It seems that Steve Lyons has a history of stupid off-the-cuff remarks — not a good trait for a TV commentator to have — but based on this story’s account of his recent comments, firing him looks like overkill.

Lyons’s fellow commentator, Lou Piniella, apparently said a few words in Spanish while announcing the game. The words included “en fuego” (hot) and “frio” (cold), which I’m not sure most native English speakers would know.

Lyons jabbed at him by saying “he’s habla-ing Espanol…I don’t understand him, and I don’t want to sit too close to him now.” These words, particularly, “I don’t want to sit too close to him now,” warrant a reprimand, but not a job.

Piniella had also said a hitter’s unexpectedly impressive showing was like finding a “wallet on Friday” and hoping for the same thing next week. Lyons said, “I still can’t find my wallet,” apparently a joke about Piniella taking his wallet.

Evidently sports guys can make cute little jabs at each other about pretty much anything — until one of them starts speaking Spanish in an English broadcast. Riffing on that is just over the line.

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.

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