The Brewster

As it was rumored weeks ago in a Lair Report, the UMEBA's Bucharest Balauri has made an exciting hiring in the broadcast booth, inking comedian Bogdan Popa to a one-year deal to be the team's play-by-play announcer for the upcoming season. Bucharest's GM Joe Lederer personally reached out to Popa, as the two have been friends for several years, with a plea to join the club.

Popa, 55, is one of Eastern Europe's most successful stand-up and touring comedians and is considered one of Romania's national treasures. "I know jokes and I know women," Popa told the Bucharest Daily Eagle, "But this game of baseball, I do not know." Popa, known for his observational comedy, is fondly referred to in his homeland as "Romania's Yakov Smirnoff" due to his commentary on the differences between American and Romanian cultures. Popa got his big break as a 19-year-old in 2002's televised "Laughs for Asylum" Tour. Soon, Popa started selling out comedy clubs up and down the Danube River. In 2006, Popa starred in the box-office flop "Guess Who's Commie to Dinner?" and shortly thereafter, disappeared from the public eye.

The bearded funnyman wouldn't surface again until 2019, popping up in various European comedy clubs as a warm-up act. Eventually Popa's popularity returned to its former glory, landing him a role in 2021 as host of the re-booted game show The Newly Arranged Marriage Game. Popa entertained viewers for the next 16 years with his back-and-forth banter with contestants and his catchphrase "Ooh, funky boy!" before the show was cancelled in 2037. For the last year, Popa has appeared as a guest on panel game shows like The $100 Pyramid, Are You Drunker Than a Romani Fifth-Grader?, and Who Wants To Be A Milliner?.


Lederer, with support of Balauri ownership, plans to bring talent and entertainment on the field as well as in the homes of television viewers. "When Boogie speaks, Romania listens," said the general manager. "There may be a slight learning curve for him to understand the nuances of this wonderful game, but I have complete faith in his ability to make what should be an amazing season that much better." Popa is expected to officially begin his new career in the UMEBA by the start of the 2039 spring training schedule.

Can we bring back the ghost of bela karolyi to do some analysis? Listening to him commentate on the Olympics was both great and offensive (like when he referred to Chinese gymnasts who were likely under the age minimum as "half people").