New York Mets announcers Steve Gelbs and Keith Hernandez became confused when fireworks went off outside Kauffman Stadium during Friday night's game in Kansas City.
It happened in the top of the seventh inning with one out and nobody on as the game was tied at 1-1. The count was 3-2 with Royals reliever Angel Zerpa pitching to Mets batter Ronny Maurico. As Mauricio fouled off a pitch, fireworks became visible in right-center field outside the stadium.
The Royals have fireworks scheduled after every Friday night home game from May through September this year. This game against the Mets started an hour late due to a rain delay. The fireworks in the distance prompted Gelbs and Hernandez began to debate whether the fireworks were pre-programmed to start at a scheduled time or whether it was some sort of mistake.
Friday night's Mets-Royals game was delayed at the start due to weather.
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 12, 2025
It's also fireworks night. And as Steve Gelbs and Ron Darling noted, the fireworks began to go off during the game. pic.twitter.com/priWff6zmn
In reality, according to several users on Twitter, the fireworks were going off from several blocks north of the stadium. It is reassuring to know that this was not a case of fireworks mistakenly set off by a Royals employee. We have seen that happen in the past and it is rather embarrassing.
To his credit, Mauricio was able to work a walk after fouling off two pitches while the fireworks were going off. However, Steven Cruz came in to replace Zerpa and closed out the inning for the Royals.
There were some fireworks on the field after this incident, as the Royals scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but the Mets scored three runs in the eighth and four more in the ninth to come away with an 8-3 victory.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports).
