Better than Coomer, of course, but he does not sound like a natural at it. I'm used to him speaking in short bursts as either a football sideline guy or basketball play-by-play, neither of which are really the rhythm for baseball play-by-play. I don't think it's his calling. I also can't imagine this is something Mark Grote couldn't have done.

Oh and his enthusiasm has never sounded genuine for anything. Another bad call from Mitch.

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in to Coomers' stupid ass but minus the knowledge.

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Bears are more important, thus a good call. We just haven't gotten to Bears season yet.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

I listened opening day, and I thought ZZ was pretty decent.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

This is probably the reason for the switch. Time will tell. As I have aged, really wish ZZ stayed with Bears.

Zaidman (among others) pronounces "catcher" with a very pronounced æ sound. Is this a Northeast thing like "Flarida aranges" or am I just a complete rube for saying it more like "ketcher"?

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It was a sad day for Zach when they had to add Thayer to All-Access due to the players treating Zach like a substitute teacher. I think it was a Cutler interview that was so bad and disrespectful that caused the change to the show.

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He's awful...just as expected.

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Thanks, Crane !

i think it was all but confirmed by grote that it was a mini demotion to go from cubs to bears.

zaidmen is a comptent play by play guy, you all are just still mad he was unwilling to openly criticize the the team (bears) who was signing his paychecks.

I heard him call the top of the 5th yesterday against the Reds. Zach is a minimum replacement PBP guy. Neither Coomer or Grote were. And Pat has taken games off each of the last couple of years with his health challenges. If Pat goes on a two-week leave, the broadcast would be fucked with Grote doing PBP.

I think that risk was the reason for the move. Plus I think the Bears were sick of Zach's toady ass.

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"When people want their version of the truth, they go find it, no matter how baseless their beliefs." -- Ken Rosenthal

I was pleasantly surprised that Zaidman wasn't afraid to be critical. He mentioned the new NL strikeout record (58 in the first 5 games) -- and then repeated it about four more times. When mentioning Baez's triple, he repeatedly said it was really a misplay by the right fielder. The digs were subtle, but I was happy to hear something other than Maddon say the Cubs "hit the ball as hard as he's ever seen in a shutout."

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This may actually, literally be the only time this phrase has ever been typed in this forum..

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Yes some of the exit velocity’s on those outs were off the charts!!

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

LTG and I are here to lead you sheep out away from your comfortable herd mentality.

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Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Yeah, no.

Zaidman is awful, and I don't listen to Cubs games.

I'm good with that.

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I'm listening now to his PBP for the first time. Something about his cadence sounds like minor league announcers.

You think doing pre/post and backup play-by-play for 162 games of baseball is less important than reporting on the Bears?

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Zach's character could be written by a comedy writer parodying a work place kiss ass. I heard him the other day talk with a straight face about Baez moving in to second place on Cub 2b with multi homer games. Baez has three. Sandberg was in first place with over 20.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Reminds me of one of the recent hockey statistics I enjoyed, Jack Capuano moving into second place for wins in New York Islanders history with 82. Al Arbour ranked first with 740.

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JESUS CHRIST STOP FAKE-LAUGHING.

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Parkins termed it "Zackles". It's sickening.

Pat and Coomer were talking about wearing makeup for TV and he's just in the background going "WUUUUAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! OHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHA!" God, give it a break. Pat can't be that emotionally needy, can he?

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Like I said in the game thread, the one thing I hate about Zach is his unique brand of homerism where you damn well know if the Cubs were down 6-0 entering the 5th inning at some point during his call he would have pointed out that the Cubs managed to come back from 7-10 runs or whatever it was against the Twins last season. It's just as phony and contrived as his zackles or whatever you call his guffawing (which we all love hearing in the background during pat&ron innings)

And the part that really grinds my gears = Zach comes off so damn smarmy about all this stuff (whether he means to or not). I get this vibe like you're SUPPOSED TO be laughing at those dumb jokes/moments... Or when he gives you the company (cheerleader) line with his overtly stupid-positive facts/reminders/etc, it comes packaged with an implied arrogance like "let me correct you on this" cuz of this unholy combo of pedantry, smarm, and of course total ego borne from the kind of mindset/mentality that has given us timeless lines like "so where'd you coach your football?" --- cuz, you know, he *IS* kind of sort of a pretty Fucking big deal dontchaknow?

In other words, I don't think many would object to my saying that Zach comes off like the guy that would delight in the smell of his own farts on south park... And when you combine that with local teams evidently enjoying his unique blend of authoritarian pedantic smug smarm to the point where he's had well over a decade of media/professional validation of his schtick.... It's just like "damn dude... you are the kind of guy who makes me wonder if gingers really do have souls"

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Sini is the Zaidman of the board.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

You misspelled 'phenomenal'.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Pat has always struck me as the type of guy who "makes a funny" then sort of looks over at you with this prolonged smile that stops just short of a nod that says "you're supposed to laugh here.". it's probably a part of his professional smarm where it's like "this is a professional broadcast so you laugh when you're supposed to" cuz you know Pat comes from the ranks of WGN where I've always caught a vibe of what I'd call "kiss the ring culture" perpetuated by guys like Father Of The Year Kaplan and, no doubt, a bunch of.old radio.pros who CH knows all about.

Ergo, I'd imagine that Zach (and Pat for that matter) sees.it like he's paying his dues by "putting over" "the pat & ron show" by being the veritable laugh track... And we know Zach... When the hand is extended for.some kiss the ring action Zach's gonna damn near deep throat the motherfucker right there on the spot, no doubt as some kind of show of respect to Pat Fucking Hughes, likely the king of his own little fiefdom over there in the Cubs broadcast booth.

So in short I'd say that Pat prolly doesn't NEED the zackles / forced guffawing / over the top.fake laughter; but at the same time.he prolly loves it because it not only feeds into the whole rigameroo of the pat & ron show, but it reinforces Zach's lower standing in the Cubs Radio Fiefdom/Totem-Pole/etc and shows that Zach both acknowledges and accepts his subordinate status to Pat. It puts.over pat as kind of a really pretty Fucking big deal and pumps up his mythos and begs for that ring hand to be extended so like, hey pat is that a chocolate chip smudge.on your ring finger? Don't worry about a napkin I've got you covered like hey it's gotta.be the 5th inning somewhere, amirite?!

*boom chicka wow wow*

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Ouch.

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Just chillin' like Garret Quillin.