Sports Illustrated put out this list of what it believes to be the Top 20 all-time sportscasters. Some of these guys are before my time, but unfortunately, most of them are not. Anyway, here is the list and a snappy comment or two, as well as who they missed and who I’m glad is not on here:

1. Jim McKay—The Bob Costas of his time. McKay hosted ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” as well as The Olympics. It’s hard to argue with putting him on top here, but it’s also easy to argue for a few of these others to be #1.

2. Vin Scully—If I hear ol’ Vin doing a game on TV, and with the MLB package it’s nice to still hear him doing Dodgers’ games, I don’t care who is playing….I stop and watch, and listen. It’s just comforting to hear the guy’s voice, which was made for broadcasting baseball.

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During a recent broadcasting, Dodgers’ play by play announcer Vin Scully made reference that Manny Ramirez has helped Jeff Kent hit better since he was acquired from Boston at the trade deadline.

But you see Jeff Kent doesn’t need help. Jeff Kent is the greatest baseball player known to man and how dare Vin Scully think other wise.

Below is what Kent said to L.A. Times columnist T.J. Simers in response to Scully’s comments.

“We all love you, Vin,” Kent added with a mischievous grin, “but you still talk too much.”

“Scully is making the same point everyone else is making,” I said. “He says the stats indicate you are having success hitting behind Ramirez — tell me that isn’t the case.”

“See my answer to the first question,” said Kent, and sometimes you wonder if he sleeps with his bed against a wall forcing him to always wake up on the wrong side. “Listen, I’m so tired of talking about this stuff. It diminishes my whole career and all the hard work. I take it as an insult.

“I’m 40. You don’t get better when you are 40.”

“It’s so pathetic,” he said. “You guys write about things happening in a week’s time. That’s why we don’t like you. Baseball is a six-month game.”

“What did I hit last year? Without Manny? How do you explain that? What’s my career average? What will I be hitting at the end of this season?”

“Manny was only hitting .300 in Boston with 20 home runs,” Kent said, as a prelude to the sarcastic kicker. “And he’s doing way better than that here — so I’m helping Manny.”

“I’ve been here four years and I have never seen Vin Scully down here in the clubhouse,” Kent said. “How does Vin Scully know me? How does Vin Scully know Derek Lowe?”

“Everyone says I’m hitting now because some guy says so on TV?” he says, and first time someone has ever called Scully “some guy.”

Later in the article, Kent does say that there’s no question Manny “has given this team new life with another hitter in the middle of the lineup.” So if you’re Kent, why not say that first? Why be snarky and somewhat disrespectful to a legend like Vin Scully for making a simple observation? (Not only that, but a spot on observation, too.)

Hey Kent, calling Vin Scully “some guy” diminishes his whole career and all of his hard work, too. But F Vin Scully right? The nerve of him to say you hit better with protection in the lineup…