Baseball fans were literally living the dream on Thursday night, as the MLB’s annual Field of Dreams game took place between the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. But for some, it quickly turned into a nightmare when it came time for the 7th inning stretch – sung by a hologram of Harry Caray.
Caray was, of course, a huge figure in Chicago during his career, broadcasting for the Chicago White Sox for 11 seasons, and then for the Cubs from 1982 until 1997. Today, audio of him singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is often used at Cubs games when a special guest singer hasn’t been secured. That audio was seemingly the same one used with the hologram Thursday.
Watch the full song in the video below.
Many fans, however, weren’t ready to see Caray in holographic form, with many criticizing both the general concept and the actual execution of the move, saying it looked nothing like the play-by-play announcer.
“FOX SHOULD BE IN PRISON FOR DOING HARRY CARAY LIKE THIS,” one person tweeted. Another simply posted a photo of Chicago Cubs manager David Ross giving his middle finger to the camera, captioned with: “To whoever thinks Harry Caray really looked like that.”
Others compared the hologram to other moments in pop culture – like the force ghosts from the “Star Wars” saga.
“Apparently Harry Caray is one with the Force now?” one person joked, photoshopping Caray into one of the final moments from “Return of the Jedi,” where Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and Yoda are all together in force ghost form.
Granted, not everyone had a problem with the hologram. Some joked that it should be used in other sports, while others argued that it’d be hard for the hologram to actually be offensive, considering what Caray was like while he was still alive.
“For those who weren’t watching the Cubs with Harry, he was offensive EVERY SINGLE BROADCAST,” one person tweeted.
You can check out more disturbed reactions to the hologram below.
