One of the big questions raised during the 2024 Major League Baseball playoffs is whether local broadcasters should be on the call, as they know the ins and outs of their team after covering them all season.
Adam Amin, who does play-by-play for Fox for both baseball and football, is on the call for the National League Divisional Series between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. As many local fans have complained about hearing from national broadcasters like him instead of the local crews, Amin tried to take it all in stride.
“Disgusting. Disgusting. We should be ashamed of ourselves in this sport,” Amin joked on Foul Territory, joined by former MLB catcher A.J. Pierzynski. “I don’t know how we can stand to do it. I think we’re doing all right.”
Amin then got serious about his intentions while calling a game.
“I’m not trying to upset anybody when I’m calling these games,” he said. “I think it’s more important to just call the game with excitement and energy and that’s just how I am. I — A.J. knows this … ”
Some people alleged Pierzynski, Amin, and three-time All-Star pitcher Adam Wainwright, who was also on the call, were biased toward the Mets. Others seemed to think they were biased toward the Phillies. Some even went as far as to say they were anti-both teams.
“If both fan bases hate you, that means you’re doing your job,” Pierzynski said on Monday regarding the pushback.
“When I said what I said yesterday, I wasn’t saying we were trying to upset anyone, what I said was we’re doing it right because everyone’s upset at us,” Pierzynski added Tuesday.
Awful Announcing reached out to Amin to see if he could expand on the conversation.
“It’s funny because this isn’t just a sports conversation,” Amin told AA Tuesday. “It’s a human psychology conversation. It’s about how fans are used to discussions involving their teams being seen and heard through a specific prism. The framework of how we talk about the game and teams is different than how the excellent SNY and NBC Philly booths do it. But we track the game, what’s happening now, and what is still to come based on inning, situation, and feel for both teams. Waino and A.J. are exceptional at that. They played, they’ve won titles, they know that thinking the next inning through is important too because players and managers think about it. We’re not discussing the game from one specific team’s viewpoint. So fans naturally feel that because it strays from what they’re used to, that it’s an offense to their sensibilities.”
Amin said he understands the audience getting used to how they would get used to how they frame and call things. There’s a comfortability there. He has no ill will toward them.
“And at the end of the day, that’s OK,” he added. “It’s understandable, it’s reasonable. Human conditioning is hard to change. And now take something that they’re super passionate about and allow someone they aren’t familiar with to take charge of it. Imagine if someone took your grandmother’s lasagna recipe that you’ve loved since you were a kid and decided to change the type of cheese. The meal might be amazing. But it’s not your grandma’s lasagna the way you’re used to it. So you disregard it as a bad meal.
“Fans are allowed to feel that way, it’s their passion that gives us a job,” Amin continued. “But I think our crew is comfortable in how we do that job, the joy that we bring to it, and how grateful we are to get to do it. The quadrant of bias makes me laugh because of the dissonance. I’m not sure how I personally could be for the Phillies, against the Phillies, for the Mets, and against the Mets, all within a matter of an hour or two. It’s an incredible premise. But as ridiculous as it might seem, it also shows how caught up the fans get in an emotional and historically awesome series like this. We’re all lucky to watch it or call it.”
If that’s not good enough for you, Amin has a solution.
“And if you still don’t want to watch us, then listen to some of the absolute best radio announcers in the business like Scott Franzke and Howie Rose,” he said. “They are truly exceptional.”
[ Adam Amin ]
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