Nick Castellanos has been swinging a hot bat all postseason, tied for the 2023 MLB playoffs lead with four home runs.
The Phillies outfielder was the catalyst of their NLDS victory over the Braves, becoming the first player in postseason history to hit two home runs in back-to-back games.
If you're on social media, you'll quickly realize every time Castellanos hits a home run, jokes will circulate on your timeline about "and there's a drive to deep left field by Castellanos."
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What's the joke behind the trend and where did it stem from? The Sporting News takes a closer look.
How 'A Drive to Deep Left Field by Castellanos' became an MLB meme
Even though the "drive to deep left field by Castellanos" trend has become a funny bit, the origin of the joke isn't so light-hearted.
Back on Aug. 19, 2020, when Castellanos was still playing for the Reds, Cincinnati was facing off against the Royals in Kansas City for a doubleheader.
Reds play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman was calling the first game and before the top of the seventh inning, he was caught using a homophobic slur on a hot mic.
Since the slur was only picked up by MLB.tv streaming service — not the cable or satellite feed — word did not get to the broadcast booth until the second game of the doubleheader had already started.
Once the clip made its rounds on social media and got back to the broadcast and Brennaman, the Reds play-by-play announcer attempted to issue an apology on air.
Brennaman tried to apologize as the game was going on, but mid-apology, Castellanos happened to smoke a home run to left field.
Trying to still do his job as he was apologizing, Brennaman paused his remarks to say, "And there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, it will be a home run. And so that will make it a 4-0 ballgame," before transitioning right back into his apology.
The switch-up from a very serious apology, to acknowledging the moon shot home run by Castellanos, back to a very serious apology had the internet cackling.
And so, an eternal social media trend was born around every home run hit by Castellanos.
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What happened to play-by-play announcer Thom Brennaman?
The Reds immediately announced that Brennaman would serve a suspension for his actions. The next day, Fox Sports also announced that Brennaman would no longer call games for the channel's NFL broadcasts.
On Sept. 25, 2020, Brennaman announced that he would resign from his role as Cincinnati's play-by-play caller.
Since then, Brennaman has worked closely with LGBTQ outreach groups around Cincinnati to show support following his mistake.
In 2021, he began calling games again for Chatterbox Sports, a subscription-based streaming service that broadcasts high school games in the Cincinnati area.
