Announcer confused by his own call

The San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers played a tight game on Friday, with the Padres winning 8-7 in extra innings. And during a tense part of the game between the National League West rivals, Joe Davis, calling for the game for the Dodgers on Spectrum SportsNet LA, created some comedic relief with one of his calls.

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and the score tied 7-7, Los Angeles’ Chris Taylor turned on a 3-1 pitch from San Diego’s Wandy Peralta. The ball was hit hard but looked like it would be nothing more than a tough out for Taylor, as he hit the ball right at third baseman, Tyler Wade. Wade, though couldn’t reel it in, which led to a call from Davis that even he didn’t seem to completely understand.

“It gets under the glove of Wade — Mercury retrograde,” Davis exclaimed. Then, for a period of about five seconds, the only audible sound from the booth was the laughter of color commentator Eric Karros.

“Whatever that means,” Davis said, finishing his call. “Go ahead run is aboard here in the eighth.”

"It gets under the glove of Wade. Mercury retrograde. Whatever that means."

– Joe Davis.pic.twitter.com/iuow1ei2W6

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 13, 2024

For anyone unaware of what “Mercury retrograde” means and how it might affect us, this is how Almanac.com describes it:

“Three to four times a year, the planet Mercury appears to travel backward across the sky. We refer to these periods as times when Mercury is in apparent retrograde motion or simply ”Mercury retrograde.” To those who practice astrology, these times were traditionally associated with confusion, delay, and frustration. Think undelivered love letters, email blunders, and frazzled travel plans! This is an excellent time to reflect on the past, however, and it’s said that intuition is high during these periods. Coincidences can be extraordinary.”

Additionally, Almanac.com says that we are currently in a period (April 1-April-24) where Mercury appears to be in retrograde. This won’t happen again until August 4-August 27.

Unfortunately, once this series ends, the Dodgers and Padres will not play again during one of 2024’s Mercury retrograde periods. But by August, the division races will be more defined and the games will feel even more significant. So, we can’t wait to hear what Davis has in store for us then.

[Almanac.com, Photo Credit: Spectrum SportsNet LA]