Yankees-Red Sox Apple TV broadcast littered with laughable errors

After several days of consternation over who was going to be calling the New York Yankees’ Friday Night clash against the Boston Red Sox in the middle of Aaron Judge’s pursuit of 62 home runs, the broadcast went down on Apple TV+ without a hitch — at least in terms of the technical and production aspects.

Apple’s production has received good reviews over the season, but its broadcast teams have drawn some criticism. From flubbing players’ names to disproportionate levels of enthusiasm, there has been a significant learning curve for some of these newbies behind the mic.

That’s all well and good in a vacuum, but hearing those trials and errors as the soundtrack to a Yankees-Red Sox game in September with major historical and postseason implications drew the ire of a few fans from both sides of the aisle.

If Yankees and Sox fans will agree on one thing, it truly might be that. Not many have been happy about it this year.

When the Apple crew set the tone for the game by referring to both Aaron Boone and Giancarlo Stanton as Aaron Judge, things were headed downhill. Some Yankees fans must be very relieved that this crew didn’t call No. 61 or No. 62 considering some of their mistakes.

Apple TV+ broadcast of Friday’s Yankees-Red Sox game had tons of mistakes

The broadcast introduced some of their fun fact stats without much context, too. For example, Judge is tied with Corey Seager for the most home runs against left-handed pitching this year with 13 of them. But the broadcast made it seem like he’s struggling against lefties by saying he “only” has 13 dingers.

In one strange moment, Heidi Watney asked Roger Maris Jr. if he has any fond memories of his dad chasing 61 home runs. In 1961, Maris Jr. was three years old. We’re putting money down on him not remembering a single thing.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa was on the receiving end of some hilarious gaffes from the broadcast team as well. They called him “Kiner” multiple times, despite assuredly having a pronunciation guide on their desk. Again, let’s be thankful Judge didn’t hit No. 61 that night.

Between those flubs and introducing the phrase “side-arm curve-a-rooski” to the baseball lexicon against the wishes of everyone with functioning ears, the Apple broadcast assigned to Yankees-Red Sox didn’t earn high marks. Surprisingly, however, Apple’s coverage of Albert Pujols’ 700th career home run during the Cardinals-Dodgers game was solid.

This new-look crew is inevitably going to be better when they start their second season next year. Getting their feet wet on a prime slot like this isn’t easy to do at all. However, that doesn’t make the immediate short-term results any less difficult to hear for Yankees fans across the country.

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