Gary Cohen's comment about the Atlanta Braves' lack of home runs turned into an announcer jinx as the Braves hit three homers in one inning. Screengrab: SNY
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If you believe in the power of an announcer jinx, there’s a good chance you also believe in the delayed announcer jinx. That doesn’t mean it needs to happen right after an analyst or play-by-play voice utters the words, but if it occurs at any point during the contest, it’s fair game to mark it off as a jinx.

That’s what happened to New York Mets announcer Gary Cohen. With two down in the first inning of New York’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves, Cohen mentioned somewhat innocuously that the quartet of Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley and Matt Olson had only combined for 10 home runs on the season thus far.

It’s a little hard to believe, but the Braves, who came into Friday at 22-12, are only seventh in the National League in home runs through less than a quarter of the season. That’s after the foursome of some of the league’s most feared hitters combined to hit 165 homers a season before.

“When you look at the Braves lineup right now and look at Acuña, Albies, Riley and Olson — they have 10 home runs among them,” said Cohen. “Acuña hit 31 home runs last year. Albies hit 33. Riley hit 37. Olson hit 54. And they’ve got 10 among four of them through almost a quarter of the season.”

Ron Darling added, “Brian Snitker says that means someone’s gonna pay at some point.”

And Darling was right, as Cohen’s announcer jinx proved fortuitous. In their second at-bats, Acuña, Albies, Olson all homered to give the Braves an early 4-0 lead in the third inning.

Atlanta scored only those four runs, but it was enough to secure a 4-2 win.

Quintana’s outing was surprising because the soft-tossing lefty isn’t known for giving up many home runs. In fact, the last time he allowed more than two homers in a game was June 12, 2022 — coincidentally also against the Braves.

Even if you scoff at the announcer jinx, it’s tempting to credit Cohen for getting the home run barrage rolling. After all, these jinxes seem to thrive on literal interpretations. While the response was a bit delayed, it’s hard to ignore the coincidence. Sure, the Braves hitters were bound for some runs eventually, but for all three to homer in the same inning, including Olson snapping his homerless streak, seems like more than chance.

The announcer jinx theory might just hold some weight here.

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About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

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