I’m not much of a Kansas City Royals fan or a Minnesota Twins fan, so I’m not quite sure who the announcers were for this game. Therefore, I’m just going to refer to the announcer as “Announcer.” Regardless, Announcer and the MLB umpires who were in charge of yesterday’s game between the Royals and the Twins had a rough time with instant replay.
In the top of the 3rd inning, the Twins’ Chris Parmelee skied a fly ball to left field. With the ball rapidly sinking, Alex Gordon pulled off a tremendous diving catch to rob Parmelee of a hit.
The Twins challenged the call, arguing that Gordon didn’t actually catch the ball. And, based off instant replay, it appeared the Twins were going to win the challenge.
Seems pretty clear to me.
Now, a quick spoiler: the umpires didn’t overturn the call and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire flipped out (rightly so). But, the worst part about this instant replay failure was listening to Announcer talk on the live broadcast.
You know what? He closed his fingers, he turned his glove over, the ball was in the webbing. If they overturn that, wow, they’re seeing something I didn’t. That is a…”
Luckily, Announcer’s partner interrupts:
You don’t think the ball touched the ground at all?”
Announcer responds:
I don’t know, but you can’t prove it because it was deep in his glove and his pocket. I don’t see conclusive evidence of it. But, you know, it was a spectacular catch … in my opinion. Look now, it’s in the webbing of his glove, in the end of it.”
Again, Announcer’s partner brings some logic to the table, as this picture flashes up on the screen:
But the ball still can’t touch the ground, Hud….”
Hud! We have a name. After doing my research, I discovered that Announcer’s name is in fact Rex Hudler. Anyways, Hudler, after using his “pocket” argument one more time, would finish with a lame, “We’ll see what they do.”
The umpires didn’t overturn the call. Gardenhire came out yelling, screaming, and pointing. Hudler, on the other hand, was happy with the decision. After his partner said in shock that “the umpires are going to say he made the catch,” Hudler was quick to respond:
Thank you. I agree.”
Update: After doing some more research, I discovered that Hudler also tried to argue that the moon was a planet.
Hudler:
That’s a beautiful planet.”
Hudler’s partner:
Well, it’s a moon.”
Hudler:
Looks like a planet to me.”
You can’t make this stuff up.
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