One player’s in-game interview with ESPN quickly went wrong this week.
Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner was mic’d up for his team’s “Sunday Night Baseball” game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday. Hoerner was in the middle of a conversation with ESPN’s Karl Ravech when Dodgers star Mookie Betts lifted a fly ball into right field.
Though Hoerner immediately charged after it, the ball landed in between him and right fielder Kyle Tucker for a base hit. Take a look at the awkward clip.
Ravech was mid-sentence there in Hoerner’s ear right as the ball was hit. While the bloop single might have fallen through anyway, it certainly didn’t help that Hoerner’s mind was somewhere other than on the live play.
Fortunately for the Cubs, the Betts single did not really matter in the end. Dodgers hitters Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernandez would follow up by making back-to-back outs, and the Cubs were able to emerge out of the inning unscathed with Betts stranded on first.
But a conversation still probably needs to be had about the nature of these in-game (and in-play) interviews with ESPN. The network is clearly trying to give fans an up-close and personal experience with the players right in the middle of live action, but sometimes that can come at the cost of the focus and the reaction time of the interviewees.
Many MLB players handle their mic’d up duties really well and have even successfully made plays before while doing so. Other times though, some very awkward moments can ensue from the in-game interview (with Hoerner’s missed fly ball now falling into that category as well).
