Seeing the Cubs play on TV as opposed to listening to the spring training games on the radio or Internet is just another step closer to Opening Day. It’s like another item checked off the final countdown checklist.
This past weekend’s TV broadcasts were a little more important to me because it was the first time I got to experience Len and Jim Deshaies working together. This is something I’ve been anxiously awaiting since he was hired. How will this new duo work out?
Well, it was strange because my brain is still set for Bob Brenly. I kept expecting to hear him. It’s going to take more than one game to get used to JD (yes, there were two games broadcast, but I had to take my nieces to the movies during one of them and I fell asleep a couple of times while at the theater and…can we stop talking about my Oz fail and get back to baseball related things, please?). No fault on his part for that.
However, my quick impression of him is a good one.
First and foremost, he’s got a sense of humor. Len needs someone to riff with and Google spittoons in the late innings of a blowout game. He also seems to be cool with stats. While Bob was still learning and getting comfortable with them, JD seems to already have a grasp of the numbers. JD doesn’t seem as loud as Bob, but that might be in part because he’s still getting comfortable and settling in. He could very well get “louder” before the end of the season. And he might not. That’s okay, too.
One game can’t tell me everything, but we’ve at least gotten off to a promising start. I kinda like him.
I wonder how JD feels about umpires.
