Even the New York Yankees’ 4-2 lead at the end of the sixth inning of Tuesday’s Game 2 of the National League Championship Series wasn’t enough to stave off criticism from WFAN radio play-by-play voice John Sterling. That came after Anthony Rizzo took too much of a lead from second on a pitch in the dirt that was blocked, leading to him getting picked off to conclude the inning (in the second baserunning mistake from the Yankees in that frame), and to Sterling saying the New York players “run the bases like drunks” (around 0:21 of the below clip):
That’s what they do- run the bases like drunks! pic.twitter.com/YTaL72aZSK
— John Sterling Calls (@JSterlingCalls) October 16, 2024
“Boy, if that wasn’t the Yankees. That’s what they do, run the bases like drunks.”
That’s pretty brutal. But Sterling certainly wasn’t alone in criticizing the Yankees’ baserunning mishaps here. Even ESPN’s Jeff Passan referenced their two TOOTBLANs (Thrown Out on the Bases Like a Nincompoop) that inning:
You don’t see a two-TOOTBLAN inning very often. The Yankees just had one. The fact that they are playing this ugly and still lead 4-2 is impressive.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 16, 2024
Sterling has certainly seen plenty of Yankees’ mishaps over the years. He was the team’s radio voice from 1989 through the start of this year, before a sudden mid-year retirement and then a return for the postseason. But it’s still notable to see him go in on the team in these strong of terms.
[JSterlingCalls on X]
