A drive into deep left field by Castellanos

"A drive into deep left field by Castellanos" is a phrase spoken by Thom Brennaman, a play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds, during a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals on August 19, 2020. Brennaman had been replaced in the middle of the broadcast for a hot mic gaffe in which he said "one of the fag capitals of the world." He gave an on-air apology later on, during which Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos hit a home run; Brennaman interrupted his apology to call the home run, describing the hit as a "drive into deep left field by Castellanos" before continuing. The surreal nature of the apology, as well as future incidents of Castellanos recording hits during other on-air broadcast discussions of negative events, gave it notoriety in baseball internet culture and has led to its use as a copypasta.

Thom Brennaman in 2018

Background

Thom Brennaman, a baseball announcer for the Cincinnati Reds, did play-by-play commentary on Fox Sports Ohio of a doubleheader between the Reds and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 19, 2020. Before the start of the top of the seventh inning of the first game, Brennaman was caught on a hot mic describing an unidentified location as "one of the fag capitals of the world".^[1][2][3][4] According to David J. Halberstam, who interviewed Brennaman more than a year after the incident, the location in question was San Francisco.^[5]

Brennaman, who was broadcasting from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati due to COVID-19 travel precautions, continued into a promotion for the Reds' pre-game show and went on to provide play-by-play commentary for the Reds on Fox Sports Ohio into the second game of the doubleheader.^[6][1][2] The slur was not heard over the cable and satellite feed of the game, but rather on MLB's out-of-market MLB.TV streaming service. Backlash against Brennaman grew as clips of the incident were shared on social media.^[7]

Apology

Castellanos in 2021

As the top of the fifth inning of the second game was beginning, Brennaman was pulled off the broadcast by Fox Sports Ohio.^[8] Before being replaced by Jim Day, Brennaman issued an apology on the air:^[9]

3–0 ballgame with the Reds in front of the Royals as we go to the top half of the fifth inning, Castellanos to lead things off. Jim Day's gonna be taking us the rest of the way through this game as Holland takes over on the mound. Um, I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of. If I have hurt anyone out there, I can't tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I'm so very, very sorry. I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith—as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos, it will be a home run, and so that'll make it a 4–0 ballgame. I don't know if I'm gonna be putting on this headset again. I don't know if it's gonna be for the Reds, I don't know if it's gonna be for my bosses at Fox. I want to apologize for the people who sign my paycheck—for the Reds, for Fox Sports Ohio, for the people I work with, for anybody that I've offended here tonight. I can't begin to tell you how deeply sorry I am. That is not who I am. It never has been. And I'd like to think maybe I could have some people that could back that up. I am very, very sorry, and I beg for your forgiveness. Jim Day will take you the rest of the way home.^[9]

During the apology, Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos hit a home run that landed next to a Planet Fitness billboard, ironically featuring the phrase "judgement-free zone".^[10][11][12]

Reactions

The Cincinnati Reds issued a statement on Twitter expressing apologies and announcing Brennaman's immediate suspension.^[13][3] Reds pitchers Amir Garrett and Matt Bowman tweeted separate statements in support of the LGBTQ community.^[6][14] The following day, Fox Sports announced that Brennaman would no longer serve as an announcer for the channel's National Football League (NFL) broadcasts.^[8]

Some media commentators noted that the apology appeared weak and insincere.^{[15][16][17][18]} Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David described the incident as "unfortunate" and "a reflection of the bias that we still have in our communities", stating that "I think we need to really think about how this is how he felt so comfortable [saying the slur] in the first place."^[18] GLAAD released a statement calling the apology "incredibly weak and not enough".^[4]

On September 25, 2020, after Brennaman announced his resignation, Reds CEO Bob Castellini issued a statement calling the announcer a "fantastic talent and a good man who remains part of the Reds family forever".^[12] Castellanos acknowledged the incident in a February 2023 Instagram post, which showed him practicing his swing in preparation for spring training and bore the caption "And there's a deep drive... Phillies '23".^[19]

Impact

In a podcast that aired in November 2021, Brennaman expressed disappointment in the popular response to his apology, stating: "But for people to criticize a sincere apology ... That's when you know that there is a lot wrong with a lot of people. Not just me – and I've got a lot wrong with me. There is a lot wrong in this world."^[20]

After the incident, Brennaman began working with LGBT outreach groups such as the Children's Home of Northern Kentucky and PFLAG. Local leaders of the LGBT community in Cincinnati cited his subsequent work as a reason to support his return to broadcasting.^[21]

On July 21, 2024, Brennaman announced that he would return to broadcasting as the lead commentator for CW Football Saturday.^[22] On that same day, Castellanos hit a home run, leading to the commentator of the game repeating Brennaman's famous phrase.^[23] Ahead of the football game between Boston College and Syracuse in November, Brennaman alluded to the incident while discussing both teams' quarterbacks, placing emphasis on the surname of the unrelated Boston College player Thomas Castellanos and smirking at the camera as he called, "Couple of good quarterbacks in this one. You know about Kyle McCord, we'll also see Thomas Castellanos! How about that?" Awful Announcing quipped that "it's likely that Nick Castellanos would've hit a home run the same day" had the game taken place during the MLB season.^[24][25]

Copypasta

Jokes incorporating the phrase "a drive into deep left field by Castellanos" began to circulate shortly after the broadcast, including a tweet by Pablo S. Torre that parodied Richard Nixon's resignation speech:^[12][26]

I have never been a quitter. To leave office before my term is completed is abhorrent to every instinct in my body. But as President, I must put the interest of America first. And there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos.

The use of the apology as a copypasta did not gain traction until after Bob Castellini's September 25 statement praising Brennaman.^[12] In March 2021, College of Charleston professor Ryan M. Milner attributed the proliferation of the copypasta to the virality of the original apology and the non sequitur nature of the home run call; according to Milner, the copypasta allows people to jokingly convey cynicism towards insincere statements.^[12]

Further incidents

On several occasions, Castellanos has had on-field success during broadcasts which were, by coincidence or possibly on purpose by broadcasting crews, discussing negative real-life happenings during his at-bats:^[27][28][29]

• May 1, 2011: Castellanos hit his first career home run as a professional baseball player, as a minor league player with the West Michigan Whitecaps, on the same night that Al-Qaeda terrorist leader and FBI Most Wanted fugitive Osama bin Laden was killed.^[30]
• July 5, 2021: Against Kansas City, Castellanos hit a home run while Royals color commentator Ryan Lefebvre was eulogizing George Gorman, a veteran of World War II whose son Pat Gorman had been working for the Royals for 26 years at the time.^[31]
• September 11, 2021: On the twentieth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Castellanos hit a home run to left field in the third inning of a 6–4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals; this home run had extended the Reds' lead to 4–0.^[32]
• March 27, 2022: During a spring training game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Blue Jays color commentator Buck Martinez spoke extensively on pitching coach Pete Walker's DUI during a Castellanos at bat in which he ultimately hit a single.^[33]
• May 30, 2022: During a Memorial Day tribute by Phillies play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy honoring American veterans and American servicemen who lost their lives, Castellanos hit a solo home run to left field in the second inning of a 5–4 loss to the San Francisco Giants; this home run had given the Phillies a 1–0 lead.^[34]
• October 11, 2023: During Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, Castellanos hit a two-run homer to left center as the TBS commentators were discussing former Phillies manager Charlie Manuel's rehabilitation following a stroke.^[35]
• June 18, 2024: Roughly a half hour after the announcement of the death of Willie Mays, the Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres after Castellanos recorded a walk-off double to right field, his fourth hit of the game.^[36]
• July 13, 2024: Castellanos hit a home run to give the Phillies the lead over the Oakland Athletics the same day Donald Trump was shot in an assassination attempt. Castellanos finished the game with a home run and four RBIs.^[37]
• July 21, 2024: Two and a half hours after President Joe Biden announced he would not seek the Democratic nomination for the 2024 presidential election, and on the day news broke that Brennaman would return to national broadcasts, Castellanos hit a home run into deep left field to score the Phillies' final run of a 6–0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.^[38]
• March 18, 2025: On the same day Eagles defensive player Brandon Graham announced his retirement from the NFL after 15 seasons with Philadelphia, Castellanos hit a home run into deep left field in a spring training game on his first plate appearance against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Castellanos also hit an RBI single to extend the Phillies lead in the 6th inning in the same game, which resulted in a 3–2 loss for the Phillies.^[39]
• April 6, 2025: Minutes after Alexander Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's all time NHL goal record, Castellanos hit a grand slam against the Los Angeles Dodgers.^[40]

Both Nick and Jessica Castellanos have expressed awareness of the jokes. In 2021, Jess Castellanos posted on Twitter that she wanted the jokes to stop.^[41] In 2023, Nick posted the phrase "and there's a deep drive" on his Instagram account.^[42]

After the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025, many expected Castellanos to hit a home run in an upcoming game against the New York Mets, to the point FanDuel even had to temporarily lock betting for him, and saw three times as many bets on Castellanos compared to other players on BetMGM, and saw odds lowered from as high as +630 to as low as +425.^{[43][44][45][46]} However, he would fail to hit a home run that day, let alone even a hit, in a 5–4 loss to the Mets.^[47]