Ratto: Bill King *should* be in HoF!
by ST on Feb 2, 2010 9:58 PM PST
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PrintBy now, it's been well-established that Ray Ratto is 1) an A's hater, 2) originated from Harris County, Texas and 3) likes to go to A's game to remind himself of said place. But once in a great while, the sun, moon, and the celestial stars align itself so that all those known truths are suddenly reversed. Case in point is the recent SF Chronicle column by Ratto discussing Bill King:
I'm guilty as anyone else of lambasting Ratto's old school style (as well as his physique - my bad), but I will give him credit for being one of (if not the only) columnist to point out the travesty that is occurring by omitting Bill King's place in the HoF. To me, this is the kind of style that really befits Ratto: more qualitative, more subjective, and more nostalgic in flavor. As an engineer in RL, it is sometimes hard to grasp these aspects, especially amongst the Athletics nation where most swear by wOBA, UZR/150, and WAR. But, once in a while, I can understand such simple but moving arguments. Here's to you Ray, giving you credit where credit is due... cheers!
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Bill King not in the HoF is the biggest piece of.....
Horse $h|t in the HoF’s elected media history. I cant stand Ratto most of the time, but he hits the nail on the head with this one.
"I mean, come on, man. I'm a vet. Don't talk to me like that. If they do, I'll just smile." Nnamdi Asomugha
Nothing against Jon Miller
but Bill King has already been passed over for far too long and nobody in in the history of sports broadcasting has ever or even come close to what Bill King has done behind a microphone. It’s a crying shame and an embarassment in my opinion. Bill King should have been in the HOF while he was still alive, let alone years after his passing.
Nice job on this one Mr. Ratto….
Zeigler to Geren…."A-Rod? He’s my bitch." -alox
by mrod on Feb 3, 2010 1:45 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
At some point...
doesn’t one (or two, or three) of Bill King’s colleagues need to stand up and say something?
You would think so....or the A's should get involved.
Zeigler to Geren…."A-Rod? He’s my bitch." -alox
Turn it into a season long campaign.
CuttheMullet, from "The Thread":
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not do that thing."
When it comes to the powers that be in MLB
The A’s have very little juice. But Bill King, one of the greatest announcers in history, should be in the HoF for multiple sports. Certainly for baseball and football, probably for basketball too (never got to hear his bball calls).
@worldblee on Twitter.
Didn't say it would be successful
But I don’t disagree with anything you said.
CuttheMullet, from "The Thread":
"Whenever I’m about to do something, I think "would an idiot do that?" and if they would, I do not do that thing."
Oh his basketball play by play
was incredibly colorful and funny. He just made the games so much fun to listen to, even if the Warriors were losing. Actually, sometimes it was more fun to listen to the games when the W’s were losing because usually it involved Bill trash talking with the refs!
And of course Raider football…..he has some of the greatest calls in NFL history. Wouldn’t it be sweet when the A’s do finally get a new stadium to call it Bill King Park etc…?
Zeigler to Geren…."A-Rod? He’s my bitch." -alox
Featuring the "Fosse homers section"?
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
Miller getting in good for King
Miller is/was a big fan of Bill King’s. I am sure he along with Lon Simmons can now have greater influence in getting Bill name further along the chain to getting in the hall. Probably other than Bill getting in now the best thing that could have happened.
I see it more as him just stating the obvious and what the rest of us already know
At least he wrote it, though.
Last of the Ninth - Photography
This was a good article
albeit one that had a certain bittersweet reality that there are simply not enough people that knew and appreciated Bill King;s voice.
To that end, I really think that next year AN people ought to get together and put some real time into getting him in. With Facebook voting and things like that, I’m sure we could make his presence better known. Maybe we could make a website with clips of his calls or something like that?
I mean, shit, Phil Rizzuto is in the Hall if for no other reason than simply playing on great past Yankees’ teams. If that can happen, surely we can get old Bill in.
"Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I'm trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?" - Rickey
I've been looking for snipets of his A's calls on the Internets,
but not having much luck. Has anyone else had better luck?
I haven't tried
But I’m betting people have some radio games recorded somewhere. It shouldn’t be THAT hard to find his voice online. Maybe if we search the food sites? ;-)
"Do I talk to myself? No, I just remind myself of what I'm trying to do. You know, I never answer myself so how can I be talking to myself?" - Rickey
by cuppingmaster on Feb 3, 2010 12:23 PM PST up reply actions
Ha! Good one.
I did some searching for about an hour and really did not find anything substantial. I found an interview with him on Marty’s website and I found a site that had 1 call from his Raider days.
I think Jeffro was putting something together on Bill about a year ago and was also looking for soundclips. Maybe he had better luck…
Look on youtube
I didn’t see any A’s stuff there, but they have a nice compilation clip of some of his Raiders work.
by coffee roaster on Feb 3, 2010 7:44 PM PST up reply actions
Does make you realize how ephemeral sportscasting is.
Beyond a few famous moments—“THE GIANTS WON THE PENANT! THE GIANTS WON THE PENANT”, “Do You Believe in Miracles…Yes!,” “Boom goes the dynamite!” and so forth—sportscasting is one of the few features of our culture that we don’t regularly relive. I mean anyone can say “HOLY TOLEDO!” when King’s name comes up. But what made Bill special was the greatness that he brought game after game in three sports. Countless little moments that won’t get relived. And though future generations will doubtless experience, e.g., THE WIRE or MAD MEN, they won’t experience King. He’ll be a cultural memory that Bay Area sports fans of our generations will have and future generations won’t. And I find that very sad.
There is no "i" in Teamocil. At least not where you'd think.
by GreenNGoldSooner on Feb 3, 2010 10:06 PM PST up reply actions
Don'f forget to vote in December 2010!
Looks like we’ll have to vote for him again in 2010!
We need to get him on that list of finalists, since it appears that nobody else will.
Tear down Mount Davis!
ok, I'll do it.
CLEARLY RAY RATTO IS LURKING ON AN AND ONLY WROTE THAT BECAUSE HE FELT BAD ABOUT THAT LAST ARTICLE
They call their best player "Kung Fu Panda" and they complain that people aren’t taking them or the game seriously enough? -Nick
by mikev on Feb 3, 2010 7:50 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Yeah, thanks Ray
Is that crow in my humble pie?
"Tonto think Billy Beane need to make team full of squirrels and bears."
by OptimistPrime on Feb 3, 2010 8:42 AM PST up reply actions
Should we now disagree with Ratto to avoid setting precedent?
Even though we were with pro King from the start?
Ray Ratto should win a Pulitzer for this column
It's the fans that make the game fun. -- Rickey Henderson, July 26, 2009.
Maybe Ken Korach and Ray Fosse should be lobbying harder for King
unless they already are.
You have to include smiley faces - Poppy
;- ) :- ) :-O : -> : -] : -}
Bravo Ratto
Not sure it will change a thing— and he clearly believes it won’t— but it needed to be said. And he did it eloquently.
Tim Kawakami...
discusses RAtto’s column on his blog .
Funny, he also mentions about AB’s ridiculous conspiracy theory on the Giants positioning Lincecum’s arb case to woo MLB owners in the SJ territorial showdown.
Hmm..seems like there’s more than just one reporting scoping out AN these days! ;)
"Twenty minutes," says Jack Sr. "Thank god for Billy Beane."
"Any fan that wants us to do that is going to be disappointed because that just isn’t us." - Wolff
Not sure why you connect this with AN.
I don’t doubt that all the local sports columnists scope out AN occasionally to see what’s going on … but with regard to Ratto’s column and Baggs’ column, isn’t it far more likely that he encountered the actual columns rather than the AN discussions of them?
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
terrorist.
I like Cindi. A. She never pretends to know more than she does. B. She has unbridled enthusiasm for her "Hotties," and isn't afraid to show it. -IM4Oakgal
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