Crafting the Call -- a broadcaster's fastball
In Episode 6, we clock the MPH for Dave Sims, Red Barber, Howard Cosell, John Sterling, Vin Scully, Dave Niehaus and Joe Davis at legendary moments
Crafting the Call is a YouTube series that I developed along with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. Each week, we examine different aspects of baseball play-by-play announcing, offering our perspective as working professionals for fans, and advice for fellow broadcasters.
Sammy Hagar famously sang, “I can’t drive 55.”
Sam Hunt went the other way, singing, “doing 15 in a 30.”
Everything in baseball has a velocity reading: a pitcher’s fastball, a hitter’s exit velocity.
In Episode Six of “Crafting the Call,” Jesse Goldberg-Strassler and I wanted to get out our imaginary radar guns to clock the fastball velocity of play-by-play announcers at memorable moments in baseball history.
A broadcaster’s voice can’t be in the 80s for a huge moment and can’t get over-modulated into the 100s either.
We look at the following clips:
Dave Sims when the Mariners are on the verge of a playoff berth.
Red Barber when Roger Maris hits a then-record 61st home run.
Keith Jackson/Howard Cosell when Chris Chambliss’ home run ends the 1976 ALCS.
John Sterling on the famed “Rick Camp” game that will never end.
Vin Scully on the epic ending to Game Six in 1986.
Dave Niehaus when the Mariners win the 1995 ALDS.
Joe Davis on Cody Bellinger’s playoff-saving catch in 2020.
New episodes of “Crafting the Call” appear every Tuesday. Here’s a link to all the episodes. If you like this episode, do us a favor and click the subscribe button. That will help more people find it.
Here’s a breakdown of previous episodes:
Episode 1 – How to call an inside-the-park home run
Episode 2 – Vin Scully’s perfect words to describe Koufax’s perfect game
Episode 3 – Eck vs Gibson, four legends with four different calls
Episode 4 – How calling a Triple Play can be treacherous
Episode 5 — Harry Caray without the shtick.