Fans were confused on Sunday afternoon when Angels beat writers reported following a 7-1 win that Daron Sutton will no longer be announcing games for the Angels in 2021.
Per Jeff Fletcher, no replacement has been named, but Matt Vasgersian will continue in his current role after the All-Star Break. We anxiously await more details, if there even are any.
DS says that he thinks the decision to fire him came from the upper levels of management.
https://theathletic.com/2705839/2021/07/14/blindsided-daron-sutton-discusses-the-angels-decision-to-remove-him-from-broadcast-team-after-just-4-months/
It sounds like he’s blaming you Grandpa.
What do we know about Rich Waltz?
apparently he will be one of the interim announcers parading through BSW broadcasts to complete the Angel season.
it doesn’t matter to me since I can’t get the broadcasts. My first thought was “Cishek, Claudio, Quintana, Mayers….I know! Let’s get rid of Sutton!”
I guess somebody upstairs didn’t like him.
Good. He was just as bad as Rojas.
Sutton was pretty whack, but I feel like it was a tough year for everyone so I gave him a long leash. Seems kinda weird to fire him now? The only thing I ask…please don’t promote Mota. Please.
They need to hire Larry Beil
Ultimately this isn’t surprising not because Sutton was kinda too much but because the Angels clearly have a major issue with their hiring process as a business. This is literally the one position in a baseball organization you should not be surprised by what you ended up getting.
Broadcasters have hours of tape you can listen to to vet how they fit what voice or personality you want for your franchise. Who made this hire? So bizarre.
How are we gonna know if a pop up is hit a mile high anymore?
I wish they fired the entire crew. The nonstop chatter is terrible. Who cares what pitch Gubi thinks is coming next? Do we really need to hear about two seam and four seam fastballs a hundred times a game?
Managed to grow up on Scully and Enberg without being bombarded with constant nonsense.
Thankful to have the mute function.
Isn’t it still 61* ?
“Sutton is the worzdt! I can’t stand one more game with him! This organization is pathetic!”
“They fired Sutton! WTF! This organization is pathetic!”
One can want Sutton gone, but still be upset about the WAY he was let go.
I’m sorry but I disagree a bit. While I too think the firing should have been in the off-season, maybe management thought the Allstar break was the right time. Gitcho nailed it. The vast majority of this site could not stand his PxP and were very VERY vocal about that but now are ‘outraged’ by a perceived slight. It’s a no-win situation. Ultimately this is a nothing burger. He was bad at his job, he was fired and will be replaced. Done.
Two things: ONE don’t hire Physioc and TWO… Sutton was the PBP guy with Mario Impemba thru the end of the 2001 season (both announcers left of their own accords in fact)… and so we know what happened in the world series following the last time he parted ways with the club.
Is Physioc available? 😀
Please god no…Fizz is the damn reason Roger Lodge got hired as the Angels Talk Show Host, he recommended them to hire Mr Halo Honk
Twas a joke as i know Rev is the Grand Phyzzzzards absolute BIGGEST fan. 😂😂😂😂😂
Wow I’m bummed. I absolutely loved the way he called games. I feel like I may have been in the minority in feeling that way but that still sucks.
I think my opinions lie with the general sentiments on here…with a couple of caveats. Sutton’s statement demonstrated that he did not believe that he and the Angels were on the same page…as I am not sure how these contracts work, does it make sense for a PBP man to be under contract for half a season? If Sutton was truly blindsided, this is not a great look for the team, by far. If it was previously communicated to him that this could happen, well…I don’t think he did enough in the first half to demonstrate a need for retention. Although just really weird that they would structure the contract that way if they did.
As for the actual calling, I never particularly liked him and I thought his calling of big moments felt fake, while he tried to hard to bring enthusiasm during the more “normal” course of the game. I felt we could grow to enjoy him, but now it seems we won’t have to. If we’re able to pick someone up midway through the season, great work, because we have a head start of finding our next permanent PBP lead. If not, I don’t really see the point of doing this, even though my broadcast experience will probably be improved somewhat.
I did not like his style but he was far from the biggest problem on the team. He made play-by-play calling secondary to the conversations he wanted to foster with Gubi. Agree, the big moments were a often forced. Like you said, if we don’t have anyone lined up, why not wait until November after we win the WS.
Looking back, the whole arrangement with Matt V was not made clear to the fan community. Matt’s official response when hired was that he only alluded to this year and nothing about the future and that he would be calling games when he could. It’s like the Angels were flat footed when they came up with this sharing of the play-by-play duties. I did hear Sutton being interviewed telling the story that he needed to push and be persistent to get a crack at the job vacancy, he did not elaborate about a duration.
Maybe something more is going on. Perhaps crashing the stadium and employee cafeteria on his days off pushed Carpino over the edge. Or maybe he got caught with some Bacardi 151 rum in his tropical cup on Hawaiian Shirt Night. Vios con dios.
If he had did those bad things you alluded to, I would have liked him a lot more.
Good luck DS! It’s not easy being the new guy and it was a little jarring at first but I will agree with some others that it was starting to click a little. I didnt like gubie and Rojas at first either but I’m a fan of phys and hud so what do I know
Does this mean they promote Trent Rush? Or is it an age thing?
Trent Rush lol
Here’s my take folks. Sutton was bad at his job. We all saw it. We tried to adapt. But he was not good. I think the firing could have waited to the off-season but I guess it needed to happen sooner. This is not the first time Sutton has been let go as a PxP announcer. My feeling is he is a nice guy but nowhere near to good at play by play.
I just wish this team took the same action with certain bullpen pieces who have been equally bad or worse.
Zero chance this was about his job performance
Source?
So Harry Caray got canned from the Cardinals for sleeping with the Owner’s wife so are you saying there was a little somethin’ somethin’ between DS and Mrs. Moreno ? Or maybe DS and Mr. Moreno? Who the hell knows anymore? 😜
The thing is….these guys have tape that an organization is presumably listening to before hiring for this position.
Why are we firing a guy mid-way through a season if its just the PBP quality? They should have known *exactly* what they were getting based on his hours of previous work.
I think that’s a lot of speculation. We have not heard any tape that was submitted. It’s equally possible that his PBP was adequate elsewhere but he attempted to be more campy in the setting with Gubie. Who knows – and really it does not matter. He was bad at his job here – and maybe the clues did not line up enough for anyone to see it until they actual saw it and said ‘damn this dude is not good’.
When he was let go in 2012 he apparently sued the Diamondbacks. This guy comes off a bit ‘out-there’ to me and I am willing to view this as purely a response to a crappy job performance and nothing more.
Alex Curry – you’re up!
I’ll say I have no idea who pulls the strings on the name behind the mic, if the voice is an employee of Bally’s or the Angels—I thought it was the former.
The situation was always strained because of the shared duties between Sutton and Vasgergian, with one doing several games, to be replaced by the other for a stretch. Lather, rinse, repeat. The lack of continuity was sometimes jarring.
Then there is the artificiality of calling games while not actually being at the site of the game. It makes sense that the calling of the game is stilted and forced when the participants aren’t even sharing the same space. Vasgergian has been calling his games from some remote location, whether the Angels were home or away.
I think Rojas caught everyone off guard when he announced he was leaving, and with the transition between FSW and Bally’s meant continuity wasn’t going to happen. The combo of fake TV audio with apparent last-minute hires and inconsistent scheduling doomed the whole project. I never had a problem with Sutton (in the way I find it impossible to listen to some established game voices like John Sterling), but his absence isn’t a blow against the broadcasts either. It is an indicator that the managerial parties involved need to prioritize finding a young voice who can grow with the team for years to come.
Some very good insight along with a good solution in finding a young voice to grow with the team and position much the way Victor did.
They need to find the diamond in the rough like the Kings did with Alex Faust. Might be easier said than done.
I blanked on his name earlier, but I have heard Jason Benetti do solid work with the White Sox games. A guy like him would be a find, someone to build a viewership with the fans over the years.
Vasgergian isn’t that. I was happy when his name was called, but he’s way too ESPN-trying-to-be-clever. And the disconnect of his not being physically present means he is almost literally phoning it in.
He’s like Physioc play-by-playing Local Games like it’s a National Game.
I agree.
Plus Matty V’s home run calls sound like a donkey in heat
We could not get a prospect for him?
Odd to happen mid season but I thought he was terrible. Hoping they find a dedicated play-by-play guy now. This half assed stuff has been annoying.
I wasn’t a fan but didn’t hate Sutton. That said, echo all who’ve said firing a PbP guy midseason is classless and shows how this org is run (poorly).