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Rangers voice Dave Barnett expected to miss rest of season

Dave Barnett

Rangers play-by-play announcer Dave Barnett, who hasn’t been back in the booth since the incident two weeks ago in which he started spouting nonsense on the air, said Monday that he is taking an indefinite leave of absence.

As you may remember, Barnett pretty much lost it for a few seconds in a game on June 18, reporting that “the go-ahead run is at fifth on what [Mike] Adams is insisting on calling it a botched robbery. What actually happened was his henchman took piece literally out of,” before his mic was cut off. He was put back on the air 20 seconds later and everything seemed normal enough afterwards, but it was announced the next day that he was being sent for an evaluation.

“I want to thank everyone for your kind sentiments and words of encouragement over the last couple of weeks. It has meant a lot to me during what has been a very difficult time,” Barnett said in today’s statement. “Effective immediately, for health reasons I will be taking an indefinite leave of absence from my broadcasting duties that I expect to last for the remainder of the season. I would ask that you please respect the privacy of me and my family during this time.”

Steve Busby, who was doing radio play-by-play, will continue to fill in for Barnett on the TV side.