Thankfully for Nationals fans, F.P. Santangelo isn’t Rob Dibble

Rob Dibble was fired as the Nationals’ television analyst following comments he made about Stephen Strasburg, but before that he’d more than earned the firing with various other “controversial” statements and, most importantly, awful announcing.

Included among Dibble’s many faults as an announcer was that he referred to “we” and “us” while openly cheering for the Nationals. It’s one thing to be a homer, as many local announcers are, but it’s another thing to be a grunting cheerleader who doesn’t even pretend to have any sort of objectivity.

All of which is why Nationals fans should be pleased to hear how much different the team’s new television announcer, F.P. Santangelo, plans to be in the broadcast booth. Here’s his response when Kristen Hudak of MASNSports.com asked “when is it OK to use ‘us’ or ‘we’ while broadcasting?":

It’s never appropriate. I’m not wearing a uniform, so it’s not we. It’s absolutely against everything I’ve been taught as a broadcaster to ever say “we” because I’m sitting up here with makeup on and a coat and a tie. So it’s the Nationals and it will always be the Nationals on every broadcast I do. I was taught by some of the best announcers in baseball--Jon Miller, Duane Kuiper, Mike Krukow and Dave Flemming, the broadcast crew for the Giants. One of the first things I learned was that you say “we” when you’re wearing a uniform. I’m not wearing a uniform anymore so it will never be “we.”

Santangelo discussed a whole bunch of other stuff in his lengthy interview with Hudak. I haven’t heard him call a game yet, but I already like him more than Dibble.