Well, howdya like that?
Broadcasters make mistakes, and in 2021, that's more of an expected outcome than it has been in years past.
Exhibit A: Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling, who hilariously misread a Giancarlo Stanton single for a home run during the Yankees-Red Sox wild card game on Tuesday night.
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Stanton drilled a pitch to left field in the first inning, which fooled everyone: The camera guy, the viewers, the TV broadcast and even the New York Yankees radio voice, who all thought the ball was well clear of the Green Monster and landed in the great baseball beyond.
Sterling, though, went the extra mile on the call:
this is the product the most valuable sports franchise in America chooses to put on the air pic.twitter.com/10jGfjSYNB
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) October 6, 2021
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The call in all of its flubbed beauty:
"The pitch to Stanton — Drilled, there it goes! Deep to left! It is high, it is far, it is gone! Out of the ballpark! A Stantonian home run!"
*Awkward pause*
"Now. What did I do wrong? What did I see wrong? He's at first base."
In Sterling's defense, calling a game off a monitor is incredibly difficult. It's not the first time he has botched a call this year: Earlier in the season, he accidentally called an Aaron Judge home run replay a home run again. It certainly won't be the last for him — or other broadcasters — if the Yankees advance in the postseason.
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In any case, Stanton was left stranded at first following the long single, which in fact did not leave the park. In the following inning, Xander Bogaerts left zero doubt for Sterling, with an absolute monster blast to deep center field to give Boston a 2-0 fan.
Unfortunately, calling a game off a TV has left Sterling in a 1-0 hole early on.
