Overview

• During NBC Sports Philadelphia’s fourth-inning booth chatter, John Kruk asked, “The first clock ever. How did that person know what time it was?”
• Play-by-play partner Tom McCarthy responded by suggesting a sundial as an early way to tell time.
• The conversation came with Philadelphia already leading 6-0 over Seattle, and the Phillies finished off a 12-7 victory.
• Clips of the exchange spread quickly on social media, including via Jomboy Media, and were picked up by outlets such as Mediaite and the New York Post.
• Kruk, a former Phillies star and team analyst since 2017, is known for offbeat on-air tangents, while one separate article’s claim that Benjamin Banneker built the first functioning clock is disputed by historians.