‘I hate Keith Hernandez!’ Mets broadcaster under fire for comment on Ronald Acuña

It’s no surprise to see the Seinfeld memes.

Not long after Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Ureña threw a 97 mph fastball at Braves star Ronald Acuña, broadcaster Keith Hernandez talked about the incident during the Mets-Orioles game.

Hernandez actually defended the move by Ureña.

“He’s killing you,” Hernandez said. “You’ve lost three games. He’s hit three home runs. You’ve got to hit him. I’m sorry. People are not going to like that. You’ve got to hit him, knock him down. I mean, seriously knock him down if you don’t hit him. And you never throw at anybody’s head ... or neck. You hit them in the back, you hit them in the fanny.”

Twitter user Kyle Sandy shared the clip:

Hernandez was right. People didn’t like it.

Former Royals relief pitcher Peter Moylan, who is now with the Braves, tweeted: “This is just next level (crap)!!!! The kid is playing the game with joy and needs to be hurt for being great. You are a clown @keithhernandez”

Braves Hall of Famer Chipper Jones tweeted: “So by this way of thinking, Jacob deGrom should get drilled cuz he’s the hottest pitcher on the planet? NO! I enjoy watching him pitch and I enjoy watching RAJ play the game. I’m old school just like this broadcaster, but these comments are waaay off base!”

Cody Decker, who was in Royals’ spring training camp last year and is now playing with the Reno Aces, tweeted: “No...... This is an insane opinion.... Want to stop a player from beating your team, get him out. That’s it.”

Former Star writer Mike Vacarro of the New York Post tweeted: “I’ve never been shy about how much I enjoy Keith Hernandez, and much of that is thanks to his his grouchy old-school persona. But, man, that was one awful take tonight on Urena/Acuna.”

Naturally, the Seinfeld memes came out also, because Hernandez was a guest in one of the best episodes in the show’s history:

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 8:52 AM.