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| Tom Grieve has the same look on his face that many of us had during the Rhadigan era. |
Needless to say, it made a lot of people feel a little like this.
Us included.
First, let's get it all out of the way: As a person, I like John Rhadigan. I think he has a pleasant and friendly demeanor. Seems like a very likable person - the kind who would get along good with children. The Rangers offered him the chance to do something he had been dreaming about and jumped at the chance to do it. For that, I cannot say I blame the guy at all.
But while it seemed a fun occasion at the time, that Rangers Rally last November should have been a red flag. Take a listen again and hear for yourself. Very nerdy. I know, that crowd is eating it up. But back then that was a crowd fresh off witnessing the first World Series appearance in club history, of course there was going to be some level of excitement. Hell, Rhads could have come out and read from the Farmers Almanac and I think you'd still have fans doing the Claw and Antler for the camera.
Fast forward to this season, and where do you begin? I wish I could put together a playlist on iPod of his worst in-game performances during his time at the television helm to listen to during bad days at the office or something. A few of these little ditties might be on it.
(Before I get into all that, let me present to you what I estimate to be the BEST call John Rhadigan had during his tenure here. David Murphy's two-run double on Opening Day against the Red Sox. It was a pretty big hit in the game - the go-ahead runs I believe. You had all the elements: Big game, big moment of the game, crowd was really into it. The only thing that would have ruined that call would have been if Rhads had just stopped talking and started making gurgling noises. The only thing you could maybe have a legit complaint about is how he goes from monotone to excited like he did. I happen to think that's a good quality, but that's just me.)
This one may probably be the worst moment for Rhads, occurring just last weekend in Philadelphia. The ball CLEARLY did not go over the wall, yet Rhads gets a bad case of homerun call envy and starts stumbles all over himself. Just cringe-worthy.
Other notably bad moments of sports broadcasting by John Rhadigan:
A double-whammy on this on this one, first with a "Get that kid a contract!" comment about the young lad who catches the homerun ball on the hill, followed by "it's a Lone Star Longball". I don't even know where to begin to analyze how retarded that sounds. It's not even only the fact that he thought that was a cute enough phrase to use on-air, it's that he tried to make it sound so subtle and matter-of-factly that he chose to work it in while the flag waving girls were running around. I feel weird even using the capitalization that I did. Put it all together, and you get this.
- "Saddle up baseball, you're going for a ride!" during what I believe was a Josh Hamilton homerun in a Spring Training game on March 14th. Again, as annoying as John Sterling can be, I don't think I could even fathom him uttering such a cornball phrase. Or maybe I could. I don't know anymore.
- Incorrectly identifying Neftali Feliz as "Pedro". I don't remember this actually happening. May have been in a comatose state.
- "It's time to play ball, ya'll!" uttered I believe as the TV broadcast is going to break right before first pitch. All I could think of whenever I heard that was: I mean, what is this? What the hell is this?
I could track down so many more moments that made me want to lose my lunch during the Rhads era, but frankly I don't care to. It's sad when you think about that as crazed fans as Mel and I both are, we were muting the television and watching these games he was broadcasting with no sound.
But alas, just like Joanie Loves Chachi, Saved By The Bell: The New Class, and The Chevy Chase Show - this television experiment has thankfully, and painfully, come to an end.
