FS K.C. announced Friday that Rex Hudler and Steve Physioc are "joining the Royals' TV broadcasting team," according to Dick Kaegel of MLB.com. Hudler will "take the analyst's spot formerly held by" former MLBers Frank White and the late Paul Splittorff. Physioc, who "worked with Hudler in the Angels' TV booth for 11 seasons, will do the play-by-play on 50 telecasts" (MLB.com, 2/10). In K.C., Bob Dutton writes the decision to hire Hudler to replace White "represents a 180-degree turn." While White "generally focused on the game’s technical aspects in measured tones -- and wasn’t above (usually gently) noting the Royals’ mistakes -- Hudler readily admits to being an unabashed fan and cheerleader." Play-by-play announcer Ryan Lefebvre "will now serve as the TV play-by-play voice for 90 of FSKC’s 140 in-season telecasts while shifting to radio for the rest of the club’s 162-game schedule." That change "prompted the hiring" of Physioc to handle TV play-by-play when Lefebvre works radio. Physioc will move to the radio booth for the games he does not call on TV. Physioc "knows what fans will soon realize -- that Hudler is a force of nature, a relentlessly positive force, in the broadcast booth." Meanwhile, Joel Goldberg "will continue to be host of the pregame and postgame shows on TV" (K.C. STAR, 2/13).
HELMER OUT IN DENVER: In Denver, Dusty Saunders notes Root Sports Rocky Mountain told Rockies play-by-play announcer Tom Helmer last Tuesday that his "services, after six years, were no longer needed." Helmer's contract was due to expire at the end of February, but he was "blindsided by the announcement." A Root Sports spokesperson Friday said that Helmer and former broadcaster Alanna Rizzo, who left Feb. 4 for a studio job with MLB Network, "would be replaced," though a timetable was not set. The timing of Helmer's departure "is more than a bit curious, considering the Rockies open spring training Sunday in Arizona and begin playing exhibition games March 3" (DENVER POST, 2/13).
