Well, that's a problem.
ESPN's in-game interview with Kiké Hernandez Sunday led to the Los Angeles Dodgers' pitches broadcast against the St. Louis Rams.
Here's how it went down.
With the Cardinals out in the top of the third inning, ESPN went to Hernandez for an in-game interview with broadcasters Karl Ravitch, David Cone and Eduardo Perez. Hernandez was playing and covering third base during the interview.
Hernandez's PitchCom appears
Hernandez answered questions about his opponents and provided game commentary with Cardinals rookie shortstop Victor Scott II at the plate. Scott reached first on a single that put the double play in play and Hernandez grounded out to third. Then Hernandez appeared Speaker Beachcom In his ear. There was a problem.
“I need to up my PitchCom,” Hernandez said. “I can't hear that with you guys.”
“Guys,” in this case, were the ESPN announcers who were also in his ear.
“Can you guys hear that?”
Hernandez turned on his PitchCom. As soon as he did so, a new voice joined the broadcast. “Fastball, away,” it seems to say.
Then Hernandez asked, “Can you guys hear that?”
They can. “I think they said fastball, away,” Ravitch replied.
The next pitch from Gavin Stone was a 95 mph four-seam fastball.
This continued throughout the inning, with the mysterious voice audibly announcing “changeup,” “fastball in,” and “fastball out” on multiple occasions. Each time, the call coincided with the incoming pitch.
Meanwhile, Hernandez continued to answer questions that ran the gamut about the weather in Los Angeles and whether… Banana assembly He will return to Dodger Stadium.
None of it was particularly compelling to viewers. But the revelation of the incoming pitches certainly was. The inning continued without interruption by opposing pitches or pitches. The Cardinals put three men on base and smacked a run on Paul Goldschmidt's RBI single. The Dodgers won 5-4.
The Cardinals are unlikely to be able to capitalize on the confusion. Any delay in the broadcast from the live event will render the information useless. But still. This is an issue that should be addressed, and certainly will be addressed. It wouldn't be a problem at first without the insistence on in-game interviewing that has made its way from All-Star games to important games.
It's a step in broadcasting's evolution from cover interviews and sideshow interviews that rarely produce anything of interest or consequence for viewers at home — with the exception of Sunday's interview with Hernandez in particular.
