Rating the MLB TV booths: The NL West
By Bill Felber
San Diego Padres: Don Orsillo, play-by-play; Mark Grant, color.
Orsillo is every bit the match for Kuiper – minus the on-field credentials – and Grant may even be a funnier, more likable version of Krukow, if that is possible.
The only drawback to the Padres is the extensive residue of Orsillo’s experience in the Boston Red Sox booth. Although that experience ended five seasons ago, it must be kept in mind that Orsillo spent 15 seasons in the high-visibility role of calling Red Sox games, a duration that included World Series winners in 2004, 2007, and 2013.
Memories of that gravity don’t fade easily, and it remains ever so slightly difficult to relate to Orsillo cheering for Brown and Gold rather than Red and White.
If anyone can overcome that ‘flaw,’ it certainly is Orsillo, who has won multiple industry recognitions for his telecasting work.
Coming to the NL West and San Diego, he inherited the perfect partner in Grant, whose relationship with the team knows no bounds. A journeyman who played for six teams across 10 seasons, he found his calling shortly after retiring from active play, and by 1995 was working as a color analyst.
Grant’s strength is his easy going, naturally comedic mindset, which early on established him as entertaining. What he has learned over the years is how to meld knowledge into that wit, and how to balance the two appropriately.
Unlike many color analysts, he has a feel for when to insert himself into Orsillo’s call without either stepping on the game’s flow or disappearing into it.
Experience: 4
Likeability: 5
Knowledge: 5
Humor: 5
Rapport: 5
Oratory: 5
Total: 29