Nick Castellanos Homer Leads to Eerily Familiar Call: ‘There’s a Drive Into Deep Left Center Field’

In Tuesday’s Hot Clicks: another awkward homer by the Reds slugger, a dramatic game-winner in the Stanley Cup finals and more.

He did it again

Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos has a knack for hitting home runs at awkward moments.

It was Castellanos who was at bat last August in Kansas City when Reds announcer Thom Brennaman was attempting to apologize for being caught using a homophobic slur and interrupted himself to call Castellanos’s solo dinger.

“From the bottom of my heart, I am so very, very sorry,” Brennaman said somberly. “I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith—as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos. It will be a home run. And so that will make it a 4–0 ballgame.”

And then he continued with his apology.

The Reds returned to Kansas City for the first time since that game on Monday, and would you believe that Castellanos interrupted another solemn broadcast moment with a home run?

Royals announcer Ryan Lefebvre took a moment in the top of the seventh to pay tribute to George Gorman, the father of Royals equipment manager Patrick Gorman, who died on Saturday. Lefebvre appeared to be transitioning out of the eulogy when Castellanos jumped on the first pitch. The result was pure art.

Here is the Royals broadcast of the Nick Castellanos home run.

They were eulogizing someone live on the air when it Nick went deep to left-center field.

You can not make this stuff up.

Credit to @hjodoyle for the tip. pic.twitter.com/iA2grIKY61

— Nick Kirby (@Nicholaspkirby) July 6, 2021

“That’s a great life, 96 years. Pat, just like his father, went to KU. He also went to Bishop Ward High School,” Lefebvre said. “There’s a drive into deep left center field—and there’s never a great time to eulogize someone during the broadcast, so we apologize for the timing.”

Brennaman’s bizarre detour later became a meme, so you don’t even have to be a baseball fan to have the phrase “as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos” imprinted on your brain. Castellanos going yard again at the most awkward time possible is funny enough, but Lefebvre's nearly quoting Brennaman verbatim is almost too much to handle. 

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