Red Sox Broadcast, A.J. Hinch Have Best Reactions to Framber Valdez Beanball

Detroit Tigers pitcher Framber Valdez

(Lon Horwedel/Imagn Images)

It's rare that Major League Baseball fans can all agree on something, but they got fairly close on Tuesday night.

Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Framber Valdez beaned Trevor Story with a 94-mph fastball in the top of the fourth inning, and after the benches cleared, Valdez found himself ejected. It was one of the most blatant intentional hit-by-pitches of all time, because not only had Valdez just given up back-to-back home runs to Red Sox sluggers Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu, but the pitch that hit Story was his first four-seam fastball of the whole season.

The incident elicited plenty of strong reactions, from Red Sox players and interim manager Chad Tracy, to analysts and former players, to internet commenters. But two stood out from the night.

First was the NESN broadcast duo of Dave O'Brien and Will Middlebrooks. O'Brien got some strong barbs in for a play-by-play guy, but Middlebrooks stole the show.

“That’s so tired,” Middlebrooks said of the hit-by-pitch. “You can’t get him out, so you throw at him. What a joke.”

Then, after O'Brien summed up Valdez's "weak" fourth inning, Middlebrooks quipped, “Well let’s just hope he doesn’t cross-up his catcher now that he’s mad,” referring to the viral incident from last season while the lefty was still a member of the Houston Astros.