LA Angels broadcaster Matt Vasgersian hilariously botches home run call
On Friday, Los Angeles Angels TV broadcaster Matt Vasgersian hilariously botched a home run call during the Angels’ game against the Texas Rangers. And it was all because of an entirely preventable reason.
Los Angeles Angels TV broadcaster Matt Vasgersian hilariously botched a home run call
Los Angeles Angels TV broadcaster Matt Vasgersian hilariously botched a home run call in the seventh inning of the Angels’ game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on Friday night.
Jared Walsh hit a home run that was fair by more than 20 feet but at first, Vasgersian thought it was a foul ball.
The problem is that he botched the call for an entirely preventable reason: He wasn’t at Globe Life Field … and it was by choice.
Vasgersian was calling the game remotely from a studio in New Jersey, where he works for MLB Network. Vasgersian had called games on TV for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1997 through 2001 and with the San Diego Padres from 2002 through 2008. However, since he joined MLB Network at their inception in January 2009, Vasgersian did not call games for a local team since 2008.
Citing a desire to return to broadcasting for a team and not just at the national level, Vasgersian picked up the Angels TV play-by-play job for the 2021 season, after long-time TV voice Victor Rojas left the team to become the GM of the Frisco Roughriders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.
Vasgersian doesn’t broadcast all of the games and in 2021, he did stuff for MLB Network, Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN, and Angels games. Since he wanted to do more Angels games, he dropped ESPN for 2022 … but he added a show at MLB Network.
His new show (called “Pregame Spread”) airs weekdays at 5 PM E.T. on MLB Network. It is primarily a show about betting but it also includes some interviews with current and former players and field personnel.
As a result of the show, Vasgersian and the Angels broadcast team will rarely be traveling in 2022 and, often, he will be calling the games remotely.
When calling games off of a monitor, broadcasters don’t get the entire feel of where the ball is because they are at the mercy of a camera crew picking the ball up. They see all of the cameras available at one time (unlike what you see on TV) but nearly every broadcast crew had issues with this in 2020 and 2021. That is why nearly every broadcast crew is traveling in 2022.
Vasgersian told The Athletic (subscription required) a few weeks ago that he believes that he can overcome the challenges of not being at the games by prepping more and talking to people on the phone.
Next. Yankees broadcaster John Sterling also messes up home run calls a lot. dark
But as we saw on Friday, that could not be further from the truth. The Los Angeles Angels and Vasgersian need to make a decision on whether or not they can continue their partnership or if Vasgersian should give up some of his duties at MLBN. Because fans deserve a better broadcast and a broadcast team that is at the games.