As if the season wasn't already disappointing enough for the LA Angels, they now have to deal with attacks on their announcing team from national radio hosts. On Wednesday, Petros Papadakis of the LA-based, nationally syndicated Fox Sports Radio "PMS Show" put Angels play-by-play man Victor Rojas on blast. In his several minute tirade, Papadakis goes out of his way to declare his glee that he won't have to hear that "tool" Rojas call a game for several months. Ouch.
Amongst the several grenades Petros lobs at Rojas are jabs at his personality, announcing style, eyeglasses and even his tan. But he really focuses on two main points, the biggest one being Rojas taking it upon himself to provide analysis in addition to his play-by-play duties.
It is a curious insult to hurl because it isn't as if there is an official rule book on who gets to provide analysis and who doesn't, especially since each two-man booth has their own unique chemistry. What Petros takes the most umbrage with is his claim that Rojas often steps on the airtime of his partner Mark Gubicza, who just so happens to be a regular guest on the "PMS Show." As an Angels fan myself, I can't say that I've ever really noticed this offense that Papadakis finds so glaring. That probably has a lot to do with Gubciza, though affable, seldom ever offering anything but bland, generic commentary on the game's action. In fact, the Rojas-Gubcza tandem tends to have a very favorable opinion amongst fans both locally and nationally, so while this supposedly egregious problem Victor commits on a daily basis offends Papadakis so deeply, the fans don't seem to mind much.
If he has one valid criticism it is how Rojas handled calling no-hitters, which is his refusal to mention that a no-no is going on out of superstition of jinxing the pitcher. While it is understandable that Rojas has a hard time fighting his old school baseball roots being that he is a former minor leaguer and the son of former MLB player and manager Cookie Rojas, he still needs to be sure he is serving the story of the game. Yet Rojas has refused to do so in both no-hitters he has called in the last two years and he continues to defend his position.
Even with that flaw, it sure seems that Papadakis goes too far in his critique, especially resorting to calling him a "tool" and "completely ignorant and stupid." While he is entitled to his opinion, Papadakis should think twice about questioning another broadcasters professionalism considering that he spends an inordinate amount of time discussing his love for The Bachelorette on his national sports talk show. Glass houses and all that…
Give the rant a listen to yourself below. It starts around the 13-minute mark.
