St. Louis Cardinals announcer Chip Caray has been around the sport for decades, but he’d never seen anyone do what Willson Contreras did Saturday. The Cardinals’ star came to the plate in the third inning against the Minnesota Twins and ripped a huge strip of batting tape off the bottom of his bat, cramming it in his mouth like a couple of sticks of gum and starting to chew.
Caray had been finishing a thought but went silent for a few seconds after witnessing Contreras. “Willson Contreras eats bat tape,” he remarked, matter-of-factly. Contreras then struck out swinging, prompting Caray to add, “And he’ll chew some more as he’s down on strikes.” (There aren’t any standard announcer calls for a batter chewing on batting tape when he strikes out, so Caray improvised nicely.) A few moments later, the FanDuel Sports Network broadcast showed a replay of Contreras ripping and munching the tape, leading Caray to quip, “This will be the tale of the tape.”
Analyst Brad Thompson had some questions, asking, “Why use a pocket when you can just eat it? Kind of like kids and glue.” Contreras’ bizarre eating habit surprised fans too.
What did I just watch? https://t.co/OXH42ELiko
— Kevin Rasnick (@Rasnick_Kevin) March 29, 2025
