Why Does Minor League Baseball Feel They Must Market Everything But Baseball?

Johnson City Cardinals broadcaster Joey Zanaboni got me thinking . . .

On Sunday Joe Avento of the Johnson City Press wrote a piece on Johnson City Cardinals broadcaster Joey Zanaboni, who peppers his call of the game with jokes.

“Jhon Torres, bashing it like the bouncer at that karaoke bar did with my rendition of ‘Man, I Feel Like a Woman’ by Shania Twain. Boy, she hated that rendition. Didn’t have to duck-tape my mouth shut, though. I’ll tell you that much.”

That was one of the better ones, even if it did take awhile to get to the punch line.

Zanaboni is a versatile sportscaster who has called a multitude of sports, including college football, with its similar pause-play pacing to baseball.

But for the jokes were gone in his calls of those sports on his demo tape found on the Sportscasters Talent Agency of America website.

Oh, there may be a few catch phrases, including “off the square for a pair” to describe a basketball layup.

That’s actually pretty good. It’s catchy and reinforces what we just heard so the idea the team has scored on a layup resonates with a listener who will only be giving partial attention to a radio broadcast as he or she is driving, cooking, etc.

During his volleyball broadcasts, Zanaboni doesn’t even employ catch phrases. It’s straight up play-by-play.