For those who don’t believe in announcer jinxes, nothing unusual happened Wednesday in the ninth inning of the Baltimore Orioles-Boston Red Sox game. Yet for those who do believe in the jinx phenomenon, Orioles announcers Kevin Brown and Jim Palmer unleashed some very powerful juju in the top of the ninth.
With Orioles reliever Cionel Pérez on the mound, he issued a couple of walks, interrupted only by a fly out, bringing Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela to the plate. “This is a guy you can’t walk,” Brown remarked, highlighting that Rafaela had gone 160 plate appearances without drawing a walk. In agreement, Palmer noted, “Well, he doesn’t walk, you walk him. There are just hitters who are like that.”
Pérez fell behind 3-0, and Brown speculated, “Well, he may get walked. August 9th was his last walk.” Moments later, Rafaela indeed walked, making history by ending his streak.
“There it is, 160 plate appearances, the longest streak in baseball for non-pitchers,” Brown announced.
“This is a guy you can’t walk. (Ceddanne) Rafaela is 160 plate appearances without one now.” – Kevin Brown as the plate appearance begins
“Well, he doesn’t walk. You walk him.” – Jim Palmer
The Orioles indeed walked him, on four pitches. ⚾️🎙️ #MLB pic.twitter.com/DR10AEem14
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 3, 2025
One can almost envision Palmer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, in the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network booth, shaking his head as Pérez walked the player who hadn’t walked in 160 consecutive plate appearances. Rafaela, not historically a player known for his walks, surprisingly has only 20 walks in 679 career plate appearances. While many remain skeptical of announcer jinxes, as soon as Brown remarked “This is a guy you can’t walk” during a 0-0 count, many fans sensed the outcome was all but decided.
