In-game interviews always come with the peril of something notable happening during the interview. Often that’s about a play happening on the field, which can be particularly interesting if the interview is with a mic’d up player in the game. But even interviewing executives can come with perils, as Ahmed Fareed found out during his interview of Pittsburgh Pirates’ GM Ben Cherington during this week’s MLB Sunday Leadoff broadcast of the San Francisco Giants’ game against the Pirates:
well apparently a foul ball made it into the broadcast booth pic.twitter.com/NTC8wklxmq
— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) July 16, 2023
The culprit who hit me in the head (on a bounce, but still unnecessary)
Deciding whether to press charges #MLBSundayLeadoff https://t.co/JR80lmJ6cc pic.twitter.com/BkRFZFYQU4— Ahmed Fareed (@ahmedNBC) July 16, 2023
A foul ball to the head sounds quite painful, even if on a bounce. At least Fareed doesn’t appear to have been seriously hurt. There have been many cases of media members hurt by foul balls or errant throws, to say nothing of cameras, and it’s fortunate that this wasn’t one of them.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock-exclusive MLB Sunday Leadoff package is now in its second season, and Fareed has been part of it since the start as a studio host and in-game reporter. His past work includes a 2011-12 stint with MLB Network, a 2013-2018 stint as a host and reporter with NBC Sports Bay Area (focused on the Giants), and a 2019-present national stint with NBC Sports following a move to their Stamford, Connecticut headquarters. He’s worked on four Olympics for the network, and has brought some valuable continuity to MLB Sunday Leadoff, which uses team-supplied analysts each week and shifted play-by-play voices from Jason Benetti to Brendan Burke ahead of this season. It’s good to hear that this hit to the head wasn’t particularly bad for him, even if it was “unnecessary.”
[Ahmed Fareed and Justice de los Santos on Twitter]
