The MLB All-Star Week is a time of celebration across the league. It’s a time when baseball’s best of the best all congregate in one place to show off their skills as representatives of their teams.
Unfortunately for the Tampa Bay Rays, an announcing snafu skipped the introductions of two of its players during Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Shortstop Wander Franco and pitcher Shane McClanahan were both absent from the All-Star Game introduction announcements despite taking the field during that time.
While neither Franco nor McClanahan were among the American League starters — as Randy Arozarena and Yandy Díaz were both introduced — the pair were seemingly skipped over so the Seattle Mariners could get reception from their hometown crowd.
#Rays Franco and McClanahan didn’t get introduced with all the other reserves and pitchers; they were after the #Mariners and as they ran out from CF the camera and attention stayed on the hometown guys. How does the PA announcer skip them?
— Marc Topkin (@TBTimes_Rays) July 12, 2023
Talk about an extremely bizarre oversight for sure. The Rays on Twitter, meanwhile, took matters into their own hands about introducing Franco and McClanahan to the festivities.
*ahem*
🗣️ FROM THE TAMPA BAY RAYS… WANDER FRANCO & SHANE McCLANAHAN pic.twitter.com/B8ixfGbg9U
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) July 12, 2023
MLB fans were not pleased about the All-Star Game missing Franco and McClanahan from the event’s introductions.