When it comes to play-by-play, you'd be hard-pressed to find a negative perspective from Nationals TV announcer F.P. Santangelo.
Santangelo prefers to paint a rosy outlook, which certainly has its place on team broadcasts, especially in a growing baseball market which didn't so much as have a club to call its own only 13 years ago.
The broadcaster was featured in the latest edition of Northern Virginia Magazine, wherein he explained his positive outlook as being the antithesis of what you might hear on local sports-talk radio.
Yikes... pic.twitter.com/PKPKD4esuK
— Chris Lingebach (@ChrisLingebach) April 2, 2018So as to not misrepresent his opinion, here's a little more context for that pull quote.
"When you know every single player and you develop relationships with them, and you know their wives and kids … and you live with them for seven months, staying in the same hotels and riding the same buses … I'm not up here to rip people. I'm up here to explain the game to people, but I will tell them why maybe something happened that was negative."
And who wants to hear more bad news coming from the television during downtime?
"Baseball is your escape," he says. "Why would you want to hear a broadcaster who is negative and critical? If you do, listen to sports talk radio, that's what they do. That's not what I do."
This, as you might expect, didn't sit well with every one of D.C.'s local sports-talk radio hosts.
Yeah because sports radio is never positive. Always critical. Such a strange way to view things. But didn't prevent taking him from taking a paycheck to be on sports radio two years ago. https://t.co/zykJ5XUQ34
— Chris Russell (@Russellmania621) April 2, 2018Correction: Yeah because sports radio is never positive. Always critical. Such a strange way to view things. But that didn't prevent F.P. from taking a paycheck to be on sports radio two years ago. https://t.co/zykJ5XDfbw
— Chris Russell (@Russellmania621) April 2, 2018Come on @FightinHydrant. You were a radio guy before you were a TV guy.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) April 2, 2018Comedy
— Chick Hernandez (@CHICKatNBCS) April 2, 2018Santangelo, a frequent radio guest on 106.7 The Fan, limited his response to one reply.
Stupid thread? And a walk off. Man you're fired up. And it's only April 2nd!!
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) April 2, 2018Although, others took Santangelo up on his advice by continuing to have fun amongst themselves.
Not much to discuss. He is a regular guest on the show because we are friends with him. He does a lot with the station. Which is why I found the comment weird.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) April 2, 2018Agreed
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) April 2, 2018Lol. "Negative and critical...."? How about just being realistic and calling the game as it's played out? Not acting like everyone who plays for "your" team is the best and never makes mistakes. Main reason I can't watch his telecasts.
— Ben Carroll (@BenCarroll15) April 2, 2018What's wrong with sports talk radio being negative and critical? Doesn't mean that's ALL you hear. If all we wanted was sunshine and rainbows, we'd watch Redskins Nation with Larry Micheal every day.
— SAQDaddy (@saqdaddy) April 2, 2018Totally different platforms. Sports talk radio is interactive & should be both positive & negative. I think all the broadcasters in this area (tv & radio) do a good job of being fair. Both + and -. Larry Michael being the exception. He's unlistenable.
— Chuck Fanslau (@ChuckFanslau) April 2, 2018You're both right. One fills ~3 hours talking about his colleagues while they work in front of him. One fills ~3 hours critiquing what they days/weeks before. One's commentary; one's criticism. Y'all gotta get along & fill my daily ~6 hour baseball need.
— Shane Farthing (@ShaneFarthing) April 2, 2018 — Nathan Rogers, PT, DPT (@nwrogers08) April 2, 2018We get along well. Nothing to worry about Shane. He's a friend of the show. Just don't love idea that talk radio is negative. Been fighting that perception for years. Its analysis. Its long form dissection. It's not negative.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) April 2, 2018We're three games into the season and already have our first media feud. Thank God baseball's back.
Santangelo joins Chad Dukes on 106.7 The Fan Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. You can listen here.
The Junkies offered their mixed reaction Tuesday morning. A short while later, F.P. provided additional thoughts on Twitter.
For the record, I respect the hell out of anyone in sportstalk radio. That's how I got my start and had a blast doing it on a daily basis.I stand by my quote but the question asked to me was how and why I stay so positive. My point was in comparison, if you're looking for...
— F.P. Santangelo (@FightinHydrant) April 3, 2018...hard core criticism, that's where you go and it necessarily doesn't fit on the broadcast and isn't my style.I've done all three.Played, sportstalk, team analyst. So I have a unique perspective.I respect all three and i know how hard all three are. Much love and respect for all
— F.P. Santangelo (@FightinHydrant) April 3, 2018Follow @ChrisLingebach and @1067TheFan on Twitter
