SI

MLB Announcer Rips Player Over Unremarkable Home Run Celebration

Cardinals analyst Jim Edmonds got very upset about Cubs’ DH Christopher Morel celebrating his second homer of the game.

Jimmy Traina

Morel hit his 17th and 18th home runs of the season against the Cardinals, and the St. Louis analyst was not having Morel's celebrations.
Morel hit his 17th and 18th home runs of the season against the Cardinals, and the St. Louis analyst was not having Morel's celebrations. / Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
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1. The baseball fun police strike again!

Old-school baseball folks generally don’t enjoy a good bat flip or celebration and it’s just weird since sports are supposed to be entertainment and fun.

Cut to Sunday’s Cubs-Cardinals game when Chicago designated hitter Christopher Morel hit his 17th and 18th home runs of the season.

When Morel went deep for the second time of the game in the eighth inning, St. Louis analyst Jim Edmonds had enough of Morel acting happy.

“This kid’s celebration is a joke,” said Edmonds. “I don’t mind saying it all. I’ve never seen anything like it. I just don’t get it. You’re a .229 hitter in the big leagues and you’re running around like you’re Barry Bonds.”

There’s a lot here.

For starters, from what the telecast showed, Morel’s celebration wasn’t even that notable. He stood at home for a second, gave a little turn as he flung his bat and headed to first. As you can see in the photo above, Morel also dropped a dab while rounding the bases, which is funny in a ridiculous way.

It’s flat-out bizarre that this would get Edmonds all worked up.

I’d also like to know from Edmonds what a player’s average needs to be in order for him to be allowed to celebrate a home run. If a .200 hitter drove in a game-winning run, is he allowed to celebrate? We need to know the exact celebration rules that Edmonds would like players to adhere to.

Lastly, and what makes this clip highly amusing, is that Edmonds’ partner, Chip Caray clearly had no interest in engaging with Edmonds’ ridiculous comments.

And it happened twice.

While Edmonds was bashing Morel, Caray was focused on the fact that the same fan in the left-field stands caught two home run balls in the game. Caray completely ignored Edmonds’ remarks about Morel’s celebration.

Then, while Caray was focused on the fan who caught the homer, Edmonds made a fat joke about the spectator saying he was taking up plenty of room. Again, Caray had zero interest in responding and didn’t acknowledge Edmonds’s not-nice quip about the fan.

In pro wrestling, there’s a phrase for when a wrestler uses a big move and his opponent doesn’t do anything. It’s called a no-sell. Chip Caray gave us not one, but two legendary no-sells on Sunday.

2. The NFL announced Monday that Good Morning Football will return in two weeks on July 29.

The show has been on hiatus as it moves production from New York City to Los Angeles.

When the NFL Network show comes back, it will air from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. ET. Jason McCourty is out, as we discussed with him on the SI Media Podcast a couple of weeks ago.

Former defensive lineman Akbar Gbajabiamila is in. Reporter Sherree Burruss will also join the show. Peter Schrager and Kyle Brandt will be going back and forth between Los Angeles and New York and doing the show from both coasts throughout the season.

3. I can’t think of one event, sports or otherwise, that I’d want to see so badly I’d crawl through vents to sneak into the stadium, but that’s what happened at the Copa America finals Sunday night.

4. Charles Barkley had some harsh words for Charles Barkley on the golf course Sunday.

5. You can see that Shams Charania spent more than 21 hours on his phone during Day 1 of NBA free agency and have one of two thoughts.

“Wow, this man is really dedicated to his job and is a very hard worker.” 

Or ...

“Nobody needs to break the news of where Taj Gibson is signing this badly.”

6. A brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped Thursday and it features an interview with Sports Business Journal NFL reporter Ben Fischer.

Fischer covered the antitrust trial in which a jury ordered the NFL to pay $4.7 billion for violating antitrust laws in distributing out-of-market Sunday afternoon games on a premium subscription service. How much will Sunday Ticket customers get and when? What are the NFL’s chances to win an appeal? What does the verdict mean for how the NFL will distribute games in the future? Will the NFL ever sell single-team or single-game packages? What revelations came out of the trial?

Fischer also talks about what's going on with the NFL Network, the cancellation of the popular Around the NFL podcast, moving Good Morning Football out of New York, and more.

Following Fischer, Sal Licata from WFAN and SNY joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week’s topics include Joe Burrow’s idea for the NFL schedule, the backlash aimed at LeBron James for playing with Bronny James, the Yankees’ woes and much more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on Sports Illustrated‘s YouTube channel.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: RIP to Richard Simmons, who was a legendary talk-show guest. After the news of Simmons’s passing this weekend, this clip of his appearance on Whose Line Is It Anyway made the rounds and rightfully so.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on Twitter and Instagram.

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Jimmy Traina
JIMMY TRAINA

Jimmy Traina is a staff writer and podcast host for Sports Illustrated. A 20-year veteran in the industry, he’s been covering the sports media landscape for seven years and writes a daily column, Traina Thoughts. Traina has hosted the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast since 2018, a show known for interviews with some of the most important and powerful people in sports media. He also was the creator and writer of SI’s Hot Clicks feature from 2007 to '13.

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