Thursday’s season-opening broadcast on ESPN featuring the New York Yankees against the Milwaukee Brewers was highly anticipated, marking Joe Buck’s return to calling baseball for a national audience. While the broadcast generally went well, one significant issue arose that caught the attention of baseball fans watching from home.
In the top of the fourth inning, the ESPN broadcast team, consisting of Buck, Joe Girardi, and Joe Schroeder, tried to connect with Yankees manager Aaron Boone to discuss how Yankees starter Carlos Rodon had pitched early in the game. Buck stated, “Top of the fourth inning, Aaron Boone is with us. And Aaron, you have got to be thrilled with the way Rodon has thrown the ball through the first three innings.” However, it quickly became apparent that Boone wasn’t able to hear anything, as he pointed to his headset to signal the broadcast team that he couldn’t communicate.
This in-game interview with Yankees manager Aaron Boone went great.
Joe Buck with the ESPN call. ⚾️🎙️😵💫#MLB pic.twitter.com/geSmOoLK36
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 27, 2025
Buck tried to lighten the mood regarding the audio issues, joking about Boone’s history with ESPN and admitting that the interview was intended to take place during the break between innings. “Must be an ESPN thing with Aaron Boone, who used to work at ESPN. Boony, can you hear us? That’s fine, just manage the game. Don’t worry about it,” he said. Joe Girardi chimed in with, “Do you think he is ignoring you?” to which Buck humorously replied, “No, I do not. I think he is invested in this and now it’s over…” Eventually, he acknowledged, “It’s my fault, I was the one that got up. I was supposed to do it during the break. That’s on me.”
In-game interviews have started to become unpopular among baseball fans, especially when they disrupt the flow of postseason games. This incident serves as further evidence that networks might consider eliminating in-game interviews altogether or at least reducing their frequency. Fortunately, the situation was resolved by the top of the fifth inning, allowing Boone to discuss Rodon’s performance with the ESPN broadcast team.
Aaron Boone speaks to the ESPN broadcast team about Carlos Rodon’s outing. pic.twitter.com/dTn5Hf79XF
— SportsClips (@SportsClip4U) March 27, 2025
