By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Teke" during his playing days.
FSN Pittsburgh finally got it right this year when it hired Kent Tekulve as its Pirates analyst. Tekulve, who is seen on the postgame show after all telecasts, was a student of the game as a player and it's not surprising he does well in this role.
He comes with impeccable credentials. Not only does he have an excellent broadcasting resume -- he was a member of the Philadelphia Phillies announcing team for seven seasons in the 1990s -- but he was the Pirates' advance scout in 2006 and 2007. As such, he has a tremendous knowledge of the rest of the National League.
Those assets come across in his work. If there's a glitch, it's that he is an employee of the Pirates, working as what amounts to a goodwill ambassador for the team. But there's no lack of objectivity in his opinion. He's not likely to strongly criticize the team, but, since FSN and the Pirates are partners, that type of criticism isn't going to be heard from anyone at the station as part of the game broadcast.
"I don't think the club looks at me to be a PR guy," Tekulve said. "I'm there to analyze the game. I have enough faith that I've watched enough baseball that if I have an opinion on something, it's pretty accurate. If I screw up, I'll admit it."
Tekulve pitched for the Pirates from 1974-85, saved three games in the team's 1979 World Series win and is seventh all time in games pitched. He and Mike Marshall are the only players to pitch 90 games in a season more than once. Tekulve did it the second time with the Phillies when he was 40.
On a recent segment, when the Pirates were in the early stages of the mini-turnaround in which they now find themselves, Tekulve pronounced the team better than most people -- maybe even the players and management -- thought.
"I've watched these teams play as many as 40 times over the past two years, and I think the physical skills of the Pirates players are well into the upper half of the National League," he said. "I don't buy the argument we need better players. Understanding how to use those skills is our downfall. The players have to understand the game better. It's not mechanical stuff, it's knowing the game, knowing what the other team is going to do, knowing what you should do in different situations.
"What I'm most encouraged about so far is we're not regularly being beaten by pitchers who are 3-6 with a 6.40 earned run average. That used to happen too often. It's not happening as often this year. Our hitters are taking a better offensive approach. They're being more selective early in the count."
The Pirates are making Tekulve look good, having won nine of their past 13.
No comments:
Post a Comment