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With the Home Run Derby no longer on ESPN, baseball fans were always going to have to get used to change this year. However, things started off pretty rocky with an unfortunate, yet avoidable, celebrity blunder in the opening moments of the broadcast.
For the 2026 Home Run Derby, Netflix is playing host to the festivities after signing a three-year deal with MLB to broadcast the event. Not only that, this year's Home Run Derby got some major rule changes, including the axing of the clock in favor of a pitch counter.
So, with all the changes, it was to be expected that there would be friction with baseball fans. However, Netflix got things started off on the wrong foot by adding some incredibly forced celebrity commentary to the player introductions.
During the introductions, Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson and Jimmy Tatro were on the main broadcast booth for ... no real reason whatsoever? Philadelphia native and professional announcer Michael Buffer introduced the players on the field, but Ferrell and company had to battle poor microphones and bad jokes during their time on the broadcast.
It seems as if Ferrell's inclusion was in an effort to promote his upcoming Netflix show The Hawk, but the trio's inclusion into the event was a major swing and a miss. Thankfully, Matt Vasgersian, Elle Duncan and more established sports voices took over for the main broadcast, but MLB fans weren't pleased at all with Netflix's attempted addition of Ferrell, Wilson and Tatro to the player introductions.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: MLB fans panned Netflix’s forced Will Ferrell addition to the Home Run Derby
Continue reading...
For the 2026 Home Run Derby, Netflix is playing host to the festivities after signing a three-year deal with MLB to broadcast the event. Not only that, this year's Home Run Derby got some major rule changes, including the axing of the clock in favor of a pitch counter.
So, with all the changes, it was to be expected that there would be friction with baseball fans. However, Netflix got things started off on the wrong foot by adding some incredibly forced celebrity commentary to the player introductions.
During the introductions, Will Ferrell, Luke Wilson and Jimmy Tatro were on the main broadcast booth for ... no real reason whatsoever? Philadelphia native and professional announcer Michael Buffer introduced the players on the field, but Ferrell and company had to battle poor microphones and bad jokes during their time on the broadcast.
It seems as if Ferrell's inclusion was in an effort to promote his upcoming Netflix show The Hawk, but the trio's inclusion into the event was a major swing and a miss. Thankfully, Matt Vasgersian, Elle Duncan and more established sports voices took over for the main broadcast, but MLB fans weren't pleased at all with Netflix's attempted addition of Ferrell, Wilson and Tatro to the player introductions.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: MLB fans panned Netflix’s forced Will Ferrell addition to the Home Run Derby
Continue reading...
