There have been many live TV flubs by broadcasters but this error might take the cake.
Monday, was a celebration of Memorial Day. Major League Baseball players wore camouflaged-theme uniforms to honor those who are serving or served in the United States armed forces.
In the bottom of the first inning Monday night, the Mets' Daniel Murphy was jammed by Yankees starter Phil Hughes. The pitch produced a groundout and shattered Murphy's bat, sending the barrel flying. After the camera focused on the bat shard, Keith Hernandez, one of SNY's Mets analysts, said, "Well, that is a dead soldier right there, folks."
According to Yahoo Sports, the term for broken bat used to be "a dead soldier" in past baseball jargon. Hernandez is not the only one to have used this term before.
Hawk Harrelson of White Sox broadcasting fame has used the phrase "another dead soldier," after a player would break his bat. However, Harrelson stopped using the phrase around the time of the first Iraq war in 1990, according to Yahoo Sports.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time Hernandez has found himself in trouble because of his on-air comments.
Fox News reported that during a Mets game in San Diego in 2006, Hernandez, while referring to a female member of the Padres training staff who was in the San Diego dugout, said "I won't say that women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout. ... You know I am only teasing. I love you gals out there - always have.''
The New York Times attempted get a comment from the analyst. Hernandez did not respond to a request for comment after the game, but a spokesman for SNY said: "We'll address the matter with Keith. It was an honest mistake and a poor choice of words."
