Those of you who are Astros fans will understand what I’m going to rant about here. Why team owner Drayton McLane has decided to fire the one competent readio broadcaster in the Astros’ booth is unfathomable. I’ll just come out and say what I’m thinking, because anyone who has listened to an Astros game on radio will immediately understand what I’m talking about: MILO HAMILTON IS AN IDIOT. Listening to Hamilton broadcast a baseball game is an excruciating experience. With Hamilton behind the mike, it’s never really about the game on the field. It’s about his experiences and pretty much anything else that happens to come to mind. Yes, the man has a wealth of experience, but how Milo Hamilton has managed to amass 50+ years in baseball is beyond me.
Try this experiment sometime during the baseball season: listen to an Astros game on the radio, during the first through third and seventh through ninth innings, which is when Hamilton has the mike. Keep track of how long it takes you to figure out what the score of the game or even the game situation is. It’s ridiculous, but Hamilton does a horrible job of painting a picture for his listeners. With Milo Hamilton, it never seems to be about what is happening on the field. Clearly, the man is in love with the sound of his own voice. That Drayton McLane cannot see this is truly depressing.
Alan Ashby, however, is everything that Milo Hamilton isn’t. Intelligent, restrained, and a true student of the game, Ashby is brilliant at describing the action on the field and providing context. Having played for the Astros, Ashby clearly understands the nuances of the game, and over the years he has developed an almost unparalleled ability to translate that to his radio listeners without overpowering the action on the field. Ashby excels at painting a picture for his listeners, describing the action, while providing context and WITHOUT stomping on the game…not something that Milo Hamilton seems to have figured out in his long and (unexplainably) storied career.
Ashby, who was one of eight finalists for the road play-by-play job after working the World Series on Astros radio with Hamilton this season, learned his contract would not be renewed during a Tuesday morning meeting with Astros owner Drayton McLane and club president for business operations Pam Gardner.
“The bottom line is that I was informed that the ball club was not of the opinion that I should be their lead broadcaster,” Ashby said. “They had determined that they needed to turn in an entirely new direction, and therefore, I was being let go.
“I was caught completely off guard and am devastated by the decision.”
I’m sure Ashby never saw this injustice coming, and frankly, I can’t imagine what would have driven McLane to make this sort of horribly misguided decision. Alan Ashby was one of the classiest and most self-effacing members of the Astros organization. It’s not as if he tried to overpower Milo Hamilton in the broadcast booth. My sense is that he genuinely knew his place and paid his dues. I would have been thrilled had he been hired as Hamilton’s replacement, because he frankly deserved the promotion. What in the HELL could McLane possibly have thought that letting go his one competent radio broadcaster would accomplish??
McLane said that once it was determined Ashby would not assume Hamilton’s play-by-play job for road games, officials thought it best to move in a new direction with two new hires.
“Alan was anxious to be the play-by-play person, and when we decided to bring someone else in, we weren’t sure if it would work well to have them working together,” McLane said. “We interviewed these two (Dolan and Raymond) and felt that with their skills, a new start was the way to go. We have the best mentor in the world in Milo, and he can work with these young men, and they can learn a great deal from him.”
Yeah, like how to drone on endlessly about everything except what is happening on the field, and how to piss off your audience by not describing the game we’ve tuned in to hear. Some lesson, eh?
Ashby, who caught no-hitters by Ken Forsch, Nolan Ryan and Mike Scott with the Astros and is one of 11 catchers in major-league history to catch three no-hitters, said he was grateful to fans for their support during his years in the booth.
“I’ve been overwhelmed with their kindness, and I’m grateful that people have shared their enjoyment of listening to me on the air,” he said. “That’s the greatest compliment I could hope for.”
It was a pleasure to listen to Alan Ashby broadcast a baseball game. He deserves better. It’s just too bad his former boss is a complete DUMB@$$….
