Paul O’Neill brutally butchered Elly De La Cruz’s name during broadcast

March 15, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA New York Yankees former player Paul O’Neill prior to the game against the Miami Marlins at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Paul O’Neill struck out 1,166 times in his MLB career, and he added another one from the broadcast booth this week.

The retired former All-Star O’Neill, who is now a television broadcaster for the New York Yankees on YES Network, was on the call for Sunday’s game between the Yankees and the San Francisco Giants. O’Neill was discussing Giants rookie shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, who was up to bat at the time, and decided to name-drop some of Fitzgerald’s counterparts at the position.

Well, at least there was an attempt to do so. O’Neill tried his hardest to mention Reds shortstop Elly De Le Cruz but atrociously butchered De La Cruz’s name.

“I was looking up the names around him,” said O’Neill. “And he’s right behind Elle De La Cr–, Ella De … Luh Luh Cruz. Huh, that’s a tough one.”

Take a listen below to the painful moment.

Somewhere, Paul O'Neill is still trying to pronounce 'Elly De La Cruz.' pic.twitter.com/L3ougtsUu3

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 2, 2024

Poor O’Neill was fighting for his life there. You were almost expecting him to throw Ella Enchanted, Ellen DeGeneres, and El DeBarge in there at some point too.

De La Cruz’s name isn’t even so difficult to pronounce. It was especially bad too since O’Neill used to be a Reds player himself (from 1985-92). Throw in De La Cruz’s absurd highlight reel at just 22 years old, and there is nobody who should be getting his name wrong these days.