A bizarre play Monday night left the New York Mets SNY broadcast booth surprised and then baffled as to how it could happen.
In the first inning, after Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper took a called strike, Mets catcher Tomás Nido threw the ball back to pitcher Sean Manaea.
Problem: The ball smacked Harper squarely in the batting helmet and bounced away. The thud came through loud and clear on the SNY broadcast, followed by a couple of surprised “Oh!” exclamations from the broadcast crew.
Mets catcher Tomás Nido hits Phillies star Bryce Harper in the helmet while trying to throw the ball back to pitcher Sean Manaea.
As seen and heard on the SNY Mets broadcast: pic.twitter.com/r3zTOfBDs0
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 13, 2024
“Nido just Harper in the helmet with his throw back to the pitcher,” color analyst Ron Darling said.
“Are you kidding?” play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen responded. “Oh my goodness — how did that happen?”
“He just threw it about three-quarters. Nido’s laughing — Harper’s not laughing,” Darling said. “I’ve never seen this. It got the helmet, thank goodness.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before,” Cohen added.
“I’ve never,” Darling said. “Stick around, Gary, you know?”
Cohen then mentioned a similar type of play involving San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal and Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Johnny Roseboro in 1965 (actually, Roseboro’s throw merely came close to Marichal, who was livid and attacked the catcher with his bat, sparking a brawl). When you have to go back almost 60 years for a reference point, this truly was a rare incident.
[SNY; Photo Credit: SNY]
About Arthur Weinstein
Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.