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Tom McCarthy and Chris Wheeler are the Seventh Most Biased Broadcast Team in Baseball, According to Delightfully Ridiculous Study
By Kyle Scott
Published:
Talk about the most anticlimactic result a study could have produced.
The Wall Street Journal, spurred on by Chicago White Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson’s over-the-top homerism, decided to rank all 30 Major League Baseball TV broadcast teams to see which were the most biased. Harrelson finished first (by a significant margin), while announcers from the Blue Jays, Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets all were found to play it straight.
Where did Tom McCarthy and Chris Wheeler (and, I’m assuming, Sarge) finish? Tied for seventh, with nine biased comments throughout the course of one game:
The study is quite subjective. The WSJ defines “homerism” thusly:
By the rules of our study, anyone with a microphone who used a pronoun like "we," "us" or "our" to describe the home team was given a citation. Obscure pet names for players were also flagged: The Detroit Tigers announcers, for instance, referred to backup catcher Gerald Laird as "G-Money." Additional penalties were given for things like excessive moping after miscues or unrestrained glee after big moments. (A Miami Marlins broadcaster marked the end of a lengthy scoreless drought by screaming "Hallelujah!")
McCarthy was quoted in the article, too:
Philadelphia Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy added, "We're all homers whether we want to be or not," in part because they spend so much time around the team.
Still, both Allen and McCarthy said that there is a line broadcasters shouldn't cross, where their homerism begins to undermine their credibility. Or as Mets color commentator Ron Darling put it, "There are going to be people watching who demand that you get it right, and they'll let you know when you don't get it right."
That’s in writing, but I’m sure T-Mac said it like: WE’RE ALL HOMERS, GOOOOOOOOONE!, WHETHER WE WANT TO BE, OR NOT, EVERRRRRRY STEP OF THE WAY.
You can see the full list here.
Kyle Scott is the founder and editor of CrossingBroad.com. He has written for CBS Philly and Philly Voice, and been a panelist or contributor on NBC Sports Philly, FOX 29 and SNY TV, as well as a recurring guest on 97.5 The Fanatic, 94 WIP, 106.7 The Fan and other stations. He has more than 10 years experience running digital media properties and in online advertising and marketing.