Padres Announcers Saying Their Prayers

There are few occasions in professional baseball in which one's voice can become synonymous with history. Kirk Gibson's limp-off home run, Hank Aaron's 715th -- these are the chances professional commentators dream about, and they do their best to make the most of the moment.

Barry Bonds's impending record-breaker? Rather than hoping for the chance to call history, announcers are fleeing from the thought:

"There's a prayer that I say in my car, and I have all week," said Ted Leitner of XX Sports Radio. " 'Dear God: Please not here, and please not me.' And I mean that."

...Leitner even said that while he normally doesn't plan what to say in circumstances such as these, he will do so this weekend. "I know guys do that and I don't like that because it's not spontaneous," Leitner said. "But this one I'll have to so I don't embarrass the organization in any way or be unprofessional in any way.

"It's always joy and excitement (with a milestone), but this is not, so I want to make sure I convey it to the audience, the magnitude of it, without mentioning steroids, without mentioning grand juries, but at the same time there will no enthusiasm in my voice. There's no way. Then I would be a hypocrite."

That's the true challenge: how to convey the accomplishment in the proper context, without swinging too closely toward either joy or open disdain. Still, honesty is the best policy. Barry Bonds is a great hitter and that can still be celebrated, even if what he's been accused of is true (hint: it is). Get that across, and I think any announcer has done his job. Level heads can still prevail, right? Right?

(HT: BBTF)