Jered Weaver’s No Hitter was the talk of the town from Anaheim to Boston this week, Slide Show of Weaver\’s No Hitter but there was one place where no one said a word about it. Ironically, it was the Angels broadcast booth that was silent. No Mention of No Hitter
Angel Stadium
Angels broadcasters Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza never mentioned the words “no” and “hitter” together because of a baseball superstition that says you never talk about a No Hitter while it’s in progress for fear of jinxing it. That’s fine if you’re a player on the field – but not ok if you are the team’s play-by-play announcer or analyst – and it’s your job to call the game and tell it like it is.
The great Jon Miller, broadcaster for the San Francisco Giants, knows the importance of connecting the audience to the game – and how keeping them informed can generate even more interest via Twitter, Facebook and good old fashioned phone calls. “I feel like I have a responsibility to my audience, to the station, to the network, to say what’s going on,” Miller was quoted as saying.
Ironically, it was Weaver himself who broke another baseball tradition – the pitcher is never supposed to leave his spot on the bench between innings when he’s throwing a No Hitter – but Weaver moved spots out of necessity. “I had to pee so bad it was unbelievable,” Weaver told reporters after the game. Now that’s a good reason to move.
Baseball superstitions are a part of the game – players on a hitting streak will often not change their eating habits or even their underwear – but broadcasters in my estimation, have a responsibility to the audience to report accurately what’s happening on the field. It’s basic journalism to report the who, what, when, where and why – and omitting the fact there’s a No Hitter in progress is just as bad as neglecting to tell people the score of the game. As a broadcaster, your audience deserves better.
And if a play-by-play announcer really had the power to break up a No Hitter – he wouldn’t be in the broadcast booth. He’d be someplace with a higher calling. Pun intended.
Just tell it like it is.
