It didn’t take long for Konnor Griffin, the top prospect in Major League Baseball, to make his debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
And it didn’t take long for Griffin, 19, to make good on the potential he has flashed on his way to the big leagues, as he thumped his first base hit on an RBI double to center field in his debut on Friday in Baltimore.
Yet despite the momentousness of the moment at PNC Park, the MASN broadcast had its focus elsewhere. When Griffin launched a curveball off the center-field wall to drive in the game’s first run, the MASN camera lingered not on Griffin running the bases or the go-ahead run scoring, but on a bullpen pitcher who was waving a traffic cone around in mid-air.
Even more hilariously, the broadcast cut back to said bullpen pitcher as Pittsburgh’s Ryan O’Hearn rounded the bases and headed for home. MASN missed the throw to the plate before cutting back just as O’Hearn was called safe.
Luckily for Griffin and his family, SportsNet Pittsburgh more than made up for MASN’s bone-headed mistake.
Announcer Greg Brown delivered a fantastic call of Griffin’s RBI double that will narrate the historic clip forever.
“Konnor Griffin into second, runner waved, here’s the throw,” Brown bellowed. “One-nothing, do you believe it?”
It would have been far worse if the home broadcast missed an all-time moment from a generational prospect. But MASN’s mistake was pretty egregious.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.