Baseball Broadcaster Impressions: St. Louis

Continuing the Baseball Broadcaster Impressions Project today with a look at the St. Louis Cardinals broadcasting team. 

 TV Broadcasters: Dan McLaughlin, Al Hrabosky, and Ricky Horton

 I've watched more Cardinals games this year than I really should have. And you need know is that there isn't a single distinguishable trait that makes the Cardinals broadcasters stand out. None. Nadda. Zip.

In fact, especially when Hrabosky is announcing, you barely notice the announcers are there. Dan McLaughlin calls the play-by-play. If you need to take a nap listen to McLaughlin who might be the best sleeping pill this side of Matt Underwood and Rick Manning. McLaughlin is very capable of calling the game, there isn't anything special about him after that.

Hrabosky is as stupid as he is boring. I think Hrabosky says stupid things to see if we're paying attention to the game. Because you can sit there listening to the broadcast and almost fall asleep and then you hear something like, "Kyle Lohse knows how to pitch", and then you immediately wake up and go "whoa that's stupid."



And then there's Ricky Horton to combine the worst of both McLaughlin and Hrabosky. Horton brings the borningness of McLaughlin to the game when he's calling the play-by-play action and he brings the stupidness of Hrabosky when he's the analyst. It's like the Cards said to themselves, "You know what we need? We need a combination of McLaughlin and Hrabosky in one person!" You'd think a team like the Cardinals would have better TV broadcasters.

Radio Broadcasters: Mike Shannon and John Rooney

You gotta love an old throwback like Mike Shannon who takes you back to the days when broadcasters drank in the booth during a game. Turn on any Cardinals game and you're treated to slurred speech, Shannonisms, and the easy feeling that Shannon has no idea who is on the opposing team just like you.

The best comparison for Shannon is that he's like your uncle. Your drunk uncle who tells great stories but you're not sure if he's telling the truth or flat out lying. Shannon's style might not be for everyone. You might not like the sound of what appears to be a drunk man calling a baseball game. That's your choice and I won't judge you for it, but Mike Shannon is one of the more entertaining broadcasters in the business.

If you're a fan of clear narration of a game, then you'll like John Rooney. Rooney is actually one of the best announcers in the game and it's sad that he's playing second fiddle right now. The White Sox shouldn't have been so stupid and re-signed Rooney.

Shannon and Rooney are one of the best radio combos in baseball and all of sports. You get the entertainment and drunkness from Shannon and the straight forward calls of the game from John Rooney. And after listening to the TV crew compared to the radio crew, you'll choose the radio crew everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.