Fox Broadcaster Under Fire for Snide Remark Against Team USA Shortstop

Fox Broadcaster John Smoltz is again in discussion. And surely enough, it’s again for all the negative reasons. As Team USA is currently leading by 2-1 against the Dominican Republic, Smoltz’s reported “anti-USA” rant caught the viewers off guard and took no time to spark outrage. In what could be an immense effort by Team USA shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. in the field, Smoltz chose to argue against the effort, causing the fans to call out the veteran broadcaster.

“I prefer the shortstops of the late 80s. They wouldn’t get to that ball, but they knew exactly where to be as the cut-off man for the outfielder. Those fundamentals are lost in today’s game.” Sports trainer Gerry DeFilippo quoted John Smoltz.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dominican Republic’s Machado hit Team USA’s  Griffin Jax to the left, only to be fielded by shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. His throw was smooth and landed perfectly in the first baseman, Bryce Harper’s glove. In result, Machado is out and left USA fans cheering. But not Smoltz.

John Smoltz laments:

“I prefer the shortstops of the late 80s.

They wouldn’t get to that ball but they knew exactly where to be as the cut off man for the outfielder. Those fundamentals are lost in today’s game.”

— Gerry DeFilippo (@Challenger_ST) March 16, 2026

He still found fault in today’s shortstops like Bobby Witt. From his announcer booth, Smoltz ranted about how the shortstops from the 80s were more strategic about their field placement. Surely, there are a few names back in the 80s, like Ozzie Smith, Cal Ripken Jr., and Alan Trammell, who were absolute beasts at shortstop, but raw offensive power was not there at that time.

In the current era in baseball, when power-hitting gets the most focus, the 80s era had the flexibility to be more focused on defense. As a result, we witnessed a few historic moments and a few looks like shortstops are just standing between the hitter and the outfielder. But in today’s power-hitting era, the shortstops need to cover the field. Just what Bobby Witt Jr. has done.

Fans understands this and calling out John Smoltz for being “anti USA’ and countering anything going better with Team USA.

This is a developing story..

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