August 08, 2007
Visiting Call
Bob Carpenter guests blogs at 3 Girls With Heart on how he called Barry's record breaking home run.
As far as the game and the home run, here was my call: "Three-two pitch to Bonds ... there it goes! This ball is history!" and then I shut up and let our pictures tell the story. It's the beauty of TV; you can make a quick call and then let the pictures take over. Don Sutton and I sat quietly as we watched the stadium erupt in noise, fireworks and streamers, quite a sight. The video on the scoreboard from Hank Aaron was powerful, and I followed up with the comment that, for many baseball fans, Aaron would always be the home run king.
I remember Chris Berman being quiet when Ripken set the consecutive game record, something that must have been difficult for Boomer. But sometimes, you just need to let the moment speak for itself.
Posted by David Pinto at
12:56 PM
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Carpenter's not my favorite broadcaster (his partner Don Sutton is pretty great), but his call of 756 was the best of all four, in my opinion. Understatement is always the way to go.
Scully and Garagiola kept quiet for a long time after Ray Knight scored the winning run in Game 6 in '86. The director cut to what seems now like dozens of reaction shots (including Schiraldi stroking his chin) and, with nothing but the sound of the delirious crowd at Shea, it was very powerful. Of course I'm a Mets fan so I might be biased.
and of course too many commenters just HAVE to figure how to get in that they don't think it's the "real" record
The classic "shut up and let the crowd tell the story" radio announcer moment is Vin Scully's almost full minute of silence after shouting "Swung on and missed--a perfect game!" at the climax of Sandy Koufax's fourth no-hitter and perfect game in 1965. He was silent for nearly a minute, then added a few last details to seal the deal. Sometimes, assuming the audience has a clue about the sheer awesomeness of the situation without explanation is completely right, and in the case of Mr. Bonds and the controversies surrounding him, that assumption is more than appropriate.
