Vasgersian finally to call a Padres playoff game
For the first time, former Padres broadcaster Matt Vasgersian will call a Padres playoff game tonight when San Diego faces the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NL Divisional Series.
The Padres are in their first postseason since MLB Network, Vasgersian’s employer, began airing playoff games in 2012.
“Getting the Padres is exciting,” Vasgerian said. “They’re one of the sexiest teams in the sport, and we haven’t been able to say that in awhile.”
Vasgerian dusted off another adjective, regarding the Padres.
“I’m glad that they’re relevant again so maybe, heaven forbid, they can land on (ESPN’s) Sunday night schedule next year,” he said.
The Padres had four winning seasons in Vasgersian’s seven-year run as their lead play-by-play broadcaster on telecasts. He was unable to call the team’s playoff games in 2005-06 because local TV broadcasters defer to national crews in October. After the 2008 season, he joined MLB Network.
Yes, back then, he expected the Padres’ return to the playoffs would come before 2020.
Yet they’ve f lavored up the sport, perhaps tempering the 14-year hiatus that included 12 losing seasons.
“They’re fun, they’re exciting, they check all the boxes for fan engagement because they have those superstar players (Fernando) Tatis Jr. and (Manny) Machado in particular who your eyes are drawn to immediately,” Vasgersian said. “They have name-brand players like (Eric) Hosmer who’ve won before. They’re good.”
He continued: “They look great in the new uniforms. Everything about the Padres is fun to watch right now. You haven’t been able to say that like you can now, for a while.”
The Padres, in turn, should sing hallelujahs about the TV industry.
Without MLB’s TV partners pushing to expand nondivisional winners in the postseason, starting in 1995 and further increasing the field lately, these Padres and other West teams chasing the Dodgers would’ve sat out the past eight World Series tournaments.
Among those pursuers were the Giants of 2012 and 2014 who, after earning a wild card, went on to win the World Series.
No such luck for NL West teams in the 1970s who saw the rival Dodgers and Reds combine for seven pennants and four World Series titles.
Tonight, Vasgersian will have no choice but to talk at length about the Dodgers, whose ownership is far more aggressive than when he worked for the Padres.
“They can outspend everybody,” he said, “and they also happen to have drafted and developed better than anybody. So, that’s just a lethal combination for locking up the division for a long time.”
Easy on the ears, the versatile broadcaster has narrated Olympics events, ultimate fighting, XFL games and basketball contests of his college alma mater, USC.
Baseball, said the 53-yearold, is his favorite sport.
But he isn’t thrilled with what baseball has become.
He used hyperbole to state his case that too much action has been lost to defensive shifts and emphasis on home runs, strikeouts and walks.
“We’ve taken the athleticism out of the game. You can no longer see a guy go from first to third because there’s no such thing as a base hit any more — I’m overdoing that,” he said.
He added: “Guys don’t run. They’re just striking out, walking or homering. Nobody’s running. Fielders aren’t running. Hitters aren’t running. I want to see athletes be athletes.”
He said limiting defensive shifts would restore more action — but, of course, he’s still grateful for baseball.
“In the postseason, there’s so much drama and urgency, it keeps people tuned in,” he said.