In a season where the Oakland Athletics, their broadcasters, and certainly their Bay Area-based fans don’t have much to be excited about, getting teased by the sun seems cruel.
During the fourth inning of Oakland’s 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros, the Athletics nearly took a 2-0 lead. For a brief moment, play-by-play voice Johnny Doskow certainly thought the A’s took a 2-0 lead courtesy of A’s rookie Jordan Díaz. So he called it that way.
“It is…GONE. A home run for Jordan Díaz and it’s 2-0 Athletics. Oh. Was it caught? Excuse me. It was caught. Pardon me.”
The sun in Oakland isn’t just tough for the players. pic.twitter.com/ZeuEikMgJz
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 21, 2023
“Lifted to right field, Tucker going back and so is the centerfielder Meyers and it is…GONE. A home run for Jordan Díaz and it’s 2-0 Athletics,” Doskow said, sounding fairly definitive in his call of the home run.
“Oh,” Doskow continued. “Was it caught? Excuse me. It was caught. Pardon me.”
The audience was probably a bit confused because if you were watching on television, it appeared obvious that Meyers made an incredible catch, robbing Díaz of an extra-base hit. But assuming Doskow was watching the action live on the field and not off a monitor, it’s easy to see why he called it a home run at first. The combination of the ball being hit into the glaring sun and Díaz continuing to round the bases as if he just hit a homer made this a tough call to judge.
As far as botched home run calls go, this one wasn’t terrible. That’s partially because Doskow can blame it on the sun. But it’s mostly because on the list of things worth mocking that happened to the A’s, their broadcast booth, and their fans this year, this ranks at like o. 132.
