Davis says going from Royals TV to radio was a smooth move
Royals radio announcer
Bob Davis said the transition of going from the Royals’ television booth to the radio booth went as smoothly as he could have imagined this season.
And Davis said he wants to come back next year.
“I’m just working on a year-to-year contract,” Davis said. “And I don’t have one with the Royals next year, but they’ve indicated they want to meet fairly soon.”
Royals vice president of communications Mike Swanson said he doesn’t expect any changes in the radio booth next year, meaning Davis would be back with Denny Matthews, and Steve Stewart would work as a fill-in as well as do pregame and postgame duties.
Davis was replaced in the Royals’ television booth by Ryan Lefebvre when FSN Kansas City acquired the television rights prior to the 2008 season. Davis then took Lefebvre’s spot in the radio booth.
“Obviously my background is in radio, so I didn’t think the transition was difficult,” Davis said. “I missed working with Split (Paul Splittorff) on the television side but enjoyed my time with Denny and Steve.
“Radio is so much more freer. In television, you really have to just follow along with the picture. In radio, you create the picture, and I think that’s why there are so many legendary baseball radio announcers. It’s fun.”
Allen’s value
Our old friend Jared Allen isn’t exactly giving the Vikings their money’s worth so far.
Allen led the league in sacks last year with 15 1/2 but has just two so far this season.
The Vikings paid $74 million for that?
Allen laughed when asked by the St. Paul Pioneer-Press if he was tired of being asked about his low sack total.
“I don’t care; it’s your guys’ job, asking all the dumb questions you want,” he said. “We’ve got a good part of our season coming up; a lot of these teams we’re about ready to play I had good success against last year.”
Still, two is still a pretty wimpy number.
“Better than having zero, right?” Allen said. “But it will come. I’m a perfectionist.”
Allen said he doesn’t necessarily think he’s under pressure to increase his total.
“When you’ve got all these playmakers — nothing against Kansas City, obviously,” Allen said. “I loved the guys I played with there — but (in Minnesota) I’ve got Kevin (Williams) they have to worry about, too.”
Not in shape
You may remember John Kruk’s famous quote when questioned about his physique: “I’m not an athlete,” Kruk said. “I’m a professional baseball player.”
Former Royal Jeff Conine couldn’t agree more.
“Baseball has probably the worst-conditioned athletes,” he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Running around the bases four times and running down four to six baseballs is not physically taxing.”
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