Gary Cohen made one of the more unintentionally hilarious calls of his sportscasting career Monday evening when he mixed up Cleveland Guardians pitcher Ben Lively with famous actress Blake Lively.
“Last year, Blake Lively made his first appearance of the year for the Reds in long relief and threw three scoreless innings. And now here he is, facing the Mets as a member of the Guardians, and he’s thrown three strong innings,” Cohen said during the top of the fourth inning of Monday’s contest.
Gary Cohen: “Last year, Blake Lively made his first appearance for the Reds against the Mets in long relief and threw three scoreless innings.”
🤔 pic.twitter.com/8olCpA9DWw
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 22, 2024
It was reminiscent of Bob Costas referring to another Guardians pitcher, Shane Bieber, as pop star Justin Bieber. While Costas was stunned by the blunder in real-time, it didn’t seem to dawn on Cohen that he mixed up a “Ben” with a “Blake.” Perhaps he was caught up in preparing for the commencement speech he delivered at Seton Hall on Tuesday.
But the usually sound Cohen, who never takes himself or the SNY booth too seriously, likely would’ve had a good chuckle over the mixup.
It’s definitely not the first time it’s happened. But it’s probably the first time that Blake Lively has caught wind of the fact that she’s apparently moonlighting as a professional pitcher when she’s not working her day job.
And she shared quite a response on social media.
A broadcaster mistook Guardians pitcher Ben Lively for Blake Lively, and Blake Lively actually responded 😂
“Well. Cat’s outta the bag. I’m a highly professional baseball player on the side.” pic.twitter.com/OLk5TTdM8y
— MLB (@MLB) May 21, 2024
It wouldn’t be the only familial connection to professional sports as Lively’s husband, Ryan Reynolds, is the co-owner of Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C. with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Rob McElhenney.
Lively held the Mets to just one run on six hits in 5 2/3 innings pitched, striking out seven in Monday’s 3-1 win. His lone mistake was a home run given up to Mets catcher Tomás Nido.
It’s not a bad outing for an actress, either.
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About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.