When it comes to sports predictions, there’s perhaps none more iconic than the legend of Babe Ruth’s called shot during the 1932 World Series. Perhaps it’s because of the folk hero-like status that Ruth has occupied for nearly a century or the fact that hitting a home run is so hard to do, but predicting a homer stands as the coolest bit sports forecasting there is.
That’s what makes this sequence from Monday’s game between the Red Sox and Astros so entertaining. With two outs in the top of the first inning of a scoreless game, Boston’s Adam Duvall stepped to the plate. NESN analyst and former Red Sox player Kevin Millar—a fan favorite from his playing days due to his colorful personality and contributions during the 2004 World Series run—took a shot and predicted that Duvall would homer in the at-bat.
He didn’t have to wait long to be proven correct, as Duvall homered less than a second after Millar finished his sentence.
This is Malarkey.
— MLB (@MLB) August 22, 2023
Kevin Millar called Adam Duvall's three run shot. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/8ytJtQ9KGH
You could say that Millar was merely doing his duty in predicting positive results for his former team on its local broadcast, but the fact that the result he prophesied happened immediately makes him look all the more like a genius.
The Red Sox entered Monday’s game fresh off of sweeping the Yankees in the Bronx and have won eight of their last 11 games. Is a 2004-type run in the works? Maybe not, but Millar calling his shot surely has Boston fans getting ideas of a memorable October to come.
