Pirates Baseball: Tired Of The Root Sports Schtick…?

Root Sports provides coverage of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball games throughout the season.  We think they do weird shit, but maybe you don’t – and we want to know that.

Do you remember the phony “Yinzer voice” guy?  Yeah, that was rather ridiculous.  It might be even more comical that he was from Philadelphia and still is heard on games, but now he’s lost the Yinzerese.

Do you remember Lacee Collins?  Yeah, she was a bit ridiculous. “Rotundra,” indeed.

The next question might be a bit tougher for you:  We know our feelings, but would like to know yours.

We think Root Sports has improved their baseball coverage this season.  They even added a newfangled thing called ‘pitch speed’ to their telecasts!  Announcers Greg Brown and Bob Walk have talked about meeting in the offseason with the sole purpose of improving the coverage–using advanced stats in their graphics, and actually discussing how those statistics can make a difference in the game.

By now, you’ve probably seen the video on Deadspin .  Root Sports tried to interview Clint Hurdle‘s Dad and it didn’t go very well,  thanks to an interaction with an usher at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.  Robby Incmikoski was interviewing Clint Hurdle’s father and the usher at Wrigley decided to break up the fun.

There are pretty much two schools of thought: The usher was a toolbag.   The usher was doing his job correctly.

We think there might be a middle ground to this gig, though.  While we enjoy watching this from our recliner, it would be a lot different if we were sitting behind this interview.

We wouldn’t have gone quietly, but of course, this was held at Wrigley Field, with the Cubs behind in the score and the Pirates at the plate.  So, with plenty of Old Style flowing, it probably wasn’t a big deal to the Cubs fans in the vicinity of the interview.  But to us, it’s a little bit of a bigger deal.

Just don’t stand in front of people.  It’s rude.  We were curious, so we tweeted Mr. Incmikoski and asked if Root asks the fans if they mind if their view of the game is blocked for a minute? 

Wouldn’t it be better if interview took place sitting in the seat?  Why does anyone have to stand up at an MLB game other than to flash a Zoltan, cheer frantically for Brandon Inge, maybe as they try to grab a foul ball or, more importantly, when they need to try to prevent the opposition from robbing a home run ball from the Bucs.

Baseball is a really fun game, and the ratings at Root Sports are sky high.  Root will be covering Pirates baseball for a long time, so we won’t have much choice but to endure the schtick.   Perhaps one day soon Root Sports will have it all dialed in, but until then we will listen to more baseball on the radio and enjoy that glorious AGH cam later on Tivo.

And maybe… no, definitely watching the Deadspin video one more time of Mr. Incmikoski being “bothered” by ushers, and listening to his cry of “Don’t touch me!!” just one more time.