GIVE SUZYN THE MIC Instead of subs, Waldman deserves play-by-play shot
Last August, John (Pa Pinstripe) Sterling was praised for working while he was under the weather with the flu, a bad cold or whatever. Now, his health concerns have reached a place where he put himself on the IL, ending a 5,060 consecutive game broadcasting streak dating back to 1989.
The situation (Sterling’s specific health issue has not been disclosed) has drawn attention. As have his replacements, Ryan Ruocco and Chris Carrino, who both turned in respectable performances in his stead. Yet in the middle of all this stuff there is something else important, a major oversight, to consider.
Why didn’t Suzyn (Ma Pinstripe) Waldman, Sterling’s long-time partner, get a shot at doing a couple of innings of playby-play? She did play-by-play in the early days of YES and at the old Baseball Network.
And during her time in the radio booth, Waldman called parts of games when Sterling was momentarily preoccupied.
Also, when you add in the time Waldman was WFAN’s Yankees beat reporter, she is the senior media member on the Yankees beat. There are few, if any, who know the inner-workings of the Bombers better than Waldman.
Could it be the suits at WFAN, and its parent company Entercom, don’t want a woman doing play-by-play? Could it be they don’t like the sound of Waldman, or any other woman’s voice on the play-by-play microphone?
This is all about the “system” WFAN and its owners (CBS Radio before Entercom) have set up since Waldman was hired to work with Sterling.
Prior to Waldman joining Sterling in 2006, all the voices who worked with Sterling (including Jay Johnstone, Joe Angel, Michael Kay, Charley Steiner) shared the play-by-play duties. When Waldman was hired, Sterling started doing all of the play-by-play.
There wasn’t the slightest attempt by management to develop Waldman as a play-by-play voice.
FAN accepted kudos for hiring a woman, but the suits didn’t give her equal treatment, which would have meant allowing Waldman to do some innings of play-by-play. Fast forward to today. Sterling has to take two days off for health reasons and FAN/ Entercom suits immediately signal for a male play-by-play voice to come out of the bullpen, totally bypassing the woman who
sat at Sterling’s side for 13 years.
Before he replaced Sterling on July 4, Ruocco, who works Yankees games on YES, had never called a baseball game on the radio. Carrino, the radio voice of the Nets who replaced Sterling on July 16, had previously called seven baseball games on the radio.
Turns out either FAN not wanting a woman doing play-byplay, or simply folding when Sterling said he wanted to do every inning of play-by-play was short-sighted decision making. Not just Waldman, but no one else, was given a chance to develop the p-b-p skill in the Yankees radio booth. Now, no one is waiting in the wings to replace Sterling, 81, whenever he decides to pack it in.
There’s still a long way to go in this Yankees season, which could stretch deep into October. There’s no doubt Sterling wants to chronicle every inning of what could be a championship run. We hope he does. But if he can’t, for whatever reason, the suits should finally give Waldman her chance to paint the word picture.
It would be the right thing to do.
METS DO SOMETHING RIGHT
When it comes to developing radio talent, the Mets have traditionally taken a different approach than the Yankees. They will work other voices into the mix when their main mouths take a series off.
This season, John Sadak, who has worked in the minors for 15 seasons, is scheduled to work 16 games in the Mets WCBS-AM booth. He joined Wayne Randazzo for the recent two-game series with Minnesota.
Sadak was impressive. He’s got a righteous set of pipes, sense of humor, and brings one of the most descriptive calls we have heard in a long time. If a flake of dandruff were to appear on the pitcher’s glove Sadak would somehow see it and say it.
He worked well with Randazzo, who gave Sadak plenty of room to rap.
Excellent performances by both voices.
SOME SAVAGE AUDIO
There was plenty of commotion over Fox miking certain players during the All-Star Game.
Still, as has been proven over and over and over again, there is nothing more compelling than live, NATURAL sound.
This spontaneous audio is a product of outlets that know how to position microphones and are willing to spend on the finest equipment.
YESprovidedawonderfulexample of this when it presented the live sound of Aaron Boone ripping rookie umpire Brennan Miller during game No. 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader.
The audio sequence also revealed a side of the always in control Yankees manager that is rarely seen. Among other choice words YES picked up Boone saying: “….That guy (Rays pitcher Yonny Chirinos ) is a good pitcher, but our guys are f—king savages in that box. Our guys are savages in that f—king box. Tighten it up right now, OK?”
No doubt that audio will be replayed as the season moves on and will be cast as somewhat of a highlight part of the Yankees run to October.
AROUND THE DIAL
Was anyone else NOT surprised that Peter Rosenberg used the occasion of being the lead dog (Richard W. DiPietro Jr. and Chris Canty were positioned behind him on the sled) on “The Michael Kay Show” to lament about the lack of airtime he gets when Kay and Don La Greca are in the studio? We think he should reprise his remarks when the A Team returns to the air. … Buck Showalter was good in YES’ Bombers studio. He will be even better if YES brass gives him a shot in the broadcast booth. … Question: Was FAN’s Evan Roberts standing at attention or bowing down while providing Nets GM Sean Marks with an introduction fit for King?