Hot mic catches MLB umpire dropping f-bomb during Phillies-Rangers broadcast

Major League Baseball umpires try their best not to be the focal point of a game or broadcast, but they’re not always successful.

Texas Rangers’ Corey Seager slugged one of the strangest home runs against the Philadelphia Phillies Tuesday night. First for obliterating a fan’s nachos, and then for leading to an umpire having a hot mic moment on the broadcast.

Seager’s bases empty homer was initially ruled a double by the umpiring crew at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The plate of nachos, however, that were struck by the ball and fell to the field told a different story.  With the cup of cheese now in the outfield, crew chief Alan Porter, a Philly native, decided to review the call and it was ultimately overturned.

But after Porter returned to announce Seager’s double was actually a home run, he apparently forgot to turn his mic off. Just as Seager was crossing the plate, Porter’s voice unexpectedly chimed in on the NBC Sports Philadelphia broadcast to explain why they decided to make the play a crew chief review.

lmao pic.twitter.com/ToHuINr06U

— Absolutely Hammered (@ah_pod) May 22, 2024

“See that was one where we all, we thought it was gone,” Porter said, claiming the umpires agreed it was probably a home run even before the crew chief review. “But we’re just like, it’s a crew chief review and we’re gonna go. Cause we’re not gonna flip it and then f***ing look stupid if it didn’t leave.”

Judging by the confusion in the voice of Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy as he said, ‘Yeah, Alan?” it seemed obvious that he was surprised to hear Porter on the broadcast. And judging by the f-bomb that was dropped, it seems obvious Porter would be surprised to learn he was on the broadcast.

MLB umpires aren’t too popular amongst baseball fans. Maybe humanizing umpires by letting them join broadcasts in real time to candidly explain their reasoning behind a decision can help bridge the gap.

[NBC Sports Philadelphia]