Recently, first-team all-Midwest Conference South Division pitcher Ryan Harris wrote his second Golden Sombrero article, where he rightfully rips into beleaguered FOX Sports color commentator Tim McCarver. While I could not agree more with his candid (and rather harsh) account of Joe Buck’s right hand man, I believe that calling baseball games is a difficult job. And while those who have been given the privilege of calling the World Series and still perform poorly deserve every bit of the criticism the heralded Pioneer hurler dishes out, it is equally important to salute those who do the job well game after game, year after year.

There are a select few announcers out there who, by their very presence, make the experience of watching a baseball game on TV or listening to it on the radio more enjoyable. In my June article on this topic, I tipped my cap to Jon Miller, Dick Enberg and Vin Scully, three of baseball’s greatest voices, all of whom I am privileged to hear nearly eighteen games every season while watching my Rockies take on the hated Giants, Padres and Dodgers. In this edition, I look outside the NL West for two other announcers who do more than their fair share to make our game the greatest in the world.

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After watching Alex Rodriguez roll on the ground for what seemed like an eternity, I would have expected him to have had a broken leg, or at least a fractured hoof.  However, A-Rod was able to postpone a trip to the glue factory for one more day, and was in the starting lineup on Sunday.  Yesterday, ProRumors published the story that Joe Buck might have been the reason that A-Rod took the line drive to shin- apparently their exchange of greetings distracted A-Rod just before being struck with the batted ball.  While he has denied that he was distracted by Buck, I don’t think that alone should exonerate him.  Personally, I think we need to examine a different angle in this story- Joe Buck’s undeniably ginormous head obstructed A-Rod’s view of the ball.