Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler produced a historic display on Thursday night, but radio host Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo was still unable to pronounce his name correctly the following day.
The rookie right-hander was masterful in the Yankees’ Wild Card decider against the Red Sox, tossing eight scoreless innings and 12 strikeouts – the most ever by a Yankees pitcher in their playoff debut.
Nonetheless, iconic New York voice Russo hilariously stumbled over Schlittler’s name on his SiriusXM show as he twice mispronounced the 24-year-old’s surname.
During the beginning of his show on Friday, Russo first misspoke when he said: ‘Let me start here, and then we’ll get into Schlister…’
He then tried to correct himself but misspoke again, calling the ace ‘Schittler.’
Nonetheless, he went on to call the pitcher’s performance ‘tremendous’ as he spoke about the Yankees’ Game 3 win over their bitter rivals.
Cam Schlittler produced a historic performance on the mound for the Yankees on Thursday
But radio host Chris Russo hilariously struggled to pronounce his name the next day
The clip was posted to X by Sports Illustrated’s Jimmy Traina as fans cracked up in the replies.
‘He also has problems with entrepreneur,’ one wrote with laughing-crying emojis. ‘he’s a classic.
‘Didn’t have a fighting chance with that one,’ another said.
And a third said: ‘A combo made in heaven.’
Regardless, plenty of baseball fans will know Schlittler’s name after he helped the Yankees advance to the AL Divisional Series, where they will face the Blue Jays.
While the Massachusetts native was playing in Double-A as recently as June, he looked totally confident in Game 3 as he allowed just five hits and nearly went the distance against Boston.
He also became the youngest pitcher with 11 or more strikeouts in a playoff game since Josh Beckett achieved the feat in 2003.
Now, he and the Yankees will set their sights on Toronto, with the first two games of the series being played in Canada on Saturday and Sunday.
And Schlittler is a great bet to get another start in the series following his heroics against Boston.
