I’ll let you get back to warming up your television sets after a winter of presumed disuse in anticipation of 2013’s first Spring Training telecast on SNY in a moment. I just wanted to let you know Gary Cohen, the greatest baseball announcer working today (or any other day), is profiled beautifully by Greg Hanlon of Capital New York. Read it here…and not just to learn what blogs Gary goes to when he and his cablecast colleagues aren’t making the Mets the best show in town.
This starts Gary Cohen’s 25th year as Mets play-by-play announcer, 17 years exclusive to radio, eight all of a sudden on TV. That’s institution territory, and I don’t necessarily mean what describing in detail a quarter-century’s worth of Mets baseball might put a person in. By the time the first 25 years of the franchise were outta here, we knew we had been treated to the aural trip of a lifetime with Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy, the only other announcers in Mets history with longer tenures behind in-game microphones. How lucky are we, if we experienced the Original Three — the sublime Lindsey Nelson checked out after the first 17 seasons — to have picked up the journey with Gary Cohen in 1989, let alone Howie Rose (in our ears since 1987, announcing full-time since 1996), not to mention their respective current partners?
If you missed Ralph, Bob and Lindsey, or only got a taste of Ralph and Bob or, for that matter, never took in the full McCarver when that was something to behold, I feel bad for you. But I don’t feel terrible, because we’re living in another golden age of Mets broadcasting right now. We haven’t had that many on the field. We’ve been pretty damn lucky over the air.
Happy exhibition baseball to one and all…and a Happiest Recap, too!
Happy Spring Training and Happy 25th Gary!
We love you Gary!
Lets go Mets!
Be interesting to hear you guys in the booth in him one day. Ever get an invite?
Er, with him, I mean.
We work too blue for the FCC’s taste to be broadcast into 167,000 homes.
Hi Greg,
Can’t believe it’s already been a quarter century with Gary Cohen. He and Howie do deserve to be put in the same category as Ralph, Bob and Lindsey. We have the best color guys too – nobody can beat Keith and Ron. What a pleasure throughout our Met lives.
But guys, you are no John Sterlings. :)
“..the full McCarver when that was something to behold…”
I’m relieved that it’s not just my imagination that thought he was actually good at one time. I’m still a little shocked at how bad he is now.
RTS was to the 1980s Mets what GKR is to today, except the baseball was a whole lot better.
Gary and Howie should be the next inductees in the Mets HOF. They are both very deserving and there are literally not two people on the planet for whom it would be more of a thrill.
Bob and Ralph were in their 23rd season with Mets when they got the HOF call, so it’s not crazy. Problem is Howie and Gary are on the committee, so they’d have to be lured out of the room to vote them in.
Yes, Gary knows a lot & is a pretty bright guy but he announces like he’s on radio – telling us everything that we can plainly see. I’ll never forget when Jackie Robinson’s widow was in the booth & she was talking & he spoke over her with, “…a grounder to short, one out…”
Don’t know which JR Night that was. If it was early years of SNY, I could understand it, the transfer from radio to TV still taking. Otherwise I haven’t noticed anything like that lately.
Yeah, when they show those rare 1986 games on Mets Classics, it’s kind of astonishing– McCarver was pretty terrific, and he and Kiner togethef were borderline brilliant.