Sandy Alcantara breaks Marlins strikeout record Credit: Marlins
By Brandon Contes on

Sandy Alcántara became the Miami Marlins all-time strikeout leader Tuesday night, but it took a while for anyone to notice.

The record-breaking strikeout occurred in the seventh inning, when Alcántara fanned Texas Rangers catcher Kyle Higashioka to surpass Ricky Nolasco on the leaderboard. Play-by-play voice Kyle Sielaff was ready for the moment, immediately congratulating Alcántara on the feat.

“Sandy Alcántara stands alone as Miami’s all-time new strikeout leader,” Sielaff said.

But Alcántara was quite literally standing alone, with Marlins fans seemingly ignoring the accomplishment as if it was just another strikeout. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough looked around in disbelief as he urged the fans to give Alcántara an ovation.

“Appreciate it. Appreciate it out there!” longtime Marlins announcer Tommy Hutton yelled at the fans. But it wasn’t totally their fault. The Marlins videoboard similarly ignored the accomplishment, waiting until after the players urged everyone to acknowledge the strikeout before making any announcement. Hutton, however, wasn’t ready to blame the organization.

“See, the problem I have most of the fans here tonight should know that without having to look at the scoreboard,” Hutton ranted before noting he has a lot of problems with the way Alcántara’s strikeout was ignored. “It wasn’t put up on the scoreboard right away, which it should have been. And a lot of fans who came here should have known it anyway. Little things like that irritate me.”

“Guy’s pitched his you know what off for eight or nine years as a member of the Miami Marlins,” Hutton continued. “He’s their best pitcher, their strikeout leader in their history.”

It would have been great if fans were locked in and counting along with the players as Alcántara reached strikeout No. 1,002 in the seventh inning of their 6-4 win over the Rangers, but this one is on the organization and the videoboard operators. The front office should have made sure there was something cued up, knowing Alcántara was in striking distance of the record. Instead, it took Alcántara’s teammates begging the fans to stand up for the accomplishment to be celebrated in the stadium.

Regardless of who you want to blame, Hutton was right to be ticked off. It’s a knock on the fanbase and a knock on the organization that a team record isn’t automatically celebrated.

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com

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