“…Brennaman is not great. He is mediocre, distinguished mainly by an unmodulated megaphone-like voice that is like a parody of what a sportscaster should sound like. It does not convey a warm welcome, or the promise of excellence, as do Vin Scully or ESPN’s Jon Miller, who was joined for Friday night’s Yankees-Tigers game in Detroit by the retired Ernie Harwell, ever a delightful and welcoming legend.

Worse, for Brennaman, is his usual boothmate, Steve Lyons, a childish personality who has never attempted to live down his nickname, Psycho. Lyons is capable of an occasional insight. But he also made ignorant remarks two years ago about Shawn Green, who is Jewish, regarding why he did not play for the Dodgers on Yom Kippur. Fox suspended Lyons briefly.

In their years together, Lyons and Brennaman have shown no growth as a team. And Fox has yet to show a desire to find a better backup duo for McCarver and Joe Buck. Once upon a time in the 1980′s at NBC, Bob Costas and Tony Kubek backed up the No. 1 team of Scully and Joe Garagiola.

All of which leads to the regrettable incident last Thursday during Game 2 of the Dodgers-Mets playoff series at Shea Stadium. Brennaman and Lyons bonded like spitballing 13-year-olds in a middle school lunchroom to mock a Mets fan who was wearing an unusual-looking device over his eyes to help his poor vision. Stephen Teitelbaum, blind except for peripheral vision in one eye, was wearing a Jordy, a magnifying device, to help him watch the game.

Brennaman and Lyons could not know those details when the camera found Teitelbaum, but they could see that he was not goofing with a child’s toy. Still, they pursued him as if he were the class weakling. What was he wearing, they wondered?

”A Psycho-meter,” Brennaman said, to welcome Lyons to town.

”Maybe he’s in virtual reality,” Lyons said. If he is, Lyons explained, ”he should stay there.”

And maybe, Lyons suggested, the Dodgers should don the contraptions to better hit Tom Glavine. Lyons then hit on the most logical puerile explanation: ”He’s got a digital camera stuck to his face.”

This insensitive nonsense went on for 53 seconds while Marlon Anderson batted, offering a window into stunted imaginations. But it also underscored the failure by anyone at Fox to tell them to let up. Fox could have dispatched someone to Teitelbaum’s seat to report back on his condition. Instead, Teitelbaum’s family called Fox on Friday, leading to Brennaman’s on-air mea culpa early in Game 3 Saturday from Los Angeles.”

It was Thom Brenneman who made the insensitive comments about the blind Mets fan and his “Jordy” goggles.

#95. LaRussa vs. Leyland. Who gets the better of whom.

They were saying during the Cards/Mets game later last night that Leyland and LaRussa are the best of friends, they talk together ALL the time.

Perhaps he lost his motivation in Seattle, so he just wallowed in the aforementioned suckage until he got a change of scenery. Maybe he didn’t like it here, maybe his marriage breaking up contributed, but whatever the reason, he stayed in the rut.

OTOH, maybe a 3-year contact made him complacent, and maybe the prospect of never playing in MLB again (after the M’s released him) was a big kick in the pants.

Logically, though, if Spezio were simply a “streaky” player, and prone to bouts of pure suckage juxtaposed with pure stardom, wouldn’t we have seen him get hot–just once–here in Seattle?

Maybe my memory is clouded, but I don’t recall him ever having a streak remotely like this in his time here. Again this is pure speculation, and perhaps its all the amazing NL pitchers (who wouldn’t make it on most AL rosters) being thrown at him…but I just think its possible that he has some sort of ability to bear down a little more when it counts…

No. I remember when the Ms offered Meche for him straight up and were turned down. I remember Infante was said to be the other choice than Santiago. and (not to sound too prudish) isn’t that screen name skirting a little too close to failing the Guidelines?

#117– When he took his World Series ring from the Marlins and signed with the worst team in baseball, just about everybody thought he was insane, or suggested he was anticipating (or was already hiding) injuries and was expecting to play out a declining career out of the spotlight

I thought everyone thought, wow, Dombrowski is giving Pudge that much money, and for that long?! Did we ever hear what the M’s late (look! Sasaki-money!) offer was to Pudge just before he took the Detroit deal?

#118– FWIW, Spiezio actually married the tattoo-immortalizing girlfriend, not that that precludes him finding other ‘fiancees’

Direct quote from a Cards fan at the UK baseball site I am a member at. If only he knew the truth…

Also, I didn’t send a letter to the Mariners, because I knew I’d get the canned response.

Frustratingly, that strikes at one of the big problems of fanhood. I’d like to think keeping Hargrove is so boneheaded I’d have the conviction to boycott them till he’s gone, but.. they’re still the M’s.