Boston Red Sox star Triston Casas held his composure on Mother's Day when asked by ESPN about losing his mum when he was a child while he was on the field during Sunday Night Baseball.
The first baseman was mic'd up for the game, chatting with the team in the commentary box while his team suffered a 9-1 drubbing at the hands of the St Louis Cardinals. At the top of the third inning, announcer Karl Ravech turned the conversation to the death of his mother, Christine, who died in 2009 when Casas, now 23, was nine years old.
“I know your mom passed away when you were young,” he said. "What does Mother’s Day mean to you and your brother (Gavin, a 22-year-old first baseman at the University of South Carolina)?”
Casas, a silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, was shown on split-screen as the in-game chat took place and he noticeably took a moment to process the unexpected question as stood poised over first base before delivering a classy response.
“Yeah, what happened was obviously unfortunate for me,” Casas, 23, said. “But I have had so many mother figures in my life.
"Whether they have my last name or whether they don’t, I have so much support from everyone in and around my circle that I don’t even feel like I missed out on anything.
“I know she’s watching me every day, I know she’s smiling, proud of me, but for the most part, I think I’ve been alight.”
Casas has had a challenging start to the MLB season, averaging .185 at the plate with five home runs in 36 games with the Red Sox bottom of the American League East despite sitting above .500 at 22-20.
The team are on a four-game losing streak, with Sunday's heavy defeat to the Cardinals followed by a 10-1 thrashing by the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park on Monday, with Casas coming up empty in four at-bats.
While some fans did question Ravech's approach in his interview with Casas, the announcer did receive plenty of praise later in the evening after being put in an awkward spot. At the bottom of the ninth with the game drifting to a conclusion, the Stanley Cup playoff clash between the Edmonton Oilers and the Vegas Golden Knights was getting underway and ESPN chose to broadcast both games in split-screen with Ravech tasked with commentating on two sports at once.
It was made all the more challenging by two goals in the first minute of the game, but Ravech masterfully dipped between the baseball and hockey action to keep viewers informed.
