Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Lance Lynn is a big guy. Actually, according to renowned broadcaster Bob Costas, Lynn is bigger than big.
Costas has built a hall-of-fame sportscasting career, in part for his ability to adequately describe a game with appropriate adjectives and action verbs. And that ability was on display Wednesday night to the tune of “burly.”
With the Dodgers facing elimination against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the 36-year-old Lynn, who is listed at 270 pounds, was on the mound as their last hope in salvaging their third consecutive 100-win season.
“To say that Lance Lynn is a big guy understates it.” pic.twitter.com/BabNsfw1Wl
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 12, 2023
“To say that Lance Lynn is a big guy understates it,” Costas surmised during the third inning of Wednesday night’s NLDS Game 3 on TBS. “I think burly is an appropriate adjective.”
And on cue, Lynn gave up a homer to Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo. It would be the first of four solo homers hit off Lynn in that inning, and in that game. He would go on to garner the loss, with Arizona winning 4-2 and ending the Dodgers’ season in disappointing fashion for the third-straight year.
The performance was on brand for Lynn, who we know two things about. He’s burly and he gives up dingers. 44 of them during the regular season.
This wasn’t the first time a broadcaster made note of Lynn’s physique. Earlier this season, Chicago White Sox analyst Steve Stone apologized to Lynn after suggesting the pitcher try eating a salad during a radio interview. The obvious implication from Stone was that Lynn, then a pitcher for the White Sox, would benefit from shedding a few pounds.
Costas’s blunt choice of adjective to describe Lynn, who is a big guy, doesn’t warrant a public apology. Although Stone’s relatively innocuous dig from earlier this season probably didn’t either.
[TBS]