The Detroit Tigers announcers got a little too excited when talking about Olivia Dunn before her boyfriend, Paul Skenes, started on Wednesday.
Before the first game of a doubleheader against the Pirates, Bally Sports Detroit ran a chart comparing the social media follower numbers of the so-called “new Gen Z power couples,” but midway through, announcer Jonny Cain looked down at his phone, creating an awkward moment.
“What’s going on? Are you checking in on Livi Dunn?” asked reporter Trevor Thompson during the Bally’s game.
“She just gained one more follower,” Carlos Peña, an analyst at the network, said with a laugh.
“…Johnny, are you going to follow all of her social media accounts?” Thompson continued. “She’s a great gymnast, a national champion at Louisiana State University.”
They didn’t stop there.
“Are you interviewing Livi in the stands today?” Kane asked Thompson.
“If I see her I’ll try and track her down and ask her if she’d like to come to Bally Sports with us, okay?” Thompson said with a smile.
This is the second time in a week that Dan has been the star of a local baseball broadcast.
Last week, a young Pirates fan named Cooper gave the social media star a shoutout after Sportsnet Pittsburgh’s Hannah Mears asked him what he liked about Skenes.
“Livy Dunn with his moustache!” Cooper said, and Mears laughed.
Dunn was just as much a star as Skenes during the fiery right-hander’s first season in the big leagues, so much so that even MLB is leaning into the couple’s popularity.
“I say it all the time, it’s a lot harder being in the stands watching because you have no control,” Dunn said in a video on MLB’s TikTok account. “You can’t control it. I don’t know how to throw a 100 mph fastball, but it’s tough not having control, especially with gymnastics when you’re just watching. But I know he can do it, and I have a lot of confidence in him.”
Skenes made his fourth career MLB start on Wednesday afternoon and has posted a 2.25 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 16 innings since his debut in mid-May.
