Len Kasper Extended Through 2011

I know its not a universal sentiment but I really enjoy Kasper as well as the Kasper-Brenly team. He does a great job and is still getting better. He may not have the best home run call but the guy knows the sport and he also brings a statistical standpoint into the broadcast that a lot of baseball people shun.

Glad to hear it! He’s already been with the Cubs for four seasons, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he spent ten more seasons with the Cubs, which would take him far beyond the end of this contract to 2018.

what’s the latest word on Peavy, Dunn, Robets. et.al…………?

Is it certain he will be back next season in the booth too?

I just dont like this guy, he’s too nasally.

Len is really growing on me and I think he is getting better and better,

I think he and his radio counterpart Hughes are here for as long as they want to be.

Turns out I’m an idiot. Len is a far better broadcaster, and hopefully he can stay with the Cubs for a long, long time.

for a talented, professional broadcaster.

Early returns seem to agree for the most part on this post. I know Brenly gets a lot of criticism here, some of it deserved, but I think they are a solid team.

I’m a big fan of both Len and Bob. They are great together.

Linky

‘Course, I’m still going to turn down the volume and listen to Pat and Ron when I can, but Len is certainly one of the better TV play-by-play men. Glad to see he’ll be sticking around.

Now, if we could only make ESPN/FOX use him too.

these two have great chemistry. Len calls them well and Bob’s good at background, technical observations.

Len could grow into a Pat Hughes type broadcaster. I hope they keep him around for a long time.

He’s not 100 percent biased, but whenever there is a moment that is so exicting I love to hear his response to it. He’s in to the game like a regular fan is.

So I never grew up with the Carays. I like to think that Len’s been with the Cubs as long as I have!

Len has really grown on me.

because they thought he was a fake! I love how he was trying to get involved with the fans. That board is a piece of crap though…(posted there for two years until I found this one)

Hopefully we’ll hear the same about Bob Brenly soon. Len and Bob came to Chicago knowing they had a tall order to fill; with humility and respect they reached out to Cubs fans and I for one am thrilled to have them!

I think he’s kind of the epitome of a 21st Century baseball announcer. He knows and respects stats (but doesn’t get too carried away with them); he’s “Internet friendly” (for lack of a better term); and he’s hip to other things besides baseball (music, for instance).

Any chance for another off-season BCB interview, Al?

…I am fan of this broadcast team. Were pretty lucky too, there arent too many good tandems out there.

It took me a while for me to warm to them since I liked Chip and Stoney so much (though no one compares to Harry). But I’m a fan now.

I wish that national broadcasts (ESPN, TBS, etc.) could somehow use the team announcers instead (maybe devise some kind of alternating schedule or something). It’s always painfully obvious how superficial “national announcers” are in their knowledge about each team. I think that’s why they so often resort to cliches at best, or often just incorrect assertions at worst.

Of course, the other option would be to just have a permanent team of Tim McCarver and Joe Morgan do every game. It would be a bold statement by TV execs that the action on the field is irrelevent; entertainment flowing instead from stories about McCarver’s slippers and Morgan’s dictates on high on what each player is thinking at that precise moment.

It might not be good for “baseball” per se, but it could lead to interesting experiments in urban rioting.

Len and Bob are a great team!

My only complaint about Len is that he very rarely recognizes a HR off the bat like so many other announcers do. Other than that, he’s great!

hear this. I love Len & Bob.

Len is just a really nice guy. After a Cubs loss at Pittsburgh, he made sure he stopped to say hello to us who were waiting for the team to come out. Greeted us with a smile and encouragement even though the Cubs just lost to a minor league team. He could have easily walked onto the bus.

Anytime I get into a minor dispute with the wife, Brenly’s voice always pops into my head and I just blurt out “You are right hun, I am wrong” or something along those lines. Bob has said it a few times during their broadcasts as his words of wisdom, and I find it hilarious for some reason.

Is there something wrong with that??

All things considered, I’m glad Len and Bob will be in the booth together for the foreseeable future.

One of the things that having XM has shown me is how lucky we are with the broadcasters we currently have in Chicago. We’ve been over the Ron Santo stuff but with Pat on the radio side and Bob and Len on the TV side, we have two great options. One of the things that I pay a lot of attention to and try to experience is the different broadcast teams. I’ve been able to listen to more radio teams than TV teams and I will say that there are a lot of really crappy announcers. Many of the new, younger announcers fit a certain mold that makes them no different than the guy down the dial. Then there are the Matt Vasersians, Ted Leitners and Ken Harrelsons of the world who simply love the sound of their own voice and seem to believe that they are bigger than the broadcast itself.

Heck, we’ve heard some pretty mediocre announcers here in Chicago in the past decade or so. Dave Otto and Joe Carter were a disaster. Chip Caray loved to talk about freaking cotton candy and the “fair pole”. Josh Lewin was a great guy but was lacking as an announcer and Wayne Larravie knew nothing about the sport of baseball. Our TV and Radio booths are in good shape as long as Kasper and Hughes stick around for a while.

Len seems like a great guy, and is by far my favorite announcer in the game. He’s a fantastic ambassador of sabermetrics, and humble in his approach.

The thought of Len & Bob being replaced is terrifying, and I’m glad we won’t have to worry about it for at least another 3 years.

I must admit to not liking Len at the start, that nasal slightly over-eager delivery grated on me.

But I came round pretty quickly because of the actual content of what he says. He’s a rarity among play-by-play guys in that he says things that aren’t always obvious and are worth knowing. He knows about stats. He doesn’t bludgeon the listener with them, but is not afraid to quote unfamiliar (to many) stats when they are relevant.

He also comes across as likeable without being either a buffoon or smarmy. It’s a subjective thing of course but to me he’s in Pat Hughes class (high praise) in that respect.

As to Bob, I think he’s good at his job and enjoy some of the pithy remarks he makes. But he just sounds a little too pleased with himself for my taste. As a result I think he overdoes the schtick. Such traits rarely get better with time either, so I’m afraid his cringe-factor may exceed my tolerance before too much longer.

But if a good broadcaster is someone you’d want to sit and watch the game with, then for me Len would be right up with the very best.

But bring back Stoney!

My girlfriend and I ran into Len in Miller Park before a Cubs/Brewers game earlier this year. I said something along the lines of "Nice to meet you, Mr. Kasper." We talked for a few seconds about the day’s game. Then my girlfriend, who mostly listens to Pat and Ron, said “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Kasper, but I don’t really know who you are.” Len said, “That’s ok. I don’t really know who you are either.”

He is a genuinely nice guy and a great broadcaster. I hope he and Bob are around for a long time.