Baseball Broadcasters Impressions: Kansas City Royals

I begin the Baseball Broadcasters Impressions project with my impressions of the Kansas City Royals announcing team. The Baseball Broadcasters Impressions list can be found here.

Royals Announcers: Ryan Lefebvre, Rex Hudler, Steve Physioc (Fill In)

I believe there are only four types of baseball analysts:

1. The Good- These guys are usually knowledgeable when it comes to advance stats or certain aspects of the game (pitching and hitting). They are also very personable and sound like the type of person you would like to drink a beer with.

2. The Boring- These guys might be knowledgeable of the sport, but there is something about them that is boring. Usually it's their enthusiasm for calling the game or the sound of their voice.

3. The Bad- Boring. Lack knowledge. Bash advance stats. Spews cliches and generic sayings.

4. Rex Hudler

I've heard Hudler over the years either on Jim Rome's radio show or on Fox Saturday baseball. And there's no other way to say this but, Rex Hudler is a horrendous broadcaster. Hudler is a mix of stoner beach bum, macho jerk who I could totally see pumping iron on Venice Beach, and cliche spewer. When the Royals fired Frank White and replaced him with Rex Hudler, they went from a negative to a ragging case of the crabs.

Getting back to the way Hudler calls games. Well I take that back since he doesn't call games. He spews cliches so fast that Bob Wenzel is embarrassed for him. Hudler also doesn't say a single knowledgeable thing during the broadcast. He doesn't break down what a hitter is doing wrong or right. What the pitcher is doing wrong or right. And when he isn't spewing cliches, he spews made up lines like this, "It's hard to sneak a piece of cheese past a hungry rat." No I didn't make that quote up. He seriously said that in the first Royals game of the year.

And then there is how Hudler enunciates. Let's just say he sounds like someone who was busted with pot. Hudler has spent one day too many on Venice Beach expanding his mind with the Jamacians who run that smoke shop I once visited a couple of years ago. Because when Hudler isn't making lines up or spewing cliches he sounds like this, "Man I'm liking Bruce Chen tonight man. He's dealing hard."


One more note on Hudler. If he wasn't a bad announcer already, he also never shuts up. Hudler does realize he doesn't have to speak when Ryan Lefebvre isn't speaking right? He does realize he's not on the radio and dead silence is alright?

I would give you my impression of play-by-play announcer Ryan Lefebvre, but I barely heard the man speak with Hudler rambling on all night. In seriousness, I feel sorry for LeFebvre. He's a solid announcing who has been stuck with the putridness known as Frank White and Rex Hudler. I can't judge him properly because of how bad the announcers he's been stuck with.

If Hudler isn't enough though, the Royals have decided to bring his old Angels partner to Kansas City on special days by the name of Steve Physioc. I've listened to Physioc over the years call Pac-12 football and basketball games along with the occasional Angels game. As Mookie pointed out about Physioc, there isn't another announcer in all of sports who misplaces his enthusiasm more than Physioc. My only thought of why the Royals decided to reunite Physioc and Hudler together for special days is too get every Royals fan to commit suicide.

Rating of the Broadcast: -1,000,000,000,000,000,000

Hudler Quotes: "It's hard to sneak a piece of cheese past a hungry rat."
"You know about the knuckle sandwich right? Well that was a jam sandwich."
"Texas: It's where competitors are raised."
"Cheese? Cheddar?"
"Curveballs that go straight down are at tougher angles than straight fastballs."
"Outside Mike Scioscia is full confidence. Inside Scioscia is as nervous as a kid on his first date."
"Moustakas uh................might have uh..............distracted Escobar uh................there. Yeah he definitely distracted Escobar."
"Aaron Crow might want to throw a strike" (Thanks Captain Obvious)