Rating MLB play-by-play and color voices: The AL East

TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 5: Former player and current broadcaster Buck Martinez of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on during batting practice before the start of MLB game action against the Texas Rangers on May 5, 2016 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, CANADA - MAY 5: Former player and current broadcaster Buck Martinez of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on during batting practice before the start of MLB game action against the Texas Rangers on May 5, 2016 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
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Michael Kay, long-time TV voice of the Yankees. (Photo by Bryan Yablonsky/Getty Images)
Michael Kay, long-time TV voice of the Yankees. (Photo by Bryan Yablonsky/Getty Images)

The vast majority of MLB fans enjoy the sport through the eyes and lips of their favorite team’s play-by-play and color guy. Although this is particularly true in a Covid-driven era of limited in-stadium attendance, it’s really been substantially so since widespread access to televised games became available anywhere and any time through various media.

But that, in turn, means that a lot of the buzz we draw from a game hinges on the skill, passion, knowledge, and oratorical talents of each team’s telecasters. As in any field, some are better than others.

Ranking the MLB team broadcasters – the AL East

In the series that begins here, each team’s primary TV crew is rated based on six criteria that are important to fan enjoyment of a game. The criteria are:

1.       Experience: How deep and constant is the attachment between the announcing crew and the team?

2.       Likeability: Does the announcing crew genuinely come across as people a fan might enjoy spending an afternoon or evening with?

3.       Knowledge: This criterion does not require description.

4.       Humor: Does the announcing crew make an appropriate effort to entertain without being clownish?

5.       Rapport: Do members of the announcing crew seem to get along easily with one another?

6.       Oratory: Do members of the announcing crew evince a comfort level with proper techniques of English language delivery?

Focusing only on TV announcing crews – they’re the ones most readily available on more than a regional basis – the evaluation considers the main play-by-play announcer plus the principal color commentators or, if you prefer, expert analysts.

This analysis specifically does not consider pre-game or post-game personalities, or in-stadium interviewers.

We’re going to approach the task in six parts, one installment for each division. Announcing teams can receive a max score of five points in each category: with six categories that make 30 points a perfect score.

We begin today with the AL East