Like many baseball fans, I enjoy kicking back at night after the game is over to watch a little show on ESPN called Baseball Tonight.
It all started back in 1990 when ESPN launched the show to recap the happenings in baseball on a nightly basis. It has become such a staple for baseball fans that MLB allows it to air in-progress games at any time.
I don't remember the days of Gary Miller and Dave Campbell, but Baseball Tonight has had some very talented and knowledgeable journalists come through. They've always had some exciting personalities; despite the fact most of them are former baseball players have gone on to bigger things in their career.
However, nothing will be better than Baseball Tonight.
With the departure of many of those great personalities, and the continued downward spiral in terms of quality programming at ESPN, Baseball Tonight is quickly becoming unwatchable.
From the analysts they are bringing in to the new flashy segments, the show is starting to lose its meaning.
From what I understand, Baseball Tonight is Baseball...Tonight. Not, Steve Phillips duplicated and talking to himself Tonight.
Take a look at some of the analysts and hosts they are currently using.
Fernando Vina, Chris Singleton, and Orestes Destrade
These three are boring. The only one I ever heard of before they were employed at ESPN was Vina, and I'm a pretty knowledgeable fan. All three are rather boring, uninteresting, and just not very good in terms of baseball analysis.
Orestes Destrade has his own show on ESPNRadio with John Seibel. They've single-handedly ruined the 4:00 PM timeslot in which current ESPN journeyman Erik Kuselias used to man. I personally don't care about a guy who played in just 237 major-league games.
Destrade and Chris Singleton don’t have much credibility in my opinion. Fernando Vina, with his recent naming in the Mitchell Report, doesn’t provide much either.
Eric Young, John Kruk, and Eduardo Perez
Eric Young and John Kruk are comic relief and nothing more. Young's entire job is to sit there and yell "Souvenir City" every time they show a home run. Which, by the way, is the call used by Indians' radio broadcaster Tom Hamilton. At first, Young was fresh, but his voice is starting to become annoying.
Kruk is passable if he is with someone to balance him out. It's the reason he worked so well with Harold Reynolds. But now he has become a sideshow, and just there to say something funny. He's Charles Barkley without Kenny Smith. Sometimes he will be brutally honest, while other times he will crack a joke about his playing days. More times than not, it relates to his weight.
Eduardo Perez is a great guy and all, I enjoyed his time with the Indians, but it's hard to get insight from a guy who was always injured. He ventures into that “Thanks for telling me something I already knew” category far too often.
Buck Showalter, Orel Hershiser, and Steve Phillips
Showalter is supposed to be the guy I'm learning the most from, considering he is a successful manager. So far, I've learned nothing that I didn't already know. Showalter is a great guy and all, but so far, he is failing to meet expectations.
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