Whoever operates the scoreboard at the Brewers’ home stadium has a lot of fun with their job.
The lighthearted approach backfired spectacularly on Monday, though, after Reds star Elly De La Cruz was robbed of a home run by the Brewers’ Joey Wiemer. The next time the Cincinnati rookie came to the plate, the scoreboard provided a helpful reminder that De La Cruz “almost hit a home run in the first inning... but didn’t.” De La Cruz then immediately hit a 456-foot home run that no one could have robbed. The icing on the cake was that his homer was hit so far that the camera had to zoom way out to show it leave the ballpark, placing the cheeky scoreboard message in view as the ball flew into the stratosphere.
So on Tuesday night, the Milwaukee scoreboard operator decided not to tempt fate. When De La Cruz came up for his second plate appearance of the night, the trivia next to his name was very straightforward: “The scoreboard crew has no further comment at this time.”
Excellent work by the Brewers.
— Joe Danneman (@FOX19Joe) July 26, 2023
(Great shot by @BallySports) pic.twitter.com/PrYgfU6lis
The Milwaukee scoreboard is quickly earning a reputation for its witty quips. In the past week, the center field videoboard has featured wisecracks about Milwaukee players’ facial hair, humorously overblown statistics and snide remarks about Ronald Acuña Jr.’s Home Run Derby record. When antagonizing opposing players like it did on Monday night, there’s always a risk it’ll backfire. That’s why it’s probably safer to stick to messages about heartbreak, like the Rockies have done.
