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Rob Manfred Butchered a College Name at the MLB Draft, and Fans Had Jokes

The MLB commissioner made a mistake announcing the sixth pick in Seattle on Sunday.

Joseph Salvador

Rob Manfred Butchered a College Name at the MLB Draft, and Fans Had Jokes
Rob Manfred Butchered a College Name at the MLB Draft, and Fans Had Jokes /
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It probably isn’t easy being Rob Manfred. The MLB commissioner is tasked with leading professional baseball and has to constantly deal with boos and criticism—although it’s warranted at times. He made it a little too easy for baseball fans to come at him on Sunday during the 2023 MLB draft, when he completely butchered a school name in the first round. 

Manfred walked up to the lectern at Lumen Field in Seattle to announce the Athletics’ pick at the No. 6 spot and slipped up. 

“With the sixth pick of the 2023 MLB draft, the Oakland Athletics select Jacob Wilson: a shortstop from Grand Union University.” 

There is no such thing as Grand Union University. 

Wilson, who is the son of former MLB All-Star shortstop Jack Wilson, is a star prospect out of Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. His father serves as an assistant baseball coach there.

Grand Union happens to be a supermarket chain with locations in New York and Vermont.

It’s unclear if there was a typo on the card or Manfred just completely botched the delivery, but baseball fans rarely pass up an opportunity to poke fun at the commissioner. Here’s what fans had to say about his latest blunder: 

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Joseph Salvador
JOSEPH SALVADOR

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