How can you not be romantic about baseball?
Currently, the Atlanta Braves are on road trip in Toronto as they face the Blue Jays. The Toronto baseball team north of the border has gotten off to a respectable start, while the Braves have stumbled out of the gate – starting the year with a 4-11 record. But the tides might be changing in Atlanta, all thanks to the braveness of a member of the Atlanta broadcast team.
During the 5th inning, the Braves broadcast booth sent their field reporter, Wiley Ballard, to check out the Corona Rooftop at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. The guys calling the game had heard that the rooftop area in the left field was more family friendly, while the Corona Rooftop in the right field seats was more directed towards adults.
Wiley Ballard went to investigate.
And boy oh boy did his investigative work deliver. When the booth threw it over to Wiley, he was getting to know two blonde fans sitting in the rooftop area. Lauren and Kayla were posted up taking in the Braves-Bluejays game, and the Braves field reporter got busy asking if they were enjoying their time. At one point, play-by-play announcer Brandon Gaudin brought up that Wiley only had so many innings remaining in the game to secure some digits:
“Okay Wiley… you’ve got four or five innings to get their numbers.”
But it didn’t take four of five innings for Ballard to come through. In fact, it hardly even took four or five seconds. Wiley pulled out his phone and told the lovely ladies taking in the baseball game that the guys speaking in his ear piece gave him order to get a phone number:
“Alright, so they want me to get your number. I’m dead serious. They are saying it in my ear right now. She doesn’t believe me because she thinks I’m making this up.”
Considering Wiley Ballard ended up getting the woman’s phone number, I’d say that’s a foolproof pick up method.
That’s the thing I love about baseball. There’s so much extra time during the game that play-by-play announcers and color commentators have to fill. Sure, the MLB figured out a couple of ways to shorten the games, but there will always be enough dead air that causes the broadcasters to get creative – and send their field reporters out in search of potential dates.
In case you were wondering, the internet loved it:
This is beautiful content
— Southern Charm Sports (@SouthernCharmSp) April 15, 2025
Highlight of the year!
— Casey (@caseygodawgs) April 15, 2025
Anything that happens above the border , stays above the border.
— Monte Andrew Massongill Jr (@MonteJr5) April 15, 2025
This is gold!
— Timothy Williams (@TimothyWil71887) April 15, 2025
@wileyballard_ @CJNitkowski this is the reason the Braves turn it around. Wiley has to get a number in every ballpark now
— Mathis Jennings (@MathisJennings) April 15, 2025
Oh, and I’d be remiss if I didn’t add in Wiley’s “How you like them apples?” Good Will Hunting reference after he successfully got a phone number on live national television:
— Wiley Ballard 🧋 (@wileyballard_) April 15, 2025
