When Wednesday night’s game between the Yankees and Pirates went into the fifth inning as a scoreless tie, Pirates manager Derek Shelton probably didn’t expect to use position players on the mound. But the Yankees are just that good, which was especially bad news for Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown.
Starting in that fifth inning, the Yankees absolutely broke the game open. They hit six home runs (two of which were grand slams) and had 22 hits in all. With Pittsburgh down 10 runs in the ninth inning, Shelton decided to have infielder Josh VanMeter give it a try on the mound to preserve the bullpen.
And that was when Brown absolutely had enough of watching VanMeter throw glorified batting practice to the Yankees.
Here is some more from after this HR pic.twitter.com/uzBMhEssd8
— Julian Guilarte (@JulianGuilarte1) July 7, 2022
After giving up a grand slam to Aaron Hicks, VanMeter gave up a home run to Stanton. And Brown was so upset with what he was watching. The longtime broadcaster said:
“This is ridiculous. … It’s a joke. This is Major League Baseball? It’s a joke. … They gotta quit doing this. I’m not talking about the Pirates, other teams. I think the Cubs or the Tigers used three position players in one game.”
I love how he said he wasn’t talking about the Pirates as he was clearly talking about the Pirates. But to Brown’s point, unless MLB institutes a mercy rule, you’re not going to see teams move away from position players in blowouts. And yes, it is embarrassing to watch position players throw 50 mph rainbows when they’re capable of at least putting forth a decent effort on the mound.
At the very least, MLB fans did enjoy the genuine saltiness from the Pirates broadcast.
