Ben McDonald is either a bigger hockey fan than he was letting on, or he did some studying between Wednesday and Thursday.
With the bases loaded and no outs in Game 3 of the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday, San Diego Padres pitcher Yu Darvish delivered a pitch that careened off catcher Freddy Fermin’s chest plate. As he reacted to the replay, McDonald went to his sports thesaurus, referring to the catcher’s block as “a butterfly save and a beauty right there.”
Oh Ben McDonald is having some fun with this now. https://t.co/KUz1LPEtQw pic.twitter.com/HbGZSdHnCh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 2, 2025
While McDonald’s cross-sport reference would have gone unnoticed during most games, it certainly stood out on Thursday. That’s because it came one day after the MLB analyst made headlines for responding to play-by-play man Kevin Brown’s ad read for ESPN’s coverage of NHL Opening Night by making it clear that he wouldn’t be tuning in.
“There is zero chance I’ll be watching, I’m just gonna be honest with you,” said during a playful back and forth with Brown.
Appearing on FS1’s Wake Up Barstool on Thursday, McDonald — who isn’t a full-time ESPN employee — responded to the backlash to his comment, which included a public jab from ESPN’s John Buccigross. And while he insisted he didn’t mean any harm with his comment, he also doubled down on his disinterest.
“When that thing popped up on the screen, I didn’t even know ESPN had the hockey contract to be honest with you,” McDonald said. “I know that they probably paid more than a dollar or two for it, but I just didn’t even know that, to be honest.
“And then when I looked at the dates and I went, ‘well that’s kind of the same time as playoff baseball.’ And if I’ve got a choice between preseason or beginning of hockey season and October baseball, I’m probably leaning slightly toward playoff baseball to be honest with you.”
Give McDonald credit; he didn’t just stick to his guns, but he also showed a willingness to poke fun at the entire situation. One could also read his “butterfly save” reference as a peace offering of sorts, although he’s already firmly established that he still won’t be watching ESPN’s NHL Opening Night coverage later this month.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.