Red Sox 5, White Sox 5 (top of the 17th)
(Curt Schilling might’ve survived a Jim Thome line drive, but who knows if he’s been able to take the play-by-play since retiring to the clubhouse?)
It’s been a thriller, folks, but in Beaky’s words, “me gone.” We’ve had all sorts of crazy heroics, a rare blown save from Jonathan Papelbon, some baserunning gaffes that would’ve otherwise ended the game ages ago for the White Sox…but worst of all, the unrelenting yammer of Comcast’s Ken Harrelson.
That the Hawk is an unapologetic homer will surprise only those who’ve never heard him call a game. But this afternoon, he has been simply out of control. When not bitching about biased umpiring (apparently, ‘Tek framing a pitch is a sneaky tactic right up there with the North Koreans aiming at Ken’s house), Harrelson’s personal MST3K session has consisted of screaming at ChiSox baserunners (“GET BACK, JERMAINE, GET BACKKKKK!”) and pathetic attempts at urging long fly balls over the fence.
I realize these are hardly new lows for the Hawk, but I only wish to point out that under normal circumstances, no one has to listen to him for 6 FUCKING HOURS. Seriously. This has been the baseball equivalent of attending a slasher film in Times Square during the early 1980’s, except the quality of overheard conversation isn’t nearly as high.
Ken Harrelson makes me wish I was born without ears. This is inhumane.
Thank Gawd for access to MLB.com radio broadcasts…I just tuned into the White Sox broadcast and saved my brain.
for once i’m glad i don’t have cable.
I have only once had the displeasure of listening to Harrelson broadcasting a WhiteSox game and his “He gone” strikeout call stuck in my head like an annoying brainworm song for the rest of the evening.
What, no mention of Hawk’s anecdote regarding how if Iguchi had popped up a bunt in Japan (like he did today) he would’ve been taken into a room and smacked around? I think it took place sometime around the 17th inning, after dementia had firmly set in.
I went to the radio after the 16th, I have to admit. Partially because it is difficult to watch satellite TV and drive at the same time, but mostly because the Hawk is intolerable. To paraphrase the Diceman, he was raping base and and killing ball.
I was visiting Chicago after a 2 year absence. I remembered how much I hated “He gone” and “put it on the board…yes!” (as a duet with the sycophantic Darrin Jackson). I had forgotten just how much of a whiner he is/they are. And to think the only reason Hawk has his job is because Reinsdorf felt bad about firing him him after his stellar year as GM. Egads.
I got to ‘watch’ the game on cbs.sportsline.com, which I now guess is a good thing.
I always have the sound down low when I watch games on TV.
I can’t stand Hawk and DJ.
Ed Farmer, the radio guy, is pretty good.
The worst thing about Hawk, IMO, is that Sox fans like him. Granted, they are not the most impartial of judges (welcome to the All Star Game, AJ. Go sit next to the guy from the Royals, he doesn’t really deserve to be here, either. You’re welcome, NL. We’ll play with 2 fewer all-stars.), but I cannot count how many times I’ve heard them defend him as a good announcer. There is no real way to prepare for logical disconnects like that.