By Jeff Moss
September 2, 2011
DetroitSportsRag@gmail.com
In my first post since I tacitly suggested that I would be turning over a new leaf and finally heeding the advice of my late mentor, Tom Kowalski, by refraining from personal attacks in my columns, I had a tough choice to make.
There were two topics I considered discussing for the main portion of today’s article. The first was a blog by 97.1 The Ticket’s bottom feeder, Jeff Riger, in which the graveyard shift radio host suggested that Jim Leyland should win the American League Manager of the Year award.
http://tinyurl.com/4yowqo4
The other subject I considered was authoring a positive piece regarding longtime Tigers radio announcer Jim Price.
After pondering the two themes I finally decided that there was no way that I was ready to rebut a column by Riger (a moron who ACTUALLY created a “NotJeffMossDSR” Twitter account) in which he suggested that a man who batted Magglio Ordonez in the #3 hole for four months is deserving of Manager of the Year.
Expecting me to act civil based on THAT subject material would be like asking a Bernstein family member to pass the scene of a car accident without leaving a business card for the victims.
I mean, I am pretty sure I am going to slip up at some point and cross the proverbial line, but it would be pretty embarrassing if I did it before Killers’ public memorial on Friday.
Anyway, I was driving around town for work on Wednesday afternoon while listening to the Tigers radio broadcast and was reminded of something that I have wanted to write for months.
For those of you who are new to the site and haven’t been around since the DSR debuted in 2003, you wouldn’t know that Jim Price was one of this blog’s biggest targets during our infancy period.
I thought the former Tigers catcher was an abortion of an announcer. The only thing worse than his color work was when he would attempt to do play-by-play during the middle innings of games.
The dude’s descriptive calls were as accurate as Harry Carey’s after a case of Budweiser. Without the comic effect.
But worst of all, he was a huge apologist for the Tigers organization and would NEVER say a negative word about any of the team’s players.
And we are talking about a franchise that in 2003 went 43 and 119. Not exactly the ’67 St. Louis Cardinals. It would be like a movie critic not being able to find a negative word to say about Katherine Heigl’s movie career.
I used to be so brutal toward Price that I resorted to making some “Jack’s Place for Kids” jokes back in the day. (Did ya think I was joking when I wrote on Monday that Killer had his hands full with me as a protégé?)
But something shocking has occurred in the last few years regarding Price’s broadcast style. I don’t know if he just got more comfortable inside the organization and didn’t fear for his job security or what, but the guy doesn’t sugar coat much anymore.
I have noticed this progression over the last couple of years, but it really has become more pronounced this season. For example, during the Tigers come-from-behind victory yesterday afternoon, Price was all over Rick Porcello for his inconsistency from inning to inning.
He also heavily criticized the bottom of the order’s approach to hitting against the Kansas City Royals spot starter, Nate Adcock.
And while I realize that Price can slap it up as much as the next guy (especially when it comes to favorable Umpire rulings), the stark contrast between Price’s work and his counterpart at Fox Sports Detroit (Rod Allen) is amazing.
I am not sure that Allen would criticize Brandon Inge if the Tigers third baseman ran into the stands with a bat and attacked a toddler. He would more likely to say something along the lines of: “Brandon really made some nice contact there on that young girl’s head. Go on with ya bad self, big fella.”
I would be less offended by Allen’s shtick if he just fully committed to it and showed up for broadcasts wearing a cheerleading outfit and shaking pom pons.
My favorite bit is when something goes horribly wrong for the Tigers during the game and there is just this awkward silence in the booth while Allen does his best Teller imitation.
The Fox Sports Detroit pairing of Mario Impemba and Allen is so horrid that I spend most games with my television on mute. Considering that isn’t an option with a radio it is a pleasure that Price finally stopped shilling for the Tigers and became a credible broadcaster.