He was trying to pay tribute to his late uncle, but the batter had other ideas.
You can’t make this up
Nick Castellanos’s ability to hit home runs at inopportune times is so great that merely invoking his name is enough to summon a deep ball.
During Saturday night’s Frontier League game between the Washington Wild Things and Tri-City ValleyCats, Washington announcer Kyle Dawson took a moment to pay tribute to his uncle Charlie, who died unexpectedly earlier in the week. Dawson spoke about having to get his work done at odd hours so that he could be with his family and how putting on the headset at the ballpark had been a welcome distraction for him during a difficult time.
“This is going to take longer than I intended it to,” Dawson said as Tri-City designated hitter Grant Heyman stepped to the plate. “But that’s O.K. Just going to give you the visuals and hope I don’t get Nick Castellanos’d and somebody hits a home run to tie the game right now.”
Dawson finished his sentence just as Wild Things pitcher Ben Vicini delivered his first pitch of the inning. And sure enough, Heyman went yard.
“There’s Uncle Charlie, getting me back, there,” Dawson said.
You can’t make that up. The only way it could have been more incredible is if Vicini had thrown a curveball (aka “Uncle Charlie”).
It is truly unbelievable that Castellanos has been involved in so many awkward announcer moments over the past year. There was the Thom Brennaman apology last season, followed by a Castellanos homer interrupting a eulogy in his first game back in Kansas City and now this play. What are the odds?
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