1. I often highlight great calls in Traina Thoughts. But a great call doesn’t necessarily have to come during a positive moment. Pain and disappointment can also lead to memorable calls.
That brings us to Twins play-by-play man Dick Bremer.
Minnesota dropped its third straight game to Cleveland on Thursday. The loss was also the second in a row to come via a Guardians walk-off home run.
On Wednesday, Cleveland’s Josh Naylor hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to give his team a 7–6 win.
Bremer’s call wasn’t overly salty, but he wasn’t in the mood for nonsense. “Fly ball, deep left field, [Nick] Gordon looks up, gone.” Bremer was then silent for 20 seconds before saying “another bullpen meltdown for the Twins.”
But the next day, after Andrés Giménez hit a two-run blast in the bottom of the ninth to snap a 2–2 tie and end the game, it was all too much for Bremer.
“High fly right center field and deep. I think we’ve had enough of the Cleveland Guardians.”
The call alone was funny, but you need to hear the tone of Bremer’s voice and the dramatic pauses to get the full effect of the pain he felt.
Local announcers are special because they are often also fans. And Bremer perfectly encapsulated what Twins fans felt as Giménez’s ball went flying out of the stadium.
I should also acknowledge the Twins’ radio call recapping Minnesota’s rough loss Thursday:
2. One more note on that Guardians win. Check out what Andrés Giménez did after hitting his game-winning dinger.
3. Hot take shows usually involve screaming and yelling and jibberish. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst went with the complete opposite approach on Friday’s First Take, and it was riveting.
4. First week of Tyreek Hill’s podcast, he compared Patrick Mahomes to Tua Tagovailoa. Second week of Hill’s podcast, he said he got death threats for comparing Mahomes to Tua. Third week of Hill’s podcast, he compares him and Tua to Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman. I need Tyreek Hill to help me promote the SI Media Podcast.
5. Avalanche defenseman Bo Byram was almost kept away from the team’s parade Thursday because police thought he was a fan.
6. The latest episode of my SI Media Podcast features a conversation with Fox Sports’ Erin Andrews.
The sideline reporter for Fox’s No. 1 NFL crew talks about the wild changes that took place this offseason with her longtime partners Joe Buck and Troy Aikman leaving Fox for ESPN, Kevin Burkhardt and Greg Olsen getting elevated to the No. 1 spot and the announcement that Tom Brady will join Fox once he retires from play.
Did ESPN ever approach Andrews about joining Buck and Aikman? How did Andrews find out Aikman was leaving for ESPN? Did she nudge Fox to go after Tom Brady after he retired?
Andrews also talks about why Derek Jeter is special to her, how Larry David used an incident at her wedding as a story line on Curb Your Enthusiasm and the controversy surrounding her postgame hug with Aaron Rodgers after the Packers' Christmas Day win against the Browns.
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Following the conversation with Andrews, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY in New York, joins Jimmy for the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, the guys break talk about Clayton Kershaw’s comments about Freddie Freeman’s loyalty to the Braves, why Jimmy hates the 4th of July, whether sports media figures should stick to sports and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch the SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
