Announcer Might Like to Hit the Cutoff Man

By Larry Stewart

May 30, 2006 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Dave Flemming, 29, now in his third year as a radio announcer for the San Francisco Giants, was getting a lot of attention Monday. And not because of what Bay Area listeners to Giants flagship station KNBR heard when Barry Bonds hit his 715th home run Sunday.

It was because of what they didn’t hear.

With Bonds at the plate after Steve Finley had walked to open the fourth inning, Flemming said, “Three and two. Finley runs. The payoff pitch and a drive to deep cen ...”

At that instant, Flemming’s microphone cut out. All that could be heard was crowd noise.

Flemming, interviewed on ESPN Radio, said it was no one’s fault. Just an equipment malfunction -- and incredibly bad timing. “The odds of that happening at that moment are infinitesimal,” he said.

Odd coincidences: Maybe it was the ghost of Babe Ruth that made Flemming’s microphone go dead.

And how about Andrew Morbitzer, the 38-year-old fan who caught Bonds’ home run ball while standing in a concession line? He told San Francisco radio station KCBS that he was there to get a couple more beers for himself and his wife.

Did the ghost of Ruth reward Morbitzer for his priorities?

Trivia time: Who was the pitcher who gave up Hank Aaron’s 715th home run in 1974?

Good guess: David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram lists this under the heading “probable”: “Bonds wasn’t hooked up to a polygraph machine when he said he hopes Albert Pujols ‘shatters’ his record of 73 home runs in a season.”

Fore! The Golf Channel’s “Big Break” reality series, which has prospective golfers facing a variety of challenges to test their skills, has expanded to include professional athletes. A segment taped during spring training -- to be shown tonight at 7:30 -- features Dodgers Derek Lowe, Eric Gagne, Brett Tomko and Kenny Lofton.

Announcer Charley Steiner was there for the taping but didn’t participate. “A man has to know his limitations,” he said.

Steiner said all four players did really well, adding, “Derek Lowe hit some of the [longest] drives I’ve ever seen.”

No brain freeze here: Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch named Patrick Bertoletti his “athlete of the week.” Gordon says Bertoletti is a culinary student from Chicago who won an ice cream eating contest by “gagging down 1.75 gallons of vanilla treat in eight minutes. For that, he earned $2,000.”

Looking back: On this day in 1985, the Edmonton Oilers won their second consecutive Stanley Cup with an 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 5. Wayne Gretzky had a goal and three assists as the Oilers set an NHL record with their 16th consecutive home playoff victory over two seasons.

Trivia answer: Al Downing of the Dodgers.

And finally: Headline in the Ottawa Sun, after Edmonton ousted the Mighty Ducks from the NHL playoffs in five games: “Oilers Put Disney on Ice.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].