Diamondbacks radio announcers Greg Schulte and Tom Candiotti are good at their jobs. But Arizona fans might have been annoyed this just how good they were on Monday night.
Schulte and Candiotti were on the call for Game 2 of the NLCS in Philadelphia, and as Arizona starter Zac Gallen threw his final warmup pitches, the broadcast duo was talking about Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber’s penchant for hitting leadoff homers.
“Schwarber [is] 4-for-25 this postseason, but always a threat up there at the plate, and there’s oftentimes where he can really lift this crowd with a long home run to start a ballgame,” Schulte said.
“He’s one of those leadoff hitters who you’re not really expecting him to get a little base hit and try to steal second base,” Candiotti chimed in. “They’re trying to get one run on the board real quick.”
Candiotti had hardly finished his sentence when Gallen threw a meatball that Schwarber demolished.
How Kyle Schwarber's leadoff bomb sounded on Diamondbacks radio pic.twitter.com/HRWOMUTchM
— Nick Piccone (@_piccone) October 17, 2023
“His first pitch is hit to right, 1–0 Philadelphia,” Schulte said with disdain. “What did I just say?”
In fairness to Schulte and Candiotti, Schwarber hits so many homers that you can’t really call that a jinx. That was his 49th since the start of the regular season. It was also his fourth career leadoff homer in the postseason, setting a new MLB record. You don’t have to have a crystal ball to see another dinger coming.
