By now, it’s become one of baseball’s maxims: When announcers are talking about something serious, and Nick Castellanos steps to the plate, he is going yard right in the middle of their conversation.
It doesn’t always hold true, though. The Philadelphia Phillies slugger homered Saturday in London, and surprisingly, the Fox Sports broadcasters were just talking baseball when he went deep.
But play-by-play announcer Adam Amin gave the London Series home run against the New York Mets the now infamous, “There’s a deep drive to left field” call anyway. (Maybe for the benefit of international fans who’d never heard it?)
First, Amin gave the eighth-inning blast a normal call, but immediately followed up with the clichéd, “There’s a deep drive to left field in London from Castellanos to make it 7-2.”
Castellanos now has 219 career home runs, and one can only guess how many came during a broadcaster’s serious comments on a deep issue. That phenomenon first became a thing in August of 2020 when former Cincinnati Reds announcer Thom Brennaman was apologizing for saying a homophobic slur. Castellanos interrupted that apology with a home run.
Castellanos once homered as Kansas City Royals announcers eulogized a WWII veteran, and he went yard on Memorial Day just as Philadelphia broadcasters paid tribute to fallen veterans. He once homered as Toronto Blue Jays analyst Buck Martinez read an apology from a Blue Jays coach who’d gotten a DUI.
In 2023, as broadcasters were giving a heartfelt update on former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel’s recovery from a stroke, Castellanos stepped to the plate and did it again.
[Fox Sports; Photo Credit: Fox Sports]
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.