Things couldn’t have gone worse for the Athletics during their first home game at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, losing 18-3 to the Chicago Cubs. While the on-field performance was dismal, the issues on the airwaves were even worse. Dieter Kurtenbach of The Mercury News highlighted the problems with the Athletics’ radio feed, and it was as troubling as he described.
The troubles began in the top of the fourth inning when the feed went silent while announcers Ken Korach and Johnny Doskow discussed A’s starting pitcher Joey Estes’ control issues. The following is a tweet detailing the radio feed issues:
Issues with the Athletics radio feed for the home opener in Sacramento.
A thread.
Part 1.
In the top of the fourth inning, the feed went out. pic.twitter.com/XWhr2KdSxj
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 1, 2025
Unfortunately, the situation deteriorated. In the fifth inning, the feed cut out again:
Part 2:
The feed went out again in the fifth inning. This is when things got really bad. pic.twitter.com/Dq4tvtUsvn
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 1, 2025
Once the feed returned, it was only for a moment. Korach could only say, “Alright, we come back to the ballpark. We apologize for the technical issues,” before it cut out again:
Part 3:
“We apologize for the technical issues.” Then the feed cuts out again. The commercial airing before the feed returned was still going when it cut back out. pic.twitter.com/FvrBDUmZuc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 1, 2025
Throughout the rest of the inning, the feed continued to cut out any time it briefly came back:
Part 4:
“Right now Mitch Spence just trying to keep the damage down in this fifth inning.” Then the feed cuts out again. pic.twitter.com/B4W1zLNJ2j
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 1, 2025
Part 5:
After a brief fix, the feed again cut out. pic.twitter.com/95VdxJMWbx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 1, 2025
Nate Littlefield from the A’s production studios eventually addressed the issues, asking for listeners’ patience. He later returned with an update on the game:
Part 6:
Nate Littlefield in the A’s Production studios acknowledges the issues and asks listeners to “bear with us.” pic.twitter.com/v2QIXQlDnq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 1, 2025
Part 7:
Nate Littlefield again, this time to update that the Cubs scored another run. pic.twitter.com/zOPTA5JOhE
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 1, 2025
Eventually, the radio played the audio from the television broadcast instead.
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Part 8:
The broadcast returned, but instead of the radio feed, it was the television feed being played on the radio. pic.twitter.com/1dQujVHpzB
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 1, 2025
Additionally, other broadcasts of the game experienced their own issues:
The Cubs broadcast went to the Dodgers / Braves game for like 5 minutes, very weird
— Max Oosterhouse (@maxoosta) April 1, 2025
A’s radio and the Spanish language feed are completely off the air. Sacramento can’t even figure out a radio broadcast! Not ready for prime time.
— Coliseum Sewage (@ColiseumSewage) April 1, 2025
With everything going wrong for the A’s, it was also revealed earlier on Monday that press conferences were being held in a toolshed. While we hope things will improve for the Athletics, it seems that John Fisher and his team may view this as a challenge.
