Joe Morgan likes when you do the thing you are utterly forced to do

May 19th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

“You know what I like about the rook? It moves forwards, backwards, and sideways. Never diagonally. You put your hand on it, and it proceeds to move in the way the rules designate.”

{Via AA, naturally.}

Len Kasper rules

February 28th, 2008 | Posted by PostmanE

Baseball announcers are a fact of life. For example, if you’re a White Sox fan, and you really really want to watch the White Sox every night, you’re stuck with Hawk Harrelson. You might like Hawk. You might despise Hawk. But for better or worse, if you want to enjoy the crack of the bat and all the other sounds of baseball, you have to listen to Hawk’s twang and Darrin Jackson’s mumbles to do so.

So it goes for the Cubs. Fortunately, the Cubs have one of the cooler, hipper, more listenable, not-a-dinosaur baseball men in the business, one Len Kasper. A day after Sam Zell threatened to destroy all that is good and holy about free Wrigley Gum advertising space, it’s refreshing to be reminded of something the Cubs are doing right. Kasper is all of the following: a self-confessed “fringe sabermetrician,” a guitarist, and an indie rock enthusiast:

Beyond baseball, Kasper and Brenly discovered another mutual love: music. They’ve met up at Lollapalooza. The two would make mix tapes for each other. Kasper introduced Brenly to the Brian Jonestown Massacre and Son Volt; Brenly got Kasper into Ryan Adams, The Black Keys and Cold War Kids.

“You’ve got 2 1/2 hours of airtime and a lot of games during the course of a season,” Brenly said. “We both appreciate it can’t be baseball all the time.”

And now, the two have taken their music appreciation on stage. For the last two years, The Len & Bob Band has performed at the House of Blues for charity. Clips of the show circulate on YouTube, including a punk version of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” and “Love Stinks” by the J. Geils Band.

I know what you’re probably thinking: “E, I don’t give a shit if this guy likes The Black Keys. Can he broadcast?” And the answer is yes, he can. But in a world where Joe Morgan and Tim McCarver are considered by most average fans to be the foremost authorities on baseball talk, isn’t it refreshing to have someone who’s even tangentially down with the kids? Even if his voice is nasally from time to time?

I say yes. If you disagree, go listen to the Hawkmeister. He’s got this great Conway Twitty album he’s been meaning to suggest to you …

This Guy Really Hates Joe Morgan

April 27th, 2006 | Posted by PostmanE

Take a step back for a second. Who, in the modern sports media, do you hate the most?

For the author of FireJoeMorgan.com, whoever he may be, the answer is self-evident.

In Joe Morgan’s defense, his voice - like Jon Miller’s - feels like a staple of Sunday Night Baseball, and by extension, baseball in general.

But we disagree with just about everything that comes out of Morgan’s mouth. He is the crustiest of old sports media guys, and he absolutely refuses to back down on the most widely accepted of modern baseball tenets.

Also, as the author notes in his latest post, he sometimes just refuses to acknowledge how tainted Bonds’ current quest is.

When the dude at FJM rips into the old man, you can’t help but laugh.

http://firejoemorgan.blogspot.com/