Wait, what?
In the top of the 7th, vowel-challenged Cardinals reliever Mark Rzepczynski notched a strike out to end the inning. This prompted play-by-play announcer Joe Buck to mention that Rzepczynki's nickname is "Scrabble" because of his elaborate last name (It would notch you 39 points in the game, for what it's worth). Fellow broadcaster Tim McCarver responded by saying, "It's a five letter word: S-T-R-I-K-E." If you didn't catch what's so bizarre about what McCarver said.. please read the quote again.
We're going to assume McCarver counted the letters with his fingers as he spelled out strike, and then just decided to let it go without correcting himself. Fortunately the spelling watchdogs on Twitter were all over it:
After McCarver finished spelling, he shared a relatively awkward 5-second silence with Joe Buck before they broke for a commercial break.
AwfulAnnouncing.com, the online experts on such matters, concluded that "Tim McCarver can apparently spell, he just can't count."
The flub was noteworthy to be sure, and we're assuming the phrase will be a staple of intramural softball games for generations to come.
It certainly wasn't the most ideal way to kick-off McCarver's record 22nd time calling the World Series.
This also marks the 14th Fall classic in which McCarver and Buck have shared the broadcast booth.
When introduced for the game, Buck had an interesting way of reflecting on the duo's long tenure: