There have been lots of cases of announcers being critical of umpiring. What’s more unusual is criticism of players who are critical of umpiring. That’s what Steve Gelbs and Ron Darling did on their SNY broadcast of the New York Mets’ Friday night clash with the Los Angeles Angels. There, they went in on Angels’ outfielder Mickey Moniak’s dispute of a call that he attempted to bunt at a pitch that hit him in the knee (making it his second strike rather than a hit-by-pitch):
Mickey Moniak was upset that the third base umpire ruled that he offered at a pitch that hit him (he did).
Steve Gelbs and Ron Darling weighed in on the Mets’ broadcast.
“He’s offered at a ball that hit him in the knee. Just out of pure embarrassment, I wouldn’t argue that… pic.twitter.com/0zcZqPA7pD
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 3, 2024
Moniak took a ball on the next pitch, then struck out on the fourth pitch of the at-bat. That ended the game with a 5-1 min for the Mets. But it didn’t end Moniak’s arguing, or Gelbs’ and Darling’s roasting of it:
“Well, Moniak’s still moaning. Trying to complain about the bunt attempt. When he watches this later, he’s gonna feel really bad that he’s explaining it now to the umpires. They’re having fun kind of listening to his explanation…”
“No one on the bench cares.” pic.twitter.com/zGaXw7KtsW
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 3, 2024
That doth seem to be a bit of protesting too much from Moniak. And it’s amusing to hear the other team’s TV announcers making fun of it. Especially with this reversing the usual trend of broadcasters criticizing umpires, and instead criticizing the critics.
[Awful Announcing on X/Twitter]
