Star Wars Nights are becoming relatively common promotions across Major League Baseball, but you don’t always see the broadcast booth heavily involved. Fox Sports West Los Angeles Angels broadcasters Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza got into the spirit Friday night, though, with their broadcast opening.
The force is strong in the booth tonight #StarWarsNight @Angels pic.twitter.com/VU4nA7EOQN
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) May 19, 2018
Update: those are actually two members of the 501st Legion, Southern California Garrison, in the booth in their stormtrooper costumes, even though it’s Rojas and Gubicza talking as if they’re in the suits. No word on if either is a little short for a stormtrooper.
That may be one of the most solid performances ever delivered by stormtroopers, especially when it comes to accuracy. (Although there are some arguments that they’re not as bad as you might think.)
In any case, the Force may have been with Rojas and Gubicza, but it wasn’t strong with the Angels Friday, as they lost 8-3 to the Rays. It was Tampa Bay starter Blake Snell who had the accuracy on this night, allowing just four hits across six and two-thirds innings while striking out eight. Meanwhile, Angels’ starter Nick Tropeano only lasted two and two-thirds, giving up six hits that included two home runs (to Daniel Robertson and Wilson Ramos).
That marked the Rays’ fifth-straight win and improved their record to 21-22, while the Angels suffered their fourth consecutive loss and fell to 25-20. The teams will play again Saturday night, and we’ll see if the Force is with the Angels in that one. At any rate, their broadcasters certainly got into the spirit this time around, even if the team’s results weren’t there.
[Fox Sports West on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.