In May of last year, WFAN host Sal Licata proclaimed the NL East race was over, the division race had been won by the New York Mets, and there was nothing the Atlanta Braves could do about it.
Unfortunately for Licata, there was something the Braves could do about it, as the team charged back to win the division, and commenters haven’t let him forget it. He has continually caught barbs from Atlanta radio hosts — like Chuck Oliver and Matt Chernoff of 680 The Fan — for his definitive prediction going sideways.
That’s why Licata lost his composure on a WFAN caller last week in a clip that garnered nearly 300,000 views on the station’s Twitter.
On his program Wednesday morning, Licata admitted he wasn’t happy about the way the interaction took place.
“Legitimately, I was embarrassed by that,” Licata said. “I tell you guys this all the time, I don’t like yelling at callers…I blew a gasket. When I said ‘I don’t need to take this. I’ll quit’, I swear to you that was real. That — I think — is why people liked it. Because there’s nothing better than reality. Immediately afterward, I went to the producer…and said ‘Do me a favor. Don’t post that segment’.
“And the next thing I know, I wake up and I’m getting texts saying the morning show was talking about it for a half-hour, I saw the FAN account tweet it out, and it got a ton of views…it’s incredible to me, that that — of all things — is what blows up. People love it. I hate it and am embarrassed by it, but that blows up.
“It’s crazy to me, but all I can say is I’m being myself. Somedays I’m in a great mood and happy and don’t feel like yelling, and I’ll just be like ‘Ahh get lost’ and hang up, other days I feel like ‘Alright, you’re barking up the wrong tree. You picked the wrong day to call up and start busting my chops about the NL East.’ And that’s what you got.”
