Miller has been AWAY from the Giants' broadcast booth more than two weeks. His last play-by -play activity was July 1st in NY. He's been gone ever since.
About what?
"Just about everything," said a team Insider.
"I mean, who takes two weeks off in the middle of a baseball season?", asked another Insider.
Miller's pbp schedule is down to 110-120 games this year. He's worked less and told buds he gets tired more often and needs more time off. Which is interesting since he made it a point to travel to the Giants games in Mexico City, NY, Toronto and blew off games in Houston, Detroit, Pittsburgh and St. Louis.
Selective exhaustion?
It would be nice if the Giants alleged press corp--like say, the Chronicle's Susan Slusser and Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic were to ask Miller directly --or even indirectly--about his extended absence but I guess that would require heavy lifting by the glorified cheerleaders pretending to be sports journalists.
But he is not too tired to take cruises.
ReplyDeleteclue: when people get old, they deserve to be able to relax from time to time. It's also better to go out when listeners still wish you would not.
Delete@10:36 Bingo.
Delete10:36,
DeleteHas it been officially reported that he is "going out?" He is still under contract with his employer. Ergo, he does not "deserve" to take leaves that are reportedly a cause for concern for the people who pay him. And that is irrespective of his age. Miller has plenty of time to relax his mouth and larynx, during baseball's lengthy off season.
@10:08am Maybe they can get Chris Berman to fill inand talk about Jose "Won't You Let Me Take You On A Sea" Cruz.
DeleteGood one, 12:13!
DeleteSlusser and Bags are both "in the bag" as far as Giants news. No rocking the boat. Miller selectively chooses cities.
ReplyDeleteBaggerly is the biggest Giants honk around. Larry Baer's buddy. Slusser writes for a rag no one reads and she still expects to be paid an on air appearance fee. Why?
DeleteAndrew "Douche" Baggerly
DeleteBaggarly and Slusser are Giants butt-kissers, plain and simple. Neither has ever asked a tough question. "How did you feel when you hit that grand slam, Brandon?"
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think it is right that Jon should take off so much time either but 120 games with him is better than nothing because when he is gone, look who we are stuck with. No names but enough said.
It's not uncommon for broadcasters to shift to a reduced schedule as they enter the twilight of their career. Miller is 71 years old, he's no spring chicken. I don't blame him for not having the desire or physical stamina to endure the travel regiment of a full baseball season, and I certainly don't see the issue with him reducing his workload by 30% as he appears to have done.
ReplyDeleteAnother example of this is KTVU anchor Julie Haener, who also appears to have reduced her schedule by a third or more as she nears retirement.
to your point, 10:54am: Here in L.A., once he hit his 70s, Vin Scully started cutting back on his broadcast schedule considerably, limiting himself to Dodgers home games and select West Coast cities (San Francisco, San Diego, and I believe Denver). His last year or two on the air (when he was 87 or 88), he cut back even further, limiting himself to most Dodgers home games and only traveling to San Francisco. No one in L.A. cared.
DeleteI've been reading you for more than a decade, Rich, but this is a non-story.
Jon Miller is no Vin Scully
DeleteJon Miller has something Vin Scully lost awhile back: Life.
DeleteGive his rest a rest, already.
ReplyDeleteHe is a Hall of Famer !! He can pick and choose his times at the Mic.
ReplyDeleteIf it isn’t starkly obvious, the Giants are preparing us for the changing of the guard. They have the B and C teams in there a lot lately, maybe gauging the listening audience reaction?
I truly enjoy Miller & Fleming (and Marty and Bill L). But I could do without the Gabe Kapler show (“strained oblique coupled with explosive diarrhea”), this day with Bryan “Nitwit” Murphy, and any opining by the babbler Copes.
When the B&C announcers are on, I typically tune out.
Miller will be gone some day, and with him, a lot of the fun of Giants broadcast will be gone too.
In the days of $35million annual contracts, and $11 per cup keg beer, I may need to start watching college baseball again. Adios Pelota !!
Nice one today, Rich
ReplyDeleteMiller is the most overrated sports announcer in history. He talks as though he's narrating a children's cartoon.
ReplyDeleteMiller is not my cup of tea either. I'm a Bill King/Lon Simmons guy. However, I respect his longevity. SOMEBODY likes him. So my hats off. And yes he deserves to be able to make his own schedule
DeleteIf he is so over rated, why did he get elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by his peers?
DeleteMiller is simply Superb, and like him - I heard Hodges, Simmons, Greenwald, Sir Bill King (Oakland) Fosse, et al. Maybe the worst Giants broadcaster of all time was nasally al michaels - He is wildly overrated.
As long as we mention revered broadcasters, John Madden, who had more style in the dirt under his toenails than most football commentators, especially Boomer “I am an Idiot” Esaison.
@3:45 Love John Madden; I remember 1st time I watched him broadcast thinking "Why am I keep seeing his whole big open mouth?" Became a fan ever since; RIP MR. Madden
DeleteEventually Miller will stop traveling all together and just do home games. This path is fairly common with long standing play-by-play broadcasters at the end of their career. Vin Scully took this path...and his listeners were happy to have any piece of Vin they could get at the end.
ReplyDeleteGet Miller, it doesn't matter how good you are, if you're not here, you're not good.
ReplyDeleteSo true. Most journalists these days are more like P.R. spokespersons for their various organizations. They may as well get a job extolling the virtues of BART that nobody's riding still.
ReplyDeleteRemember the Andrew Wiggins disappearance from the Warriors last year? Did we ever find out a reason for his absence? I don't think so. Great reporting!!! Don't wanna make Joe Lacob mad and lose media access. (Edgar R. Murrow continues to roll over in his grave.)
Modern day journalism is in the tank thanks to the corporate takeover of virtually everything. Any doubts just watch a White House press corp. briefing sometime. Inane questions by silly reporters some of whom you wonder how they ever got a journalism degree. Cheerleaders...indeed.
Having said that, Jon Miller is in his twilight years. Let the hall of fame broadcaster have whatever time off he needs. You never really know what's going on with a person behind the scenes. A great Giants broadcaster for many years who knows how to tell a story and keep you engaged.
The Giants organization treats their veterans well. That's if they like them of course. Just ask Jeff Kent who instead of being honored on the field is probably still in SoCal 'washing his truck'. Or former broadcaster Joe Angel with that cringeworthy 'wave it bye bye' tagline. (The organization waved him bye bye with the quickness. lol)
Wait..... You rip reporters for not investigating Wiggins 'disappearance'... but then you say 'Let the hall of fame broadcaster have whatever time off he needs. You never really know what's going on with a person behind the scenes.' Hypocrite much? Idiot.
DeleteWe did find out why Andrew Wiggins was away from the team... Because his father had serious health issues & was possibly dying! The Warriors are a class organization. They put a player's mental health and concern for a parent over wins. But I will give you credit, the Bay Area media throws softball questions or ignore covering a story instead of actually digging into something to find the answer.
DeleteSusan Slusser and Andrew Baggarly: "Rah-Rah-Sis-Boom-Bah!"
ReplyDeleteNo different than Hank Schulman. Another shill. They're all major league ass kissers now.
DeleteJoe Angel. I used to work with him, play with him (softball) and drink with him. Great and fun guy.
ReplyDelete"Modern day journalism is in the tank thanks to the corporate takeover of virtually everything." You, my friend, may not realize how accurate you are, based on my time in the biz.
ReplyDeleteLeave him be, its up to the G-Men, they can pay him $ 500K/year not to work if they want, no one's concern.
ReplyDeleteThere should be a normalcy to people not working at 100% capacity as they age if they don’t want to. I’d happily work at 50% of the time and still provide my years of subject matter expertise in the corporate world, but they were still insisting I give 110% effort. So I said screw it and retired.
ReplyDeleteBut my guess is that his wife said she was entitled to one summer vacation after 30+ years of marriage.
ReplyDeleteI honestly believe that Jon Miller is preparing to retire and life beyond baseball. It gives the Giants the opportunity to potential replacements. Kruk already reduced his broadcast schedule so Hunter Pence, Javier Lopez and Shawn Estes are getting valuable experience as color commentary. I would think that Dave Fleming would be offered the primary PBP position, but he seems comfortable being #2 giving the opportunity to broadcast college football and basketball, plus the Little League World Series on ESPN. I would prefer Ted Robinson in the #1 position, but Ted is a versatile broadcaster with football, tennis, and Olympic sports in his wheelhouse so his return to broadcasting baseball games is unlikely. Joe Ritzo and F.P. Santangelo are mediocre, however, but I think they will work for peanuts so Larry Baer probably hire one as Miller’s replacement.
ReplyDeleteI keep getting Dave Fleming mixed up with David Glass.
DeleteBill King when he was alive HATED going to Texas and the last five years he broadcast A's games he never traveled to the Ballpark in Arlington. The other cities Jon Miller skipped, no surprise. Houston and Detroit are blah and Pittsburgh's broadcast booth is so high up it should be an observatory
ReplyDeleteSince Bill's been dead however, his opinion has softened a bit
DeleteMeanwhile, Doug Greenwald is broadcasting independent league games up in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He would be a great addition to the Giants broadcast team as he has worked spring training games and done fill-in work over the years. Unfortunately, Larry Baer is most likely still holding a grudge against his late father, Hank.
ReplyDeleteLarry Baer is a wife beating knob. I’ll never go to a Gisnts game as king as he’s a part of the organization. How did he keep his job after assaulting his wife in public?
DeleteDoug Greenwald would be a great He knows the game and describes the field play accurately.
Delete8:22 PM - Because Larry Baer has local media on his side. That story went away quick.
Delete@11:27 I hate going to Texas too. Big Hair and ‘Boys football do not a culture make. As I was warned, “if you want to know what hell is like, just go to Texas in the summer.” She was right.
ReplyDeleteDoug's ship has sailed. He's almost pushing 50 and the game is going younger with broadcasters. The dumbest thing affecting his career was his dad's book which burned a lot of bridges for him
ReplyDeleteGiants broadcast team rated #1 in all of baseball by fans. Need a vitiating Rich? Get off their backs. Others Getting paid not to work should be if no concern to you.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Greenwald, a lot, and Miller is fantastic. Flemming is okay, but just that. Ritzo and Santangelo, to me, are unlistenable. Neither of them have the right kind of voice to do baseball play by play, I don’t care how well they understand the game. They are boring. Miller’s whole style of play by play puts you right there, the drama, the tension. You see it all in your head. And he DOES have the right kind of voice. And humor. I hate to even think of his retiring.
ReplyDelete