The Seattle Mariners faced a tough loss against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, as the latter rallied to victory after trailing 6-2 until the bottom of the eighth. As the Padres snatched a 7-6 victory from the jaws of defeat, reporters had little time to come up with questions about the defeat for the Mariners. And now, a video has gone viral falsely alleging that veteran Mariners reporter Angie Mentink used AI after yesterday’s loss.

But behind the online backlash, the video actually shows a much more personal and vulnerable moment.

A video of Angie Mentink asking Google Gemini for suggestions on “good questions after a tough loss in baseball” went viral on social media after Wednesday’s game. Users alleged it was taken after the Mariners‘ latest loss to the Padres. However, the reality is completely different. Daniel Kramer of MLB.com called out the misleading post, stating it was an old video. Kramer further clarified in his X post that the Mariners TV does not do walk-off interviews after losses.

Calling the viral video insensitive and invasive, Kramer wrote on X, “Misleading: Not last night’s game. Invasive: Duh. Insensitive: Suffered a stroke *2 months ago* Irrelevant: Mariners. TV doesn’t do walk-off interviews after losses. No, this was a stroke victim back at work for the first time — weeks ago — trying to regain her bearings.”

 

Mentink is a well-known American sports television personality. Before her broadcast career began, Mentink played both softball and baseball. She played college softball for the Washington Huskies, and later played pro baseball for the Colorado Silver Bullets.

Mentink is a color commentator for the Seattle Mariners television broadcast at present. After suffering from a late-February stroke, Mentink has been back on duty. As her old video went viral, the commentator herself addressed the issue.

Through an X post, Mentink admitted that she had asked artificial intelligence for suggestions for questions earlier in the season. However, it was merely an experiment to see if AI indeed had any good questions for her.

Mentink wrote, “Currently asking AI how to handle going viral for using AI. In all seriousness, I’m late to the AI party. Earlier this season, I experimented with AI to see if it had any questions to add to my list for my postgame coverage. We’ve come a long way from pen and paper when I started in 1997. Always learning.”

With artificial intelligence seeping into our everyday lives, Mentink’s experiment is completely justified. But critiquing and questioning the ability of a veteran reporter like her is completely uncalled for.

Despite all these recent criticisms, Mentink will continue to excel in her work, especially after she overcame something as serious as a stroke.

Angie Mentink’s admirable return to work

When the MLB teams, including the Mariners, were in Spring Training, Angie Mentink was working her way back to recovery from a stroke. Mentink suffered from a stroke on February 20, when she was in her home.

The Seattle Met reports that though she did not have any usual signs of a stroke, like slurred speech or paralysis, Mentink’s vision suddenly split with one eye drifting to the side.

Mentink shared with the media outlet that her son drove her to the emergency room, where the doctors initially diagnosed her with a transient ischemic attack. However, the following day, a more severe stroke paralyzed her left side, which even put her broadcasting career at risk.

But the Mariners color commentator did not give up, as she started fighting to move as soon as six hours after her stroke.

Mentink became the first-ever female color commentator for the Mariners in 2021, and as she made it back to T-Mobile Park on Opening Day, it will be a season that marks her personal victory.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR