O blessed mute button, do not fail me
FOX Sports had a crisis on its hands last Fall. Ol' Tim McCarver finally realized that his time actually passed years ago and it was time to leave the broadcast booth; he had to move on to bigger and greater cardboard box festivals, after all. So who could possibly join New York's favorite, Joe Buck, for the lead Saturday Games of the Week, the All-Star Game, and the playoffs on FOX? The answer was rumored throughout the off-season, and Jason McIntyre's report at The Big Lead all but confirms it: Harold Reynolds and Tom Verducci.
Verducci's been a talented Sports Illustrated writer for years, and it's hard to quibble with his merit other than minimal broadcast experience. That's not a big deal though--Verducci should be fine. On the other hand, those who don't get MLB Network or watch much non-game content on MLB.com might have forgotten about Reynolds for the better part of the past decade. Prior to that, he was with ESPN on Baseball Tonight for 10 years, until a very suspicious hug or whatever got him fired following the 2006 season. He joined MLB.com shortly after that, appearing in videos online until MLB Network went live in 2009 and he became one of its lead analysts.
Unfortunately, most of his #analysis does not include well-formed arguments and in some cases, contains misinformation. The "MLB Now" show on MLBN that pits Reynolds's "old school" ideas against Brian Kenny's "new school" thinking makes neither look good since I'm sure both sides exaggerate their stances to extremes to create more of a divide in opinion. It's lovely. Now though, it seems that Reynolds is moving on to a far more prominent stage on one of the primary television networks. They could have hired someone far more competent, but alas. At least we get to keep Coney and Singleton on YES, I suppose.
To celebrate Reynolds's near-official promotion, here are some of his best gems from the past season, courtesy of the Twitter account "Heard on MLB Tonight" with a hat tip to Lana Berry for pointing out some of the greatest:
I'm being straight up honest. I have no idea what run differential is. - Harold Reynolds
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) May 23, 2013You're "whack" if you don't believe in batting average as the best indicator of production, says Harold Reynolds.
— Anthony Witrado (@awitrado) May 28, 2013"The A's aren't walking a lot." - Harold Reynolds (they lead MLB in walk rate)
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) June 14, 2013Chris Carter rips bases loaded double. "See, the Astros got two runs because they bunted this inning." - Harold Reynolds @HeardOnMLBT
— Mark (@TooGooden16) June 13, 2013"I see a right fielder who's going to give me great defense." - Harold Reynolds on Nelson Cruz
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) August 7, 2013"Well actually since I'm going through my values, I have to say Brandon Phillips is the MVP now that I think about it." - Harold Reynolds
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) August 28, 2013"Every time the Rays have 1st and 3rd, what do they do? They squeeze bunt." - Harold Reynolds (the Rays have done this one time this season)
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) August 15, 2013I've seen [Dozier] on video, and he reminds me of Troy Tulowitzki. - Harold Reynolds
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) June 6, 2013"I don't give a flip if my 2nd hitter has a low OBP." - Harold Reynolds (h/t @GeneMorris)
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) August 29, 2013@HeardOnMLBT "I'm surprised nobody picked up Yuniesky Betancourt to play SS" - Harold Reynolds
— Michael Kogler (@KCsportsaholic) April 27, 2013There needs to be a stat for assisted Rbi's -Harold Reynolds @HeardOnMLBT
— Felipe Cancun (@FCancun) September 24, 2013Get pumped. Bless you, mute button.
"Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about." - Harold Reynolds
— Heard on MLB Tonight (@HeardOnMLBT) August 31, 2013