No one in the history of Major League Baseball has ever posted 40 home runs and 70 stolen bases in the same season. Ronald Acuna Jr. is closing in on that very accomplishment and Carl Dukes thinks it should be celebrated beyond Atlanta.
Wednesday on 92.9 The Game, Dukes said he wants to see Acuna get the same treatment from ESPN and Major League Baseball that Aaron Judge got last year.
“I think because this is such a special milestone, when he gets to approaching 70 [stolen bases], they should be breaking in and showing Braves games and showing Ronald Acuna getting ready to break this milestone,” he said on Dukes & Bell.
His partner Mike Bell doesn’t see it happening. He says what Judge did last year was actually insignificant. It wasn’t a record or a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. ESPN was only breaking into other sports to show Aaron Judge’s at-bats because Judge plays for the Yankees.
“No, they’re not going to break it,” he said. “Maybe MLB Network will do that, sure, for the nerds. But I mean, for the casual fan? Unfortunately, we’re not going to get the juice.”
Dukes was shocked to hear his partner dismiss the idea. He said it would be a major failing of baseball’s stakeholders not to take advantage of the moment.
“Like, seriously, MLB should be ashamed of themselves if they’re not going to show ‘Oh, by the way, ladies and gentlemen, Ronald Acuna is about to do something that no one in the history of baseball has ever done. Let’s look. Let’s take a live look in.’”
