Baseball Broadcaster Impressions: Cincinnati

Continuing the Baseball Broadcaster Impressions Project today with a look at the Cincinnati Reds broadcasting team.

TV Broadcasters: Thom Brennaman and Chris Welsh

Everyone has a reason why they don't like T-Hom Brennaman. Maybe it's because of his over-the-top love he showed Tebow during the national championship game a few years back ("Spend 10 to 15 minutes with Tebow and you'll be better for it.") Maybe T-Hom ruins an NFL Sunday for you when he's calling a game for whatever team you're rooting for. Or maybe he ruins a Fox Saturday baseball game for you because he's it's also a Reds game so he's clearly biased. (This happened to me last year when he called a Reds-Giants game.) Either way if you spend 10 to 15 minutes listening to Thom Brennaman your life isn't better because of it.

Here's another reason to hate T-Hom, he also ruins Reds broadcasts. The Reds are one of the best teams in the majors this season so I like to watch them. Only every time the experience is ruined because that smug asshole T-Hom is calling the game.

And smug is the appropriate word to describe T-Hom while calling Reds games. He's Bob Carpenter on Steroids. T-Hom is a fine broadcaster of baseball, he obviously has been around the game his entire life, but the smugness that radiates out of the screen because of him and it's too much to take.


And if that wasn't bad enough, he's a homer. And he's not a homer in the Hawk Harrelson sense, but he's a homer in the sense of a legacy kid making fun of the poor kid because his PB&J is on white bread instead of some fancy sourdough. Seriously listening to T-Hom's homerness will make anyone listening appreciate Harrelson.

Chris Welsh is a fine analyst, if you can get past his goofy bow tie Tuesday gimmick, but he gets swallowed up by T-Hom. When George Grande is filling in for T-Hom, you can actually sit back and enjoy what Welsh says. Only though when T-Hom is gone. Once again T-Hom ruins everything.

Radio Broadcasters: Marty Brennaman and Jeff Brantley

You know the expression, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree"? Well let's just say the apple fell from Marty Brennaman to Thom Brennaman about a few inches. Ever wonder why T-Hom is such a condescending asshole you should give his father Marty a listen.

Marty, like Thom, is solid when it comes to using his voice to describe the game and his actual ability to call the game. It's just everything else in between. Marty would rather talk about himself than the game and when he's actually interested in the game he calls the game with the enthusiasm of a man getting his colon examined.  How this man made it into the Hall of Fame before Lon Simmons is beyond me.

I loved Jeff Brantley when he pitched for the Giants, I don't love Jeff Brantley the broadcaster. Most former pitchers turned broadcasters are at least good enough to break down the pitching, but Brantley can't even do that.

If you ever get lonely on a night and want life sucked right out of you, then I suggest listening to either the Reds TV or radio broadcast. Both broadcasts will make you hate yourself.