Tune into any baseball game’s local broadcast, and you’ll be in store for plenty of wondrous, partisan commentary. Such is to be expected when the announcers are playing to an audience comprised almost entirely by their team’s local fanbase. With that type of dynamic, it’s rare that opposing sides of the same game ever agree on much when it comes to plays—or umpiring calls—of the subjective manner.
But during Tuesday night’s game between the Red Sox and Nationals, the commentators for both teams could agree on one particularly egregious call.
With two outs in the top of the fourth inning and Boston holding a 5-4 lead, designated hitter Justin Turner was called out on strikes on a pitch that looked well outside the zone.While it would be expected for the Red Sox booth to react with disgust, the Nationals’ crew joined in by demonstrating their disbelief.
Even the MASN (Nats) broadcast couldn't believe the strike 3 call on Justin Turner.
"Oh my goodness… That is awful." ⚾️👮♂️ 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/ytZZmEa7cy
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 16, 2023
Thankfully for the Red Sox, the call ended up not hindering them in the final score, as they were able to hold to for the 5–4 win.
In a world where we can agree on so little, it’s refreshing to watch professionals locked in a game where there can only be one winner find common ground on an issue. In this case, that issue was home plate umpire Bruce Dreckman was way off with this one.