Last night, Arizona Diamondbacks announcer Bob Brenly had what should have been his Thom Brennaman moment. However, we didn’t get to hear Brenly talk about a Nick Castellanos, or rather Pavin Smith moment. Instead, Brenly was allowed to make his racially charged statements are carry on with the rest of the game.

Tell those shitheads you have in the booth to relax @Dbacks pic.twitter.com/6zTNiuPkBX

— MONEY MAKING METS (@Brotherwtbeard) June 2, 2021

If you are going to play the game of Brenly didn’t say anything as bad as what Brennaman said, you’re already doing it wrong. Wrong is flat out wrong. Mocking Stroman’s du-rag was wrong, and it was racist. It’s also stupid and a stain on Tom Seaver‘s good name. More than that, it couldn’t possibly have missed who Seaver was and who he idolized.

In an article by Paul Lukas of Uni Watch, he highlighted how Seaver never buttoned the top of his uniform. This wasn’t by accident. In fact, it was in honor of Willie Mays, a player Seaver idolized. As a collegiate player, Seaver had the opportunity to sit next to Mays, and seeing how Mays didn’t button his top button, Seaver would never again button his.

Looking at it, Seaver saw who he thought was the best player in the game doing something, and he emulated it. Chances are, if Seaver saw Mays wearing the du-rag, he would have done so as well. The reason is Seaver wanted to mold himself as one of the greats, and he did that in what was a unique and then bold statement to not button the top button. He did that to be like Mays. He probably would’ve done anything to be like Mays.

There is two things right now which unite Seaver and Stroman. Both are Mets pitchers. More than that, both are pitchers who strove for greatness, and they sought each and every avenue they could to become great. They are uniquely driven, and they had they own unique fashion when they took the mound. It should also be noted with the patches this year, both wore 41 on the mound.

In some ways, there is no greater honor for a pitcher than to get compared to Seaver. That goes double for a Mets pitcher. Unfortunately, Brenly did it in a disgusting and mocking way which was at best ignorant. There is no place for that anywhere, and Brenly owes Stroman and the Seaver family an apology.

More than that, the entire Diamondbacks organization does as well for letting Brenly say that on their air and to continue speaking after those statements. Stroman is a good person, and he deserves much better than this. We all do.