Nearly four years ago, a legendary moment in baseball broadcasting happened, leading to a surreal crescendo of so-called cancel culture, the COVID-19 sports season, and memes to deliver one of the most iconic copypastas of all time: "A Drive Into Deep Left Field by Castellanos." Here's the backstory:

What Is The "Drive Into Deep Left Field By Castellanos" Moment?

Picture it: Kansas City, August 19th, 2020.

You may recall that 2020 was the year all of society shut down in an attempt to stem the spread of COVID-19. It was also the year of intense Black Lives Matter protests following the Death of George Floyd. It was also an election year, and many Americans were intensely fired up about either keeping or removing Donald Trump, one of the most incendiary American presidents in recent memory.

Put simply, it was a very politically sensitive time in American history, one where it seemed any politically insensitive statement could, and often did, act as a powderkeg for discourse and controversy.

This brings us to a baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals. It was the first game of a doubleheader, and Reds announcer Thom Brennaman was caught on a hot mic using a homophobic slur, calling someplace the "* capital of the world" in a conversation that wasn't meant to be heard on air.

The rest of the game played out without broadcaster incident, but after the game, the Reds suspended Brennaman. The second game of the doubleheader was called by a different announcer, and Brennaman appeared at the top of the fifth inning to read his prepped apology.

During the somber moment, Reds outfielder Nicholas Castellanos was at the plate and hit a home run, and Brennaman, perhaps on instinct as a broadcaster, called the action in the middle of his apology. This led to one of the most surreal moments in television history.

Brennaman's full apology reads:

I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of. If I have hurt anyone out there, I can't tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart I'm so very, very sorry. I pride myself and think of myself as a man of faith, as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that'll be a home run. And so that'll make it a 4-0 ballgame. I don't know if I'm going to be putting on this headset again. I don't know if it's going to be for the Reds. I don't know if it's going to be for my bosses at Fox.

How Did "A Drive Into Deep Left Field By Castellanos" Become A Meme?

The jaw-dropping moment was instant fodder for a bait-and-switch copypasta, where someone will open with what appears to be a very serious tweet but suddenly transition into "as there's a drive into deep left field by Castellanos and that'll be a home run. And so that'll make it a 4-0 ballgame."

At first, the meme was contained within baseball but it eventually found its way to broader memes, making the switch even more unexpected. To this day, it continues to pop up on Twitter in all sorts of contexts, proving its legacy as one of the premier memes to come out of baseball.

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For the full history of "A Drive Into Deep Left Field By Castellanos," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.