoronic?
morrow - November 9, 2010
Joe Morgan had a sweet announcing voice
Dewey N - November 9, 2010
I'm extremely glad you took this stance
Dewey N - November 9, 2010
I enjoy baseball on the radio a lot.
Morgan on the radio cannot be ignored and that is where I wish he would be removed from. Morgan on TV never bothered me one bit because as you said I was able to tune him out.
Sec 108 - November 9, 2010
You will not ruin this for me
I’ve been waiting for this to happen. If they can get rid of McCarver for the postseason, I can once again enjoy national broadcasts again.
Ryan Divish - November 9, 2010
McCarver is really the only annoucer they absoluted needed to get rid of
Edgar for Pres - November 10, 2010
I chose not to tune him out
And so I chose not to watch Sunday Night Baseball. He made it unwatchable like Joe Theisman makes football games unwatchable. But this view, as noted, is played out and common. Took them long enough is all I can really add.
Craptastic-J - November 9, 2010
Just had a thought.
Imagine if Dave Cameron was a baseball announcer. Just a funny thought.
Edgar for Pres - November 10, 2010
It'd be like the Micro Machine guy calling the play by play.
JAH - November 10, 2010
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