As MLB gets ready for the 94th All-Star Game tonight on FOX as well as on ESPN Radio from Arlington, TX, Awful Announcing has released the results of its annual MLB Announcer ratings. For fans of one team in Chicago, it's very good. For the other team in town, it's as bad as the team's ugly record.
For Cubs' fans, despite Marquee Sports Network constantly tweaking its booth with different play-by-play & color analysts, Awful Announcing ranked the duo of Jon "Boog" Sciambi & Jim Deshaies 9th of the 30 local MLB broadcast teams. The Website says that "Boog" & J.D. are "always a pleasure to listen to."
This when considering that "Boog" is also the lead national PBP voice for ESPN Radio's "Sunday Night Baseball" with Doug Glanville. The former Cub outfielder is also one of Marquee's many Cub analysts in addition to Ryan Dempster & Rick Sutcliffe working games for Deshaies as well as analyzing pre & post inside Marquee's Wrigleyville studios. "Boog's" ESPN/ABC teammate Beth Mowins, Cubs Radio Network's Pat Hughes, Zach Zaidman & now Iowa Cubs' radio voice Alex Cohen have also pinch hit in the Marquee booth.
For the White Sox, not so much. In addition to having a historically bad season on the diamond, the duo of John Schriffen & Steve Stone aren't much better in the eyes of Awful Announcing. Schriffen in particular hasn't exactly made a lasting first impression in his rookie season replacing Jason Benetti in the Sox TV booth with his polarizing commentary. Schriffen & Stone ranked 30th, dead last in the Awful Announcing survey.
Speaking of Benetti, while the Detroit Tigers haven't been much better on the diamond either, his team made quite a leap in the Awful Announcing survey. After ranking dead last a year ago, Benetti & his rotating lineup of analysts such as Kirk Gibson, Carlos Pena, Dan Petry & Craig Monroe moved up to #10 in this year's rankings. The site added that it could increase even higher if the Tigers can pair Benetti with a more consistent analyst in the booth as soon as next year.
The complete list of Awful Announcing's 2024 MLB Announcer Rankings from #30 to #1 can be found here:
on July 16, 2024, 12:51 pm