The MLB has a lot of people talking this week, but not for reasons that they want them to be. First, there was the Fernando Tatis Jr. drama because he broke the unwritten rules of baseball by swinging on a 3-0 count and hitting a grand slam, which I blogged about here

And then last night during the Cincinnati Reds/Kansas City Royals game, Reds announcer Thom Brennaman got caught on a hot mic saying something less than exemplary, especially during a nationally televised baseball game. The broadcast had just returned from a commercial break, presumably sooner than Brennaman thought it did, and he was clearly heard saying “The fag capital of the world” to somebody else. You can listen to it yourself here

Although the ridiculousness of somebody dropping that sentence on live tv and likely ending their career in a matter of seconds is hilarious enough in its own right, there’s even more. Unsurprisingly, Brennaman then launched into an apology about what was said in an attempt to fan the flames. It included all of the chiches, like “I will learn from this”, “I need to be better”, “This isn’t who I am” etc., but I think we all know he was just to trying to salvage his career.

While he was in the middle of this apology, Castellanos hit a hilariously-timed home run. Brennaman’s broadcasting reflexes must have kicked in or something, because he stopped his apology to announce the long ball that made its way over the left field wall. You can watch his full apology here, but the awkward homerun announcement happens around the 40 second mark

There’s a lot to unpack here, but first things first I would like to say you can’t trust someone named Thom. Either go by the full name Thomas or the shortened form Tom, but Thom? Get the fuck out of here with that extra H. If that isn’t a red flag, I don’t know what is

Moving on, this isn’t the first time somebody has been caught saying something bad on a hot mic, and it certainly won’t be the last. However, I think this might be one of the worst ones I’ve heard in recent history. There’s just something about the way he says it. Like he isn’t making a joke or anything, but rather proclaiming it with so much conviction. Tough look Thommy (see how ridiculous that sounds?), and I don’t think you’re gonna be able to walk this one back with a simple “I’m sorry”

Now let’s move onto the home run, which is actually the reason I decided to write this blog. You’d be hard pressed to find a funnier and more perfectly timed home run than this one right here. Here you have this guy melting down and most likely giving the final address of his career because of what he said. He’s trying to let it all out and stay on topic, but his apology gets interrupted by a bomb hit to left field and he has no choice but to awkwardly talk about it. To make it even better, the baseball hit a sign that said “judgement free zone” out in left field, as this guy is apologizing for saying something homophobic on the air. The whole thing is just a *chefs kiss* of irony

I’m not a very religious person, but stuff like this makes me think that maybe there is a God. The last thing Brennaman wanted to happen during his apology was a home run, and right when he gets going that’s exactly what happens. Just completely derails his apology and diminishes the importance of what he is trying to do, which I think is also sort of symbolic because it displays that the show goes on without him. And the baseball hitting the “judgement free zone” sign? So good that it’s almost poetic. If God does exist, he certainly has a good sense of humor.

To wrap it up, smell ya later dude. If you’re gonna say stuff like that, you might want to make sure you aren’t literally sitting in a broadcast booth surrounded by sound recording equipment that is being sent out to millions of people. This was a pretty rookie mistake from a veteran announcer. Enjoy early retirement Thom! (Still pisses me off to type out that ridiculous name)

PS: Is anybody else a little confused why he was apparently saying Kansas City is the “fag capital of the world”? Had he been talking about places with notably high gay populations, like San Francisco or Provincetown MA, it might make a little more sense, but Kansas City? I don’t have the data on the sexualities of KC residents in front of me right now, but something tells me that Missouri isn’t exactly a hotbed for the LGBTQ community