Viewers of FS1’s Saturday broadcast of the game between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers got a bit more silence than they might have been expecting.
Alex Faust and Eric Karros were on the call for the game. That is, until right before the first pitch when things got glitchy and they suddenly disappeared from the broadcast, leaving audiences to enjoy some Def Leppard blaring from the stadium speakers.
Right before the first pitch of Saturday’s Dodgers-Mets game on FS1, broadcaster audio disappeared. ⚾️📺🎙️pic.twitter.com/zo9rovY2t8
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2024
Audiences got to watch the game without announcing for about 10 minutes until Faust and Karros returned during the top of the first, but their return was brief and they disappeared once more.
The FS1 broadcasters (Alex Faust and Eric Karros) returned 10 minutes later… before their audio went out again. ⚾️📺🎙️pic.twitter.com/C3SbXa1yco
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2024
A few minutes later, studio host Kevin Burkhardt told audiences that the “mic’s out at Dodgers Stadium.” He and Dontrelle Willis then provided commentary from the studio “til we get that all fixed up.”
The FS1 studio crew of Kevin Burkhardt and Dontrelle Willis step in to call the game after 13 minutes of announcer-less audio on Mets-Dodgers broadcast. ⚾️📺🎙️pic.twitter.com/l99sF5wBRC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2024
Finally, a little over an hour after the game began in the third inning, Faust and Karros returned to the call.
“Well, we’re back in Dodgers Stadium, or should I say welcome to Dodgers Stadium, because we never really said hello in the first place here,” said Faust. “We’re here!”
Finally, over an hour later in the bottom of the third inning, the FS1 crew of Alex Faust and Eric Karros get their audio back on the Mets-Dodgers broadcast. ⚾️📺🎙️pic.twitter.com/QR0vmINjte
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2024
Alas, the audio dropped once more in the top of the 6th, leaving Starling Marte to hit a go-ahead home run that had to speak for itself.
The FS1 broadcasters’ audio disappeared again, right in time for Starling Marte to hit a go-ahead three-run homer for the Mets. ⚾️📺🎙️ 💣pic.twitter.com/pIAr9iMpcU
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2024
They did return soon after, with Faust lamenting the fact that no one got to hear his great home run call.
“This has not been a soundly played baseball game on the field, nor in the booth.” – Eric Karros
“EK, I had a great call on that home run. You’ll have to trust me. You couldn’t hear it at home, but it was great!” – @alex_faust pic.twitter.com/WevY2h0G11
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 20, 2024
The incident was reminiscent of a similar issue that FS1 had during their April 1 broadcast of the Texas Rangers-Tampa Bay Rays game. During that game, the broadcast experienced a series of glitches, including the announcers’ audio disappearing for stretches, no replays, no scorebug, commercial breaks interrupting the action, and only having one camera angle. Coincidentally, Faust was on the call that evening as well.
[FS1, AA on X]
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.