Athletics outfielder Lawrence Butler knew he had a homer as soon as the ball left the bat. A’s play-by-play announcer Chris Caray was less sure, to a startling degree.
Butler’s home run in the ninth inning of a 5-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday turned into one of the most awkward moments on any MLB broadcast this season when Caray flatly called the knock a foul ball, then corrected himself seconds later.
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It got worse when A’s color commentator Dallas Braden started gushing about how much Butler crushed the ball. It wasn’t even like Caray lost the ball down the line, as it was perhaps 100 feet from the right-field foul pole.
The call:
Caray: “High in the air, deep to right. That ball is… foul. [Silence] Or gone.”
Braden: “That ball was absolutely launched. Law Dog posing ’em up at the dish. He knew it off the bat, it was just a matter of how far. He knew he got it and the reaction from Cam Smith, I think, tells the story of just how far this ball went.”
Caray explained what happened after the game, posting on social media that he lost the ball in the Daikin Park lights and apologizing to both Butler and the fans.
The fourth generation of the Caray broadcasting dynasty, Chris is the son of St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster Chip Caray, the grandson of former Atlanta Braves broadcaster Skip Caray and the grandson of the legendary Harry Caray.
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He is in his second season as play-by-play announcer for the A’s at NBC Sports Bay Area, following the team in its move from Oakland. Before that, he graduated from Georgia in 2022 and worked as a broadcaster for the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles and the Arizona Fall League.