Batting Around: Who’s your favorite MLB broadcast booth?

Throughout spring training the CBS Sports MLB experts will bring you a weekly Batting Around roundtable, breaking down pretty much anything. The latest news, a historical question, thoughts about the future of baseball, all sorts of stuff. Last week we picked our favorite moves of the offseason. This week we’re going to tackle our favorite broadcast booths.

Who are your favorite MLB announcers?

Matt Snyder: The Mets are generally a popular answer and they are great. I love the Giants, especially when it’s Kuip and Kruk.The Tigers now with Jason Benetti on play-by-play are up there because he’s excellent. The Dodgers, Braves and Cubs are very good as well, but no other booth, for me, comes close to the Padres with Don Orsillo and Mark “Mudcat” Grant. They have absolutely everything I want in a broadcast booth. It’s only two people instead of dealing with a “too many cooks” situation, they are knowledgeable without being over-the-top with numbers, have a nice blend of old- and new-school and generally are always having fun. It’s a joy. 

Dayn Perry: I hate to be unoriginal, but I have to agree with Matt and elevate Don Orsillo and Mark Grant for this honor. Their rapport is unmatched, in my opinion, and they keep the broadcast entertaining and humorous without going off the rails. There’s also real insight to be found on Padres broadcasts. It’s just the perfect blend of what you want in a broadcast booth. 

R.J. Anderson: I’d also rate the Padres booth as the best in the business. They’re the perfect pair for late-night ball. I’ll throw in two other booths that haven’t been mentioned that I enjoy: 1) Dewayne Staats and Brian Anderson and 2) Wayne Randazzo and Mark Gubicza. Staats is an all-timer who deserves his flowers and then some, and he has great chemistry with Anderson. Meanwhile, Gubicza might be the most underrated analyst in the majors. 

Mike Axisa: Yeah, Don Orsillo/Mark Grant (Padres) is my favorite booth by a good bit. Perfect combination of levity and ball-knowing, especially for late-night broadcasts. They sound like two guys just hanging out at a bar, and that’s the ideal broadcast vibe to me. I also really like the Aaron Goldsmith/Ryan Rowland-Smith booth (Mariners). I do miss the Dave Sims/Mike Blowers tandem the Mariners had for so long, but Goldschmidt/Hyphen is great too. Duane Kuiper/Mike Krukow (Giants) are all-timers. They still have their fastball. The Mets have a great booth too, especially when they do something dopey on the field and make Keith Hernandez audibly sigh.