Baseball fans were left furious after a singer butchered the national anthem before the Los Angeles Dodgers’ first game of the new season on Thursday.
Shohei Ohtani and his teammates began their bid to win a third successive World Series with a comprehensive 8-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But the pre-game performance of The Star-Spangled Banner at Dodger Stadium left a lot to be desired.
Keith Williams Jr. was given the honor of performing the anthem, having done so during the World Series last year and a number of times in the past.
But the gospel singer struggled to get through the performance, with his voice noticeably breaking a couple of times and his failure to reach several high notes. Fans quickly took to social media to share their fury.
One commented: ‘@Dodgers You are the two-time world champions. You are in the epicenter of entertainment talent. Find someone who can sing the freaking national anthem. Dude up here taking liberties with the song with his voice cracking.’
Fans were left furious by Keith Williams Jr. version of the national anthem at Dodger Stadium
Another commented: ‘That had to be one of the worst renditions of the national anthem for the Dodgers Diamondbacks game. Big yikes’.
A third wrote: ‘What in the world was that anthem during the Dodgers Diamondbacks game’.
‘That was genuinely the worst rendition of the national anthem I’ve ever heard. Thanks for embarrassing us in front of all the Japanese fans dude,’ another replied.
A fifth claimed: ‘It started off fine and just went downhill rapidly towards the end.’
The performance at Dodger Stadium was not the only one to draw fury from baseball fans on opening day.
New York Mets fans were also left stunned Thursday when the national anthem was butchered ahead of their first game of the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Christopher Jackson, the Broadway performer best known for originating the role of George Washington in the hit musical Hamilton, was given the honor of performing at Citi Field.
However, despite his experience playing one of the most iconic figures in American history, Jackson, 50, unbelievably mixed up the lyrics to the US national anthem.
The Dodgers started their bird to win a third-consecutive World Series win with an 8-2 victory
New York Mets fans were left stunned on Thursday when the national anthem was butchered
He seemed to confuse the line ‘What so proudly we hail’ in the first verse with ‘Were so gallantly streaming’ from later in the song.
While Jackson didn’t miss a beat and continued through the remainder of the anthem without a hiccup, his error did not go unnoticed by fans.
Many Mets fans were left horrified by the blunder with some even going as far as to claim that it was an ‘omen’ for their team’s coming season. Fortunately that didn’t prove to be the case, with the Mets winning 8-5.
‘Chris Jackson just majorly messed up our great National Anthem before the first pitch of Pirates/Mets,’ one baseball fan fumed on social media. ‘A national disgrace! Lock him up!’
‘Alexander Hamilton is rolling in his grave over his anthem at the Mets game,’ another quipped.
‘Tell Christopher Jackson he f***ed up the National Anthem and he f***ing sucks,’ a particularly furious Mets fan posted.
‘Opening Day! Let’s go Mets! The guy singing the national anthem got the lyrics wrong. Can only go up from here,’ a fourth social media user joked.
