ESPN Radio’s Jon ‘Boog’ Sciambi: Calling 18-inning World Series Game 3 was a battle of concentration

Millions of  Major League Baseball fans stayed up way past their bedtimes on Monday night (and Tuesday morning) to watch Freddie Freeman hit a solo shot over the Dodgers Stadium centerfield fence in the bottom of the 18th inning and seal the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-5 victory in a World Series Game 3 for the ages.

It was one thing to watch the game trudge on into the early morning from the comfort of your couch. It was another thing altogether to be tasked with calling the six-hour-and-39-minute classic. That’s what Jon “Boog” Sciambi did, calling Game 3 of the 2025 World Series for ESPN Radio, all the while knowing he’d have to be back at the ballpark a few hours later to call Game 4.

Awful Announcing spoke with Sciambi following the Toronto Blue Jays’ series-evening Game 4 victory to get his perspective on Game 3, what it’s like to call an 18-inning game, what he thinks of how competitive the series has been, and, of course, what to make of Shohei Ohtani’s unprecedented performance.

Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Awful Announcing: What was it like calling an 18-inning game in the World Series?

Jon Sciambi: Look, you get tired, your concentration is stressed. I think people, after the fact, constantly ask me how my voice is. And in the end, I would say it’s more about my brain and the ability to concentrate, and that you’re going to misspeak. And it’s not intentional. It’s just when you’re on the air that long, you’re going to screw something up.

I think the part that people don’t contemplate enough is that you’re looking at something and then telling your brain to say something. Being asked to do that for six hours and 40 minutes is a lot. So, yeah, my throat feels it a little bit, but it’s more just that you’re concentrating for so long that you’re mentally tired. That’s the part I would say you’re just trying to reset, and make sure that for Game 4 and Game 5, your brain is reset and you have clarity so you can call everything from it.

While you were asleep… FREDDIE FREEMAN WALKED IT OFF IN THE 18TH 🤯

Game 4 of the #WorldSeries is tonight on @ESPNRadio. https://t.co/rCqm8TWJ3v pic.twitter.com/LA8hl1wZ12

— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) October 28, 2025

AA: ESPN put the video up of your call of Freddie Freeman’s home run. Vocally, you put your all into it. Tell me if I’m wrong, I feel like your body language is saying, ‘Thank God.’

Sciambi: I would say that’s probably reading into it too much. But what I would tell you is this: I thought the call was fine. I liked the cadence of it. I was on the pitch, which I liked, but it’s 6 hours and 39 minutes in, and I said, ‘At the wall, at the track.’ That’s the type of thing that happens 6 hours and 39 minutes in.

I have certainly had games that have gone extra innings that I was like, ‘Man, I want this thing to end.’ But [this game], I was more curious. Honestly, even [Game 4], there was a part of me that was down for the chaos that was wondering, it might be fun if we played 13 or 14, just to see how everybody gets the outs.

AA: Was that the longest game you’ve ever called?

Sciambi: I called a Marlins-Cardinals game in 2004, I think. I want to say it went right around that long, but I’m not positive. So it’s certainly one of the longest. I’ll look it up.

Ed. Note: After our conversation, Sciambi confirmed that he was right about the teams, just off by one year. It was a 20-inning game on April 27, 2003, in which the Cardinals defeated the Marlins 7-6. Sciambi was the voice of the Marlins on WQAM at the time. 

AA: After Game 3 finally ends, what’s your mindset for how you get ready for Game 4 the next day?

Sciambi: My brain is just trying to get reset. I mean, I’m doing all my prep stuff. I’m reading, making sure that my card is right. But I also wanted to make sure that I got sleep. And then you get up, do my morning routine, some stretching, and that type of stuff. And you just slowly get into your day the way you normally do. But you feel it. You’re still a little foggy.

“SWING AND DRIVE, LEFT FIELD – THAT ONE TOWARDS THE BLEACHERS – AND GONE.”

Jon Sciambi, @jessmendoza, and @PerezEd on the call of Vlad Jr’s 3rd inning homerun.

Listen: https://t.co/sTjyT0siWu https://t.co/J2Kd2Ly5IR pic.twitter.com/ruIAdjSRn9

— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) October 29, 2025

AA: The series is now tied 2-2. Did you expect it to be as competitive as it’s been?

Sciambi: I’m not sure what I expected. All you can do is analyze on paper, and on paper, the Dodgers are the better team. They didn’t win more games, but I would say that it’s a compelling argument. I just look at it as the Dodgers are slightly better. But I think that predicting how teams are going to play over a seven-game stretch is a fool’s errand.

I’ve gotten to see the Blue Jays up close this year, and I know what they’re capable of. I think the biggest part that I’m surprised by is this: the Blue Jays, during the season, had a very good defense and pretty good pitching. The Dodgers had a great offense. I mean, a top-three offense. You can make a compelling case that they had one of the two best offenses in all of baseball. I’m surprised that the Blue Jays’ pitching… Now, again, you’re asking me about a four-game sample size, but I’m surprised that the Dodgers’ offense hasn’t gotten totally clicking.

AA: What are your thoughts on Shohei Ohtani, the numbers he’s putting up, and the way he was still able to go out and pitch well in Game 4 despite the loss?

Sciambi: I said this on the air last night. I feel like at a certain point, we need to check ourselves and stop saying it’s unbelievable because he continues to prove that he is a unicorn. At a certain point, as we’re going into this game and saying, ‘he was terrific last night, and he was on his feet for a long time, and he was on base nine times. How could he be expected to lead off and pitch?’ The answer is, he’s different, and he keeps showing us that he’s different, that the expectations that apply to everybody else don’t apply to him.

So at a certain point, if we’re surprised, it’s on us.

Sciambi will be back on the call Wednesday night alongside Jessica Mendoza, Eduardo Perez, and Buster Olney for ESPN Radio’s broadcast of Game 5 of the 2025 World Series at 8:00 p.m. ET.