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A's broadcaster Chris Caray egregiously messes up Lawrence Butler HR call

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh07/27/25griffin_mcveigh
Lawrence Butler
© Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Lawrence Butler gave the Athletics three huge insurance runs in the ninth inning against the Houston Astros on Saturday. But nobody on social media is talking about the play itself, though. Instead, the call from play-by-play commentator Chris Caray has received all of the attention.

“1-2 pitch,” Caray began. “High in the air, deep to right. That ball is… foul… or gone.”

“That ball was absolutely launched,” color commentator Dallas Braden followed. “[Butler] absolutely posing them up at the dish. He knew it off the bat, it was just a matter of how far.”

Looking at the play itself, the ball was never in any danger of going foul. Like Braden said with his comments, Butler crushed the ball into right field. In the shot provided by NBC Sports California, the foul pole is not even in shot.

Just a confusing call from nearly the get-go. You can check out the full moment in Houston at Daikin Park here.

Caray is in the second season as an A’s play-by-play broadcaster. He got his start with the organization back in 2024, sharing the seat alongside Jenny Cavnar. Someone young in their career, just a mistake he made while in a big moment. Still, hearing an explanation for the mess-up would be interesting to hear.

Of course, this had no effect on how the game turned out. The A’s wound up closing the door in the bottom half of the inning, marking their third consecutive win against the Astros. One more will take place on Sunday afternoon before heading back home to Sacramento.

Lawrence Butler playing key role in A’s young offensive core

Despite this recent run of success, the A’s are still not stringing together too many wins. They are now 45-62 and in last place in the American League West. It’s been a tough rebuild for the franchise as relocation is still taking place.

Butler has been a fantastic bright spot in a young core they have put together, though. He entered Saturday night with a .238 batting average, hitting 14 home runs, and 41 RBIs. The OPS is at .726, just around league average. Not too bad for somebody in just his second full season at the Major League level.

Hopefully, plenty more moments present themselves where Butler hits a massive ninth-inning home run. Caray might be on the search for a do-over, looking to make up for his hilarious mess-up.