Did Guardians commentator Rick Manning actually say ‘Are you shitting me’ on a Gavin Sheets error?

The Cleveland Guardians got into the lead in a rather inauspicious way. A Gavin Sheets error in the top of the first scored Steven Kwan and put Cleveland up 1-0.

It wouldn’t be a surprise for the Guardians commentary team to be somewhat bewildered by what they saw. Matt Underwood and Rick Manning were certainly surprised and it very much sounded like Manning let out an “Are you shitting me?” live on the air.

That would be a completely appropriate response anywhere other than on TV but did Manning actually say curse or was it a sound mashup between he and his broadcast partner that resulted in something we really wanted to hear?

https://twitter.com/CleGuardians/status/1523823253843759104?s=20

After the first time listening, it certainly sounds like “Are you shitting me?” and I won’t blame anybody if they hear that but if you are able to really dissect the audio, it sounds like it could be something else. It might take playing and replaying the clip many times but listening to it deeper, it sounds like Manning is saying, “Are you kidding me?” while Underwood says, “Sheets just simply botched it.” So when Manning says “kidding” and Underwood says “Sheets” at the same time, it sounds like “shitting.”

That is a massive coincidence but that would explain why the Guardians kept that piece of audio in their Twitter post.

Sheets atoned for his error by hitting a three-run homer in the bottom of the first so maybe he was shitting everyone.

[@CleGuardians]