I completely agree with Uniwatch. I can’t stand Hagin, and I was willing to give him a shot. I hate his announcing for all the reasons Lukas mentions, but also for a much more important one: he’s almost always late on a big play in telling you what happened. More often than not the crowd tells me if something good or bad happened for the Mets before Hagin does. Often he’s so caught up in telling you the WHY before the what. Example: he’ll say “And a line drive base hit going into right field! And because Dunn bobbled the ball and didn’t collect it in time, Reyes was able to score.” Terrible way to call a play.
(Shannon – you might want to consider linking to the individual Uni Watch blog post instead of the main page, as someone who finds this post in a few days may not be able to find the Hagin comments on the UW main page.)
I agree with the way he calls the big play in sort of a convuluted fashion, but I really like what Wayne Hagin adds, depthwise, to a broadcast.
The article is a little nitpicky. I dont’ care if he uses the word However wrong and minces tenses. big deal. I don’t care if he gives off some sort air of superiority. He’s probably smarter than you, or me, when it comes to baseball, and that’s where I see value.
He sees things and details evolving in the game and setup that are often unseen even on the tv broadcast. Even if you’re at the game you may miss some of the things he sees and observes about what the players are doing, and what’s going on. I don’t have any specific examples right now, and i don’t listen to the radio _that_ frequently, but I’ll try to take note the next time. It annoys me a bit when he describes a hit to the outfield with a runner on second and is slow on telling us what the runner, the important part of the play, is doing, but I’ll live with it for the other stuff.
Binny you are right about the link style – I wasn’t near a real computer when i saw the link so I typed in a manual link from memory.
I don’t personally dislike Hagin, but he does give off the “uneducated, unsophisticated country bumpkin” vibe. And that alone makes his interaction with Howie “Joe New Yorker” Rose somewhat awkward. I don’t think we’ll ever again have as great radio as we had with Howie and Gary together full-time in ’04 and ’05. I can tolerate Hagin, but is he the rightful heir to Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, and Gary Cohen’s chair? Not a chance. I much preferred Tom McCarthy (it’s a shame to hear what he’s become as a Phillies guy, by the way).
To me, the ideal foil to Howie is someone who grew up a Mets fan yet is a little more reserved than Howie. But as far as who that would be, I have no idea.
I do NOT agree with Uni Watch. Wayne Hagin and Howie Rose are a fascinating tandem. Pointing out small grammatical problems and the author’s own pet peeves is petty. Keep in mind this guy announces 162 games off-the-cuff. I prefer “interesting” over “eloquent.” And getting on a guy about making a big deal about small play is negative and, in my opinion, irresponsible. Sensationalizing small things is essential to radio broadcasting and why several of us love listening. Also, does the author not see the irony…he’s complaining on a blog about a radio announcer. He’s sensationalizing a nearly antiquated medium on a medium anyone with a pulse is considered an “author.” Say something nice next time and try not to hold awesome baseball announcers accountable for your boxing stats.
Hagin can be very difficult to listen to. His play calling is sometimes so convoluted, you have no idea what is happening until well after the play is done. He tries so hard to eloquently explain what is happening, it takes too long and gives you no indication of what is unfolding until too late. Maddening.
Maybe the problem is that we are spoiled from amazing play-by-play guys like Gary and Howie.
Wayne Hagin is horrible. I have to shut the radio sometimes when he’s doing his blowhard, I don’t know anything schtick.
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I completely agree with Uniwatch. I can’t stand Hagin, and I was willing to give him a shot. I hate his announcing for all the reasons Lukas mentions, but also for a much more important one: he’s almost always late on a big play in telling you what happened. More often than not the crowd tells me if something good or bad happened for the Mets before Hagin does. Often he’s so caught up in telling you the WHY before the what. Example: he’ll say “And a line drive base hit going into right field! And because Dunn bobbled the ball and didn’t collect it in time, Reyes was able to score.” Terrible way to call a play.
(Shannon – you might want to consider linking to the individual Uni Watch blog post instead of the main page, as someone who finds this post in a few days may not be able to find the Hagin comments on the UW main page.)
I agree with the way he calls the big play in sort of a convuluted fashion, but I really like what Wayne Hagin adds, depthwise, to a broadcast.
The article is a little nitpicky. I dont’ care if he uses the word However wrong and minces tenses. big deal. I don’t care if he gives off some sort air of superiority. He’s probably smarter than you, or me, when it comes to baseball, and that’s where I see value.
He sees things and details evolving in the game and setup that are often unseen even on the tv broadcast. Even if you’re at the game you may miss some of the things he sees and observes about what the players are doing, and what’s going on. I don’t have any specific examples right now, and i don’t listen to the radio _that_ frequently, but I’ll try to take note the next time. It annoys me a bit when he describes a hit to the outfield with a runner on second and is slow on telling us what the runner, the important part of the play, is doing, but I’ll live with it for the other stuff.
Binny you are right about the link style – I wasn’t near a real computer when i saw the link so I typed in a manual link from memory.
I don’t personally dislike Hagin, but he does give off the “uneducated, unsophisticated country bumpkin” vibe. And that alone makes his interaction with Howie “Joe New Yorker” Rose somewhat awkward. I don’t think we’ll ever again have as great radio as we had with Howie and Gary together full-time in ’04 and ’05. I can tolerate Hagin, but is he the rightful heir to Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, and Gary Cohen’s chair? Not a chance. I much preferred Tom McCarthy (it’s a shame to hear what he’s become as a Phillies guy, by the way).
To me, the ideal foil to Howie is someone who grew up a Mets fan yet is a little more reserved than Howie. But as far as who that would be, I have no idea.
I do NOT agree with Uni Watch. Wayne Hagin and Howie Rose are a fascinating tandem. Pointing out small grammatical problems and the author’s own pet peeves is petty. Keep in mind this guy announces 162 games off-the-cuff. I prefer “interesting” over “eloquent.” And getting on a guy about making a big deal about small play is negative and, in my opinion, irresponsible. Sensationalizing small things is essential to radio broadcasting and why several of us love listening. Also, does the author not see the irony…he’s complaining on a blog about a radio announcer. He’s sensationalizing a nearly antiquated medium on a medium anyone with a pulse is considered an “author.” Say something nice next time and try not to hold awesome baseball announcers accountable for your boxing stats.
Hagin can be very difficult to listen to. His play calling is sometimes so convoluted, you have no idea what is happening until well after the play is done. He tries so hard to eloquently explain what is happening, it takes too long and gives you no indication of what is unfolding until too late. Maddening.
Maybe the problem is that we are spoiled from amazing play-by-play guys like Gary and Howie.
Wayne Hagin is horrible. I have to shut the radio sometimes when he’s doing his blowhard, I don’t know anything schtick.