Mike Schmidt is a Hall of Fame third baseman. And he’s also a color analyst for the Philadelphia Phillies. But one thing he’s not is a comedian.
During Sunday’s game against the Braves, Schmidt made a very bad Me Too joke. It was in reference to pitcher Brandon McCarthy dislocating his shoulder early last month and popping it back into place. The Phillies broadcast team of Tom McCarthy, Schmidt and field reporter Gregg Murphy discussed it and also referred to the tweet from Brandon’s wife, Amanda, who joked that he couldn’t do the dishes.
Whoa so much happened. Dislocated your shoulder, made the out, popped it back in, then just walked around normal? But you still can’t do the dishes… seems fishy.
— Amanda McCarthy (@Mrs_McCarthy32) April 11, 2018
Well, that led to Schmidt making some really ill-advised jokes about dishwashing and the Me Too movement. We have the clip so you can listen. And you can tell how uncomfortable Tom McCarthy was getting during the sequence:
“I’ve got a dishwasher at home myself: my wife. Quite actually … that was bad, huh? Actually, I do the dishes most of the time. You’re staring at me. Me Too movement. Where does that fit in?”
McCarthy tried to get out of the situation by saying “attaboy,” but by that time, it was way too late.
Schmidt did later apologize for the joke:
Schmidt tried to tap into the Me Too movement by bringing up his daughter’s participation in it. Plus, there was the standard “apologies to those who may have been offended” line.
If there’s a lesson to be learned, don’t joke about Me Too and leave the jokes to the comedians.
