A Simple Twist of Fate?
When Barry Bonds hit his (yawn) 715th homer, passing Babe Ruth on the all-time yadda yadda yadda, the Gods may have let their disapproval be known. Giants’ play-by-play announcer Dave Flemming experienced mysterious “technical difficulties” at the exact moment the crucial spheroid deposited itself into the stands. The AP explains:
Flemming had begun the call at the beginning of Bonds’ fourth-inning at-bat before his hand-held mike quit during the broadcast on the Giants’ flagship station, KNBR.
“Three-and-two. Finley runs. The payoff pitch, a swing and a drive to deep cen …” — that’s all Northern California listeners got when Bonds passed Babe Ruth to move into second place on the career homers list.
[....] The station, which certainly had been planning for this moment for months, was left to replay the television call — and that’s what KNBR will have to rely on for years to recap the moment.
“The mike just cut out,” program director Lee Hammer said, noting he couldn’t pinpoint what went wrong.
Eeeenteresting, veddy eenteresting.
June 1st, 2006 at 4:54 am
Yeah, it’s really too bad for Dave. He’s a great guy and possibly an even better announcer. Plus, we must show him love for all the years he spent as a PawSox announcer!
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