I've heard their broadcast the last 4 or 5 days. Jason likes to play with Len. Talk about stuff other then baseball. Len plays along but you can tell he doesn't like. He gives one word responses often. Len just wants to do the damn game. Jason doesn't get the hint. Cuz he keeps on doing it.

Len + Stone was top notch when they were paired.

I like Benetti but he's not in the same league as Len.

I hear Len is a nice guy and i dont think he'd feel he's above Jason but some of Jason's shit is so gimmicky and bush it's really annoying.

Binetti was fine when nobody gave a shit about the WSox since they sucked. But now that they're a pennant contender, its like Binetti needs to step up his game too but I dont think he can. He's sort of the homer ed farmer type and really belongs on radio while Len is the seasoned professional and belongs on tv w/ the stud steve stone.

Len is more loose and fun when he does his radio hits on the SCORE. But when he's calling a game, he's more serious. In that, he wants the game to be the main focus. Or baseball talk to be the main focus. I know today was a blow out. The game was over in the 1st inning. That's when you're free to do other stuff in a baseball broadcast. That's why Jason tried some goofy topics more then he usually does. But Len still didn't like it.

I'm not saying Jason is wrong for doing some other stuff when the game is over in the 1st. Just pointing out that Len doesn't want to do it. Which makes it an awkward listen.

I think Len could do a solo broadcast. Pat Hughes needs a straight man for his cornpone humor, but Len likes focusing on the game.

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"I give you my word as a Biden"

Len>>Boog.

By a shit ton

they have to do what the best announcers in the game do when it's a blowout. they keep the audience engaged with baseball stories, or anecdotes that keep it interesting.

For example, I was watching the Giants broadcast (Kuiper/Krukow) the other day when they scored 7 runs in the first and the game was basically over. But their banter was great where they talked about back in the 70s/80s they went to so many winter ball leauges in Puerto Rico, the DR, Mexico, etc... They talked about how each was different and what ballplayers they met there that were in the majors or natives of those lands who eventually made it to the majors. They also mixed some jokes in there which was great.

Kuiper then followed up with a great story about how in one of the blowout games when he played for Giants, they had a pitcher injured and everyone got off the field and into the dugout but him. He said he took his glove off and bent down on one knee to relax. He then got into the story how the manager at that time, Frank Robinson was pissed at him. It was some real funny stuff that kept me tuned into a blow out even in the 5th inning.


I think Binetti tries to do that but tries too hard. He needs a former player to bounce that off of like steve stone. Len isn't a player so it really doesn't' work.

Jason talks to hear himself talk.

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Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Ya no doubt. and JD would be the first to beg Len to come back if you've followed the broadcasts this year. I've posted about it in the cubs threads.

Boog seems like a nice guy though but he's better for the national tv broadcast. I'll cut him some slack as it's only his first year.

Len is a Pat Hughes clone. I realize it's difficult to discuss your employers product on live tv. But, his lack of critiquing anything his team does takes a bit away from his work quality. I listened to Rick Monday do color against the Cubs and it was refreshing how free he was to speak honestly. Len has said over and over again it's not his style to have opinions. Len and Benetti have so little insight, not playing the game their not going to break the game down together at a Stone, JD, DJ level.

Good points by all, but find the Cubs broadcasts somewhat unlistenable while the Sox games are at least mildly entertaining at times.

Len falls into the analytics trap, find it all annoying because the current product that MLB is trotting out does not really resemble the game as it was meant to be played. It seems that a speed/contact based team like the last 80's Cardinals would easily run all day on a modern team.

Striking out, failing to move runners, and failing to make contact with a runner on 3rd with less than two outs used to result in a quick trip to the minors, but now you have teams full guys that are fine with hitting 20 homeruns with 23 RBI's, the modern game is almost embarrassing to watch and must be incredibly difficult to broadcast.

He does recognize that the game is out of balance though. He said as much last night. It really all comes down to the fascination with the walk.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Quit walking them then. I mentioned this the other day. Grandal, hitting a buck, was walked 4 times in 2 days. If I'm the catcher, I walk out to the mound and knee him in the nuts.

I really think the idea of counting a called strike as two strikes would solve a few problems. It would force batters to swing at strikes, put more balls in play, speed up the game, and save pitchers’ arms. For fairness, though, I think it would require the computerized strike zone.

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Len needs to work on HISSELF and not being a boring turd. Subtract a little bit of Jason and give it to Len and they’d both be better.

They're not walking them. The amount of walks has remained pretty static, up just a bit. What the fascination with the walk is causing is long counts that often result in strikeouts, as strikeouts are obviously at historic rates.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

That's pretty radical, but I think it would solve the problem. I would try to just call the rulebook strikezone first though before going such a radical route. A letter high pitch is a strike, though it's almost never called. If the strikezone were expanded to the actual one designated in the rules, I think it would force batters into looking to swing rather than looking to take.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Walks are up from a historic low in 2013. But yes, not like Ks. Some say the correct answer would be to move the rubber back two feet. I don't know.

The problem with Ks is they cover up the mistakes that are inherent in baseball. And the problem with HRs is they cover for the Ks. So while it's a game killing problem, the problem itself and the ways to deal with it is very interesting.

I can agree with this.

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Larger strike zone (Or correct strike zone more correctly) might alter the all or nothing swing as well. At least I would like to think it would. I know chicks dig the long ball but this three outcome crap is a chore more days than not for me.

Over the last couple'a months I've noticed Lennie + Stone Pony on FS1 for sox games on the weekend. Is that a thing?

FURTHERMORE I hear you get score guys like McDoink on the radio when they do that? Or am.i messing it up snd McDoink does Cubs radio when Pat Hughes gets on TV?

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What kind of Puerto Rico stories does Benetti have? Thats probably an area where his disabilities catch up with him cuz I doubt he's gonna have an arsenal of fun tawdry night out on the town stories to mix in, ergo the stat nerd banter and reliance on #WhiteSoxMemes or whatever they do.

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Used to be a mix of power hitters and contact guys in a lineup, now you have everyone swinging for the fences, trying to pull everything which creates tons of Ks and easy groundouts to short or second as guys try to pull stuff that is well out of the zone.

The main frustration is with the approach guys take with runners on base and less than two outs. Baseball 101 used to be that you try to move runners into scoring position, it made perfect sense because making contact forces the defense to make a play. You can swing for the fences and maybe it will work five percent of the time, but you give yourself a much better chance if you cut down and make contact.

Earl Weaver was a pitching, defense, and the 3 run homer guy, but even back then, Ks were a bit of a humiliation.

i was thinking about the 80s cards teams the other day. would they be able to win in today's baseball? I think they would dominate. especially against shifts.

why doesn't some GM assemble a team like that?

Benetti is on the call tonight on ESPN. Sheesh.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

I'm glad Stone is back Tuesday. Benetti trying to impress the hot girl Len was so over the top as to be embarrassing.

Seems MLB is realizing the product is broken. Watched a pitcher lay down a perfect bunt single and the broadcasters were amazed, heard Len and Jason repeatedly say it was good the 3rd base coach was being aggressive sending runners because it made the defense have to make a play. These were all commonly known baseball principles in the past.

However this stuff is hard to quantify, so the analytics types will not understand what's going on and will continue to drone on about spin rate and exit velocity because they really know nothing about the game.

Exactly, if the game itself is boring to you, that's the stuff you come up with to make it interesting.

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"I give you my word as a Biden"

I agree with you.

What do you think about the replay review? There seems to be this idea that "getting the call right is the most important thing." Kasper even said something like that during this series. I vehemently disagree. Of course I prefer that the calls be "correct", whatever that means- a lot of it is snap judgment. A guy watching replays in New York can get a call wrong too and they often do. But for me, having a perfectly called game just isn't anywhere near the highest value. If I had to trade two bad calls for every exciting play not being studied by committee after I see it, I would make that trade-off. You see an absolutely amazing play, the crowd is going crazy, and then the game is halted so some guy in New York can decide if your really saw what you just saw. It's really killing the game. And I don't want to hear about gambling. Baseball isn't horse racing. It's not built on gambling. At least not yet.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

At least in the pre video review days we were entertained by Earl Weavers and Lou Pinellas coming out of the dugout to question the umps paternity and kick dirt on their shoes when they blew a call. Now we just have a video shot of the umps standing around waiting for the review while the announcers sigh.