#AwardWorthy: Too close to call?

Many of baseball's biggest moments are immortalized by memorable calls from baseball's best broadcasters, forever linking the highlights with the voices that described them in real time.
Two of those moments from the 2017 season -- Sean Rodríguez's walk-off home run in his return to Pittsburgh on Aug. 6 and Alex Bregman's walk-off hit in Game 5 of the World Series -- are competing head-to-head in a close race for the Esurance MLB Award for Best Call, TV/Radio.
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The Houston radio team of Steve Sparks and Robert Ford were on the call for Bregman's Fall Classic game-winner, while Pirates radio announcer Greg Brown called Rodriguez's dramatic homer. Both calls were worthy of the moment in their own way, as the broadcasters each took a unique approach to narrating the action on the field.
Ford and Sparks provided just the right amount of excitement befitting a World Series stage and a back-and-forth extra-innings thriller. They also informatively described the walk-off hit amid the roar of the Minute Maid Park crowd.

Bregman's line-drive against Dodgers All-Star closer Kenley Jansen put the Astros ahead in the World Series, three games to two. The call by Ford and Sparks lived up to the gravity of the moment in what proved to be an unforgettable Fall Classic, and Sparks even managed to contextualize it, calling back to Jansen's blown save in Game 2.
"He's a baseball player," Sparks said. "Alex Bregman, first pitch off Jansen. The Astros have gotten him twice."
While Ford and Sparks balanced information with the excitement of the moment, Brown's call of Rodriguez's walk-off homer veered more toward pure exuberance.
In his first game since returning to Pittsburgh after a half-season with the Braves, Rodriguez reintroduced himself to Bucs fans with a walk-off home run in the 12th inning of the Pirates' win over the Padres on Aug.6.
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Brown's call drew on Rodriguez's nickname, Serpico -- a moniker given to him for his resemblance to Al Pacino's character in the 1973 film "Serpico" -- as he emphatically exclaimed, "Left field, clear the deck, cannonball coming. Serpico is back!"

Both calls are the front-runners among this year's six nominees, including calls of Jose Altuve's game-tying home run in World Series Game 5; Manny Machado's walk-off grand slam in his three-homer game on Aug. 18; Francisco Lindor's grand slam in the American League Division Series; and Chase Utley's diving catch to save Rich Hill's perfect-game bid on Aug. 23.
The Esurance MLB Awards annually honor MLB's greatest achievements as part of an industry-wide balloting process that includes five groups, each of which accounts for 20 percent of the overall vote: media, front-office personnel, retired MLB players, fans at MLB.com and Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) members.
The MLB Awards are an all-inclusive program, encompassing the top players and performances from both the American and National Leagues from Opening Day through the end of the postseason.
Voting led off with seven categories on Sept. 18 at MLB.com/Awards, serving as the grand entrance of a program that unveiled nominees for Best Call, TV/Radio; Best Major Leaguer, Postseason; and Best Postseason Moment following the Fall Classic's final out. The ninth inning of voting will begin around BBWAA Awards week, which opens when the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award winners are unveiled Monday. Voting for the final four categories begins at 7 p.m. ET on the following dates:
Best Rookie: Monday, Nov. 13
Best Manager: Tuesday, Nov. 14
Best Pitcher: Wednesday, Nov. 15
Best Major Leaguer: Thursday, Nov. 16
MLB Awards season will culminate Friday, Nov. 17, when winners are announced live on MLB Network and MLB.com starting at 8 p.m. ET.