Washington Nationals: Bob Carpenter, play-by-play; F.P. Santangelo, color.
In Carpenter and Santangelo, the Nationals have a maturing tandem that cedes nothing to their peers in terms of talent. Their only real drawback is that they telecast in a division that also includes two of the game’s best units.
Carpenter, who comes across as young-sounding and vibrant, has been behind somebody’s microphone for four decades now. For 16 seasons that microphone has belonged to the Nationals, who he joined concurrent with the franchise’s relocation from Montreal.
He’s also telecast MLB games for the Cardinals and for ESPN, and has worked a variety of other sports.
Santangelo played seven seasons in the late 1990s, mostly for the Expos, and got into media following his 2001 retirement from the active game. He learned the trade with the Giants before partnering with Carpenter.
He has a relatively rare and prized ability to combine legitimate player insight with an aw-shucks delivery that makes what he says come across as 20 percent more interesting than it may actually be.
The duo’s strength is their rapport, although enhancing rapport has always come easily to Carpenter. He has the ability to sound simultaneously serious and laid-back. Santangelo’s natural wit blends perfectly with Carpenter’s style.
All in all, this is a team with few weaknesses aside, perhaps, from the absence of an overpowering strength.
Experience: 4
Likeability: 5
Knowledge: 4
Humor: 5
Rapport: 5
Oratory: 4
Total: 27