Ben Wagner No Rosey Behind the Mic

I guess I should start by saying that it did take some time to get used to Jim Rosenhaus as the Bisons play by play announcers. I had grown up listening to Pete Weber, and now this new guy had showed up in the middle of my teenage years. But I got used to "Rosey" and even got to know the guy a bit. And I think all Bisons fans would agree we were spoiled by listening to Rosey, he painted a picture of what was happening for the listeners. Plus Rosey and Duke McGwire made a great team, from being serious about the baseball game to joking around and making fun of Kevin the "K-Man".

But this off season Rosenhaus got the call to the big leagues, moving up to Cleveland to be the pregame host plus the engineer. So the Bisons had to search for a replacement and they came up with Ben Wagner, coming over from the Lakewood BlueClaws. From the start it was different then Rosey, and not in a good way. Now I realize Ben was put in a difficult situation to start. One he is replacing a guy who was liked by all. Second he did not have a heck of a lot of time to work with his broadcast partner because Duke has a "real" job with the Amherst schools and don't go on many road trips early in the season. Rosey would just do the games alone, but Ben brought in different friends to do some color. So Ben was working with different announcers all the time, and I really wondered if some where announcers or just guys off the street.

But then again I wonder if Ben Wagner is a baseball announcers or a professional announcer. He don't seem to know a lot about the game. And the way he describes things is very confusing for the listener. A few games ago he was watching the view from the "center plate camera". Hmm, is that home plate or center field? He also seems to assume that people can see the game, which you can't. He leaves out information, like last week when the Bisons should have hit into a double play but the third basemen missed the bag. He never told us that till a batter later. Meanwhile all the people listening were confused. I guess I am saying he is not fluid with the way he describes things. He seems to be all over the place and in the mean time the listeners are lost. Now I do have the XM radio, so I get to hear a lot of major league games, and Ben would not be the worst I have heard (the White Sox crew is really bad). But he is near the bottom. Thankfully Duke keeps the broadcast lively and knows how to call a game, so we get good play by play for two innings a night.

I really doubt the Bisons would fire Ben Wagner, the GM Mike Buczkkowski has never made a mistake in his life, just ask him. Maybe we will get used to Ben and he will become a legend in Western New York like Rosey has became, or maybe Bisons fans will just bitch for the next few years, either way I think Ben Wagner will probably be hear a while.