Kirk Herbstreit Mispronounced Shohei Ohtani’s Name, and MLB Fans Weren’t Having It
Amazon Prime Video NFL analyst Kirk Herbstreit historically butchered Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani’s name during the Thursday Night Football broadcast featuring the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints, and baseball fans simply couldn’t believe it.
Herbstreit, a consummate professional who is a diehard Cincinnati Reds fan, somehow called the newly signed Dodgers star something along the lines of “Shohan Ahtony.”
Herbstreit’s Hall of Fame play-by-play partner, Al Michaels, stepped right in.
“Yes! Shohei Ohtani now a Dodger!” Michaels chimed in seconds after Herbstreit butchered the pronunciation.
The Ohtani reference by Herbstreit was made after a live shot of the Dodgers star made its way onto the big screen at SoFi Stadium. Ohtani was gifted a jersey by the Rams organization Thursday night, as the franchise fully embraced the baseball star who will play his next 10 seasons for Los Angeles.
There’s little doubt it was an honest mistake by Herbstreit, but nonetheless he was destroyed on social media for mispronouncing such a prominent baseball star’s name.
Here are some of the best reactions to Herbstreit’s slip of the tongue:
