The Other Sox Broadcaster

We take more than our fair share of shots at Hawk Harrelson around these parts, make the occasional DJ joke and reap all the praise in the world on one Mr. Steve Stone, but for reasons unknown have never really bothered to mention Sox radio play-by-play man Ed Farmer; this probably comes from Farmer’s general refusal to make a spectacle of himself like a certain personality in the TV booth, but at times it seems Farmer might simply the steadfast, totally average broadcaster not really worth mentioning in and of himself. You know, like a good broadcaster should be.

But then you get moments like today, where Farmer transcends the encyclopedic, goofy or downright embarrassing antics of his counterparts and you just chuckle and think, “Man, that guy is intense.”

Specifically, Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie had a no-hitter going into the third inning. Not just a no-hitter, even, but in fact a perfect game. Under normal circumstances, the third inning is probably a little too early to think about a pitcher blanking the opposition, but our man on the air made sure to throw any kind of lame superstition to the wind:

“Guthrie has a no-hitter going. Make that a perfect game. Jeremy Guthrie of the Orioles has a perfect game going here in the bottom of the third inning. A no-hitter and a perfect game for Guthrie.”

Now, no sane person would suggest Farmer’s words had anything more to do with the awesome hitting power promptly unleashed by Dewayne Wise on the next pitch, nor would any sane person even put much stock in the whole don’t-talk-about-a-no-no-while-it’s-happening nonsense (anyone remember Hawkeroo’s wild self-congratulations after Mark Buehrle shut down the Rangers?). At the same time, it’s nice to see someone running antithetically to the Harrelson’s awkward man-crushes on the American League and Jackson’s goofy indifference regarding Farmer’s blatant hostility towards him.

We’ve heard in the past who Farmer would hit were he on the mound, and his undying hatred of Barry Bonds isn’t much of a well-kept secret either. But to see a man operating with such spite towards the achievements of no one in particular, well, that’s just wonderful.

No, not wonderful, but just such an appropriately South Side way of looking at things. Now if they could somehow get the guy on TV to follow suit. . .