Poor Tarik Skubal and Cal Raleigh. To start the 2025 All Star game, both were mic’d up and forced to talk to announcer Joe Davis as they were trying to do their jobs. Davis asked such scintillating questions like, I haven’t figured it out, to be honest. Cal, I don’t know how you masked men do it. ” Skubal was able to musters, “Ahh, you just get used to it, I guess.”

Another inciteful querie, “This has got to be the best, facing these dudes?”

Answer, “No doubt, no doubt.”

Goosebumps. Pure goosebumps.

After a ball was overturned by way of appeal using the ABS, Skubal did provide a little self-effacing humor when talking to his teammates, “Hey, you take whatever you can get, boys.”

Okay, worthy of a little chuckle. But, was the chuckle worth the distraction to Skubal and did it cost the American League the game? Even more concerning, is this a trend to continue into the regular season? FOX has not had the best record of recognizing bad ideas and backing off of them. See Rodriguez, Alex.

By the time Davis and John Schmoltz were done, the American League was down 2-0. Was the blathering into the ears of the battery for the American League what caused them to be behind? No one can say for sure, but it certainly didn’t help. The practice was certainly unfair. Pittsburgh Pirates Paul Skenes and Dodger catcher Will Smith did not have to talk during the first inning.

FOX did go back to the mound the next inning when Clayton Kershaw took the hill. Kershaw did his best and actually did a nice job giving viewers a look inside his head, “I need to go slider here. Oh, he wants a curve ball. Okay, whatever.”

Kershaw lands the pitch and then continues, “This is so weird, talking to you guys.” He then strikes out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. looking. “Hey, that was fun, guys. Thanks for talking. Suck it, Big Dumper!”

I’m sure he was happy that was broadcast on national television.

Later, the conversation turned to the Chicago Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong, the center fielder for the National League. A liner into the gap resulted in Crow-Armstrong calling for the ball and then peeling off at the last second to give way to left fielder Kyle Tucker. “I can’t hear anything,” Crow-Armstrong told Tucker after a disastrous collision was narrowly averted. “I peeked, though.”

Great. So, when an outfielder doesn’t peek and shreds his knee after crashing into another player, then the team can say, “Oh, that’s okay. That $25 million guaranteed that we owe is cool because FOX got our guy to say how much he was enjoying playing the game or, “I like playing in Colorado because the ball balloons up” right before his career got derailed.

That is probably not the conversation that team and FOX are going to be having.

The game is tough enough. Sure, the All-Star Game is an exhibition again and MLB wants to boost ratings. There is a time and a place for interviews. During the game is neither and especially for those who are closest to the ball being hit. Ohtani’s exit velocity off the bat is 112 mph. Oneil Cruz hit one 122.9 mph. Do we really want to hear one of the game’s best pitchers take a batted ball off the forehead because an announcer didn’t know when to shut up? The hitters aren’t talking to the announcers during the game for the same reason.

FOX, you need to back off and think player safety before ratings.