Matt Vasgersian reveals worst on-air moment: ‘I was convinced the phone would never ring again’

With a broadcasting career spanning more than 35 years, Matt Vasgersian is bound to have some moments he’d like back.

Vasgersian recently joined Pitcher List founder Nick Pollack on The Craft podcast to preview the return of the MLB Field of Dreams Game, which he will call this Thursday night for Netflix, featuring the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins.

During the interview, Pollack asked Vasgersian to reveal his worst moment as a Major League announcer. Unfortunately for Vasgersian, his worst on-air moment occurred on one of the biggest stages. Fortunately for Vasgersian, nobody seemed to notice.

I love to ask pitchers what the worst pitch they’ve ever thrown is, so I asked Matt Vasgersian for his worst on-air moment.

It wasn’t a hot mic moment or an unfortunate pairing of words… but rather the time he discovered the strength of Cuban coffee pic.twitter.com/g6KFEtOVQb

— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) August 10, 2026

“Easy one, because I seem to remember it every fall,” Vasgersian said before recalling it coming during a playoff game with the Cleveland Guardians where Francisco Lindor hit an important home run.

“It was in Cleveland, it was a cold night, there was a production assistant for Fox, and I was doing the game with John Smoltz,” Vasgersian remembered. “Cuban girl, very helpful, very cute, and she was offering Cuban coffee to everybody on the crew.”

Being a coffee drinker himself, Vasgersian easily accepted the offer and started slamming cups of Cuban coffee before and during the game.

“Didn’t realize that it’s like jet fuel, and that you don’t drink Cuban coffee the same way you drink Dunkin’ Donuts,” Vasgersian found out. “I’m like seven, eight in and I’m drinking mugs of it.”

Vasgersian compared himself to Beavis from Beavis and Butt-Head turning into Cornholio after eating too much sugar.

“I was frying on the air…It’s rather regrettable,” Vasgersian said. “There was some unusual play on the field, something happened which begged a proper explanation, and I was in no state of mind to give it…It was horrible, and that was one of many moments I was convinced the phone would never ring again.”

Vasgersian wasn’t sure which game it was exactly that taught him about the powers of Cuban coffee. He thought it occurred during Cleveland’s 2016 run to the World Series, but TBS had the ALDS and ALCS that season. And while Vasgersian did call the World Series for the MLB International broadcast feed, he called it alongside Buck Martinez, not Smoltz.

After reviewing the context clues, the broadcast Vasgersian is referencing was likely Game 2 of the 2017 ALDS between Cleveland and the New York Yankees, which he called with Smoltz. And while Game 2 was broadcast exclusively on MLB Network, it was produced by Fox Sports.

Game 2 was also the game where then-Yankees manager Joe Girardi infamously didn’t challenge a hit-by-pitch call that allowed Cleveland to load the bases while trailing 8-3. The next batter was Lindor, who hit a grand slam, just as Vasgersian remembered.

Vasgersian’s caffeine-induced enthusiasm, however, may not have been as bad as he remembered. After listening back to calls of the phantom hit-by-pitch and the grand slam, both sounded fine. He let Smoltz do most of the talking on the hit-by-pitch, and sure, Vasgersian was excited about the grand slam, but he didn’t sound like a broadcaster who was overly hopped up on caffeine. If that’s the worst moment of a 35-year broadcast career, Vasgersian is doing just fine.