Sportsnet decision isn’t sound

Replacing radio crew with simulcasts is short-sighted — and hopefully short-lived

I can’t tell you how much I love baseball on the radio, but I’ll try.

When I was growing up, Blue Jays games were only televised on Wednesday nights and Sunday afternoons. There was a Saturday game of the week broadcast by NBC, which we picked up in Toronto through the Buffalo affiliate (Channel 2), but that was it. For an insatiable pre-teen baseball fan, the only place to get a regular fix was on the radio.

I fell in love with the game listening to Tom Cheek, first with Early Wynn and then Jerry Howarth in a partnership that would last nearly 2 ⁄ 1 decades, 2 painting pictures with his words. The listener was brought right to the ballpark through the radio.

Only baseball gets to do that, with the slow and steady pace that allows broadcasters the time to really set the scene, get deep into all the nooks and crannies and allow each game to take them back into history in ways they never might have expected.

Baseball is the soundtrack of summer, and with all due respect to some fantastic television broadcasters, it’s not because people haul the TV out to the patio while they mow the lawn or barbecue or lounge in the pool.

That soundtrack is going to be a whole lot different this year with Friday’s announcement from Sportsnet that there will be no dedicated radio broadcast of Blue Jays games, for the first time in the history of the franchise.

Full disclosure here: As many of you know, I was part of that radio broadcast for the past two decades until I was advised that we were parting ways three months ago. It holds a very special place in my heart and I feel almost protective of it, having spent more time in that booth than anyone save for the historic team of Cheek and Howarth.

According to the Sportsnet release, “Blue Jays fans can now enjoy the legendary voices of Buck Martinez, Dan Shulman and Pat Tabler on both TV and radio.” Ben Wagner, my partner in the booth for the last three years, will remain a part of the broadcast team, but the release didn’t reveal in what capacity.

I’m not going to unequivocally say that simulcasts don’t work, but there’s no question that Shulman, Martinez and Tabler have their work cut out for

them.

A television broadcaster can talk over a pitch or three, while a radio broadcaster has to describe every single one.

If you listen to a television broadcast with no picture, you’ll get lost within minutes, if not sooner. And while some people do like to turn down the TV and listen to the radio while watching the game, the overwhelming majority of people who tune in to a ball game on television don’t want a radio call. It’s too much.

I don’t believe I’m going out on a limb in the slightest when I say that Shulman is the best baseball broadcaster on the planet. We’re exceptionally lucky to have him. But even as the best in the business behind the mic, it will be impossible for him to please everyone. He’ll do his best, and he will absolutely be cognizant of the fact that the broadcasts are being simulcast and include the radio listeners as much as he can, but it’s going to be different. It’s inevitable.

At least those in listen-only mode will get the advantage of Shulman’s extensive radio experience. He did 30 games in the booth with me and Wagner in 2018, and provided the two of us with an absolute master class in the craft. Shulman has broadcast the MLB playoffs on ESPN Radio for nearly a quarter-century, including the World Series for a decade. He’s the best possible announcer for the task ahead of him, but, again, it can’t be the same.

Hopefully it’s only for one season, as Sportsnet’s release made no mention of this arrangement lasting beyond the 2021 season (it didn’t say that it wouldn’t, though).

Hopefully after a year of simulcasts, the radio booth at the Rogers Centre will be alive again in 2022, with Wagner and whoever his new partner winds up being, and we will once again have a dedicated radio broadcast of Blue Jays baseball, as we did for the first 44 seasons of the franchise.

This year, though, get ready to listen to baseball on the radio like you never have before. And not necessarily for the better.