MLB broadcaster awkwardly insults Canadians and Toronto Blue Jays fans on-air
The Baltimore Orioles might be having a tough season, but that’s no excuse for what was said about Canadian baseball fans on a recent broadcast.
During Friday nightās contest between the Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore pitcher Shawn Dubin threw to first base in a routine play, preventing Myles Straw from trying to steal second.
The play made some boos rain down from Jays fans at Rogers Centre, which prompted MASN Orioles play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Brown to question the reaction.
“It’s very silly to me that people boo the pickoff moves now,” Brown said on-air. “A pickoff move helps you with the disengagement. It’s like booing if a pitcher throws a ball.”
That’s when Orioles colour commentator Brian Roberts took the conversation in a completely different direction.
“I gotta be real, real careful what I say… but sometimes, we had some major questions about the baseball IQ of some Canadians,” Roberts said. “At times it felt like maybe they enjoyed or knew more about hockey than baseball.”
The Orioles play-by-play commentator tried to steer Roberts in a different direction.
“You gotta be really careful,” Brown said. “I’d shut that down now if I were you.”
Roberts, however, continued to awkwardly laugh and make light of his insulting take.
“We’re not on the air in Canada, are we?” Roberts replied.
Brown then retorted with: “There’s this thing called the internet.”
He’s right about that, as Blue Jays fans were sounding off on the team’s Reddit page once the clip was posted.
Orioles broadcast “Sometimes we had some major questions about the baseball IQ of some Canadians”
byu/iamthegame13 inTorontobluejays
Roberts spent 13 of 14 years playing in MLB with the Orioles.
He’s not the Orioles primary colour analyst on MASN, nor is he even the primary back-up.
For a long time, that role has belonged to Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer. The winningest MLB pitcher in the 1970s has taken a major step back, opening the door for other analysts. Palmer will be 80 years old in October.
Former Orioles pitcher Ben MacDonald has been the fill-in guy for Palmer, but he was injured earlier this year after falling 25-feet from a deer stand while out hunting. MacDonald has returned to the booth for some home games, but the fact that he suffered a concussion and two cracked vertebrae perhaps has limited his appearances during away broadcasts.
That leaves the MASN team with Roberts, who certainly won’t have many fans in Canada after Friday night.