This past November, ESPN decided not to renew the contracts of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan for their Sunday Night Baseball broadcast. The duo had spent 21 years broadcasting baseball games and the loss of Miller was a tough one for many fans. Joe Morgan? Not so much. The network decided to go with Dan Shulman, Orel Hershiser and Bobby Valentine in an effort to mix things up.
There hasn't been much discussion from Jon Miller since the change as he continued his full-time work providing play-by-play for Giants on KNBR and NBC Bay Area. Recently however he made some comments that indicate he was not pleased with the non-renewal. Miller was asked to provide a quick congratulatory comment for Dave Van Horne, who will receive the Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award Saturday afternoon. Amidst his congratulations, Miller had a few back-handed comments about his former employer. Head after the jump to read a transcript of the comments (h/t Deadspin) and listen to audio of Miller's comments.
"Dave, Jon Miller with the San Francisco Giants, formerly with ESPN Sunday Night Baseball. Not that I'm even thinking about that, as I'm here to congratulate you on this great award from the Hall of Fame, the Ford C. Frick Award. I don't want it to overshadow anything or even color my thinking about congratulating you. Although, the Ford C. Fricke Award came my way last year, and I remember thinking, 'Well, this is probably a good career move, anyway. You get that award, and this is a big national award, and you get to make a speech up in Cooperstown and whatnot.' So I got the award and then they fired me. So, anyway, I'm hoping that you have a great time, much deserved, and I'm hoping that you were able also, in addition to getting the award, uh, keep your job. So, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed on that one for you. Anyway, congratulations. It's great - I can't wait to hear you give the speech, and I know you'll have a great time up there in Cooperstown with all the other baseball immortals.