Wait! The game ended *that* way?!?
Crafting The Call -- bizarre endings to baseball games and how the announcers can expect the unexpected
What’s the most bizarre ending you’ve ever seen in a baseball game?
That was the concept behind this week’s episode of “Crafting the Call.”
Maybe it’s a terrible throw, or an amazing catch, a daring dash by a baserunner. Or maybe, it’s an obscure rule. The possibilities are endless for how a baseball game can end because there is no clock.
Here’s a four-minute clip from two very bizarre endings that happened in Albuquerque Isotopes games when I was on the mic.
If you liked that call, here is the full episode with the following strange endings:
Obstruction ends Game 3 of the 2013 World Series
The field monster gets Jack Cust … twice!
A 10-footer and a 400-footer, Josh’s two weird walkoffs in four days
Do you know the “detached equipment” rule?
3 pickoffs (yes, three!) in the 9th inning, then a walkoff homer
Game 5 of the 1972 World Series … the pitcher is trying to score!
Crafting the Call is a YouTube series that I developed along with Jesse Goldberg-Strassler. Each week, we examine different aspects of baseball play-by-play announcing, offering our perspective as working professionals for fans, and advice for fellow broadcasters. To help support our work, subscribe, like, comment, or send us a suggestion for a future episode.
Here’s a link to all the episodes on YouTube:
Episode 1 – How to call an inside-the-park home run
Episode 2 – Vin Scully’s perfect words to describe Koufax’s perfect game
Episode 3 – Eck vs Gibson, four legends with four different calls
Episode 4 – How calling a Triple Play can be treacherous
Episode 5 — Harry Caray without the shtick
Episode 6 — Clocking a broadcaster’s fastball
Episode 7 — Opening Day philosophies
Episode 8 — “Touch ’em All Joe,” four voices call the end of the 1993 World Series
Episode 9 — Don’t blink … someone might Steal Home
Episode 10 — Early season check-in … how’s your voice?
Episode 11 — Appreciating longtime Reds announcer Marty Brennaman
Episode 12 — One Day in Baseball, May 1 through the years
Episode 13 — How did he catch that? Plus catchphrases to capture the moment
Episode 14 — Chris Caray analyzes his grandfather Skip Caray
Episode 15 — The calls that defined the 2001 World Series
Episode 16 — Close your laptop: Barry Bonds is up
Episode 17 — Appreciating Dave Niehaus with Ken Levine
What’s the most bizarre ending of a baseball game that you remember?
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