Joe Girardi and Jorge Posada weren’t the only ones having an awkward conversation Saturday night.
In the FOX broadcast booth, play-by-play man Joe Buck and analyst Tim McCarver were suffering through an interview with comedian Sarah Silverman during the fourth inning of Yankees-Red Sox.
It was obvious from the start that this was going to be painful: Even though McCarver and Silverman were sitting side-by-side they exchanged a weird half-wave greeting. The six-minute live interview had me alternately wincing, muting and switching over to the Lightning-Bruins game. But I bravely put it on the DVR, and here a few of the more cringe-worthy highlights:
1) The disgusted look on McCarver’s face when Silverman used the term “Massholes.”
2) Silverman saying, “I know a couple of (baseball) facts and I can run with it.” Then McCarver and Buck asking for some examples on the spot and Silverman not having any.
3) Silverman saying she was against steroids, but that LSD for pitchers should be “OK.” Silverman cited the example of Doc Ellis, who threw a no-hitter on the hallucinogenic for the Pirates against the Padres on June 12, 1970. At this Buck immediately shouted, “No, no!” After Silverman pushed on with the idea, Buck said, “We are moving on to the next topic.”
Silverman apparently was brought in to be the celebrity Red Sox fan, and the Yankees also would be represented. But Buck admitted the celebrity Yankees fan fell through and Silverman admitted she wasn’t much of a Red Sox fan.
When Buck and McCarver came back for the next inning, they were clearly relieved the bottom half of the fourth was a 1-2-3 frame. Buck referenced his unfortunate interview with Artie Lange on “Real Sports.”
It was a scenario Buck obviously was looking to avoid again, and he mostly stuck to baseball questions that Silverman couldn’t answer. Ya know, because she doesn’t follow baseball too closely.
The timing of the appearance also was unfortunate because in the top of the fourth, Buck and McCarver had just started talking about the breaking news about Yankees catcher Posada — that the DH was upset he was ninth in the lineup and asked out. So, Silverman entered just as McCarver had a chance to tackle a subject he could analyze from experience.
FOX played up the fact this was their first prime-time baseball broadcast of the season, and it had a chance to distinguish itself with the Posada news. Instead, when talking about the broadcast, the Silverman interview is what will be remembered.
Video via The Big Lead
