Keith Hernandez had himself a day on Sunday — and really, a whole weekend in St. Louis.
When he wasn’t borrowing Gary Cohen’s binoculars, the SNY analyst wondered aloud whether he could still say “drag bunt” on air. Was he trying to describe a “corner bunt”? Maybe. Was it also possibly a veiled reference to… something else? Also maybe.
This is hardly uncharted territory for the outspoken Hernandez. Earlier this season, he was probably less than thrilled when SNY aired a John Oliver segment. And that’s hardly the only moment that’s raised eyebrows, or made Awful Announcing headlines.
He once mentioned election fraud as the Mets clinched an NLCS berth, awkwardly name-dropped the “Democratic Party” during a game, and has offered up more than a few gender neutral quips over the years.
Hernandez said “they” couldn’t get him if he proceeded with gender neutrality. And as AA’s Brandon Contes wrote prior to this weekend’s events, it would have happened by now if “they” wanted to get Hernandez. But maybe “they” is Big Brother and not the woke mob.
During the nightcap of Sunday’s doubleheader, as the Mets’ broadcast booth vented about the strike zone following a Francisco Alvarez walk, Hernandez casually referenced “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” suggesting that Big Brother might now be monitoring called strikes.
“Goodness gracious, they’re not calling low strikes,” Hernandez bemoaned.
“Well, we talked about it on Friday about the change in the way umpires are being evaluated, that they have shrunk the ‘shadow zone,’ where they get leeway,” said Cohen. “It used to be two inches off the edges of the plate, now it’s only three-quarters of an inch. And it’s led to a lot of calls just like that, that might’ve looked look like strikes that now get called balls.”
“Maybe MLB should read ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four,'” quipped Hernandez. “It’s like Big Brother on these poor umpires.”
Yes, you read that right. The national treasure that is Hernandez literally said MLB is Orwellian to umps.
Not everyone caught the reference, so here’s the Cliff Notes version.
“Nineteen Eighty-Four” is George Orwell’s dystopian novel about a future where the government, led by the all-seeing “Big Brother,” controls every aspect of life, monitors its citizens constantly, punishes dissent, and rewrites history to fit its narrative.
It’s become shorthand for surveillance, censorship, and the erosion of personal freedoms.
So yes, there’s some irony in Keith Hernandez, who openly mused earlier in the day about whether he’s “allowed” to say “drag bunt” anymore, referencing 1984 to defend… MLB umpires.
Hernandez, who often toes the line of what’s acceptable on-air, is now worried that the league’s umpire evaluation system is too controlling; that a system designed to promote strike zone consistency is veering into Orwellian territory.
And we’re almost certain Gary Cohen reeled him in, as he tends to do when Keith starts drifting into Fox News territory.