Tiant joined Jon Miller, Joe Morgan, and Steve Phillips in the booth in the top of the second inning to discuss ESPN's new movie Lost Son of Havana, a documentary about Tiant's return to his native Cuba.
But this was not your usual guest-in-the-booth chatter, interspersed with play-by-play commentary and analysis. Miller & Company ignored the game on the field, even skipping the usual commercial break following the second inning in order to continue reminiscing with Tiant.
While dozens of angry viewers vented their spleens on Twitter...
"Is there a rain delay in New York? ESPN isn't showing the game anymore."
"I have officially seen more of the @espn guys than the game...and I'm not happy about it!"
"This is INCREDIBLY unprofessional behavior by ESPN commentators."
...the ESPN crew devoted their full attention to Tiant and their upcoming movie.
Finally, as the final out of the third inning was recorded, Miller wrapped up his conversation with Tiant and acknowledged that there was in fact a ballgame in progress, as ESPN then went to the commercial break. By this time many fans had already turned off the audio on the ESPN broadcast and replaced it with radio broadcasts of the game.
