Terrific article! My father, who lives in FL now, mailed me the pages but I had to look it up here as they were missing some text. I've been telling him for years how much I enjoy the Mets booth.The knowledge, the insight, the gags, the camaraderie, all together make watching my boys lose to often a better experience.
Thanks for sending me the article Dad, and thanks to Mr. Gordon for writing it.
1
The article quickly establishes that Ron went to Yale, but it never mentions that Gary, who is credited with having "encyclopedic knowledge", is also a graduate of an Ivy League school (Columbia).
It's a small matter , but belies consistency.
Otherwise, I'm also a life-long Mets fan who watches Gary Keith and Ron every night all summer. They're worth my time, even if the team often is not. Great article!
4
Holy cow! You huckleberries - the Yankees have had their share of interesting broadcasters as well. Granted, the current television crew is a little dull, but have you listened to the Yankees on the radio? Based on his play-by-play John Sterling apparently lives in an alternate reality. However, his carefully crafted artisanal home run calls are cringeworthy and astonishing – a source of wonder for Yankee fans.
This article made my whole weekend. I hope Devin Gordon is working on a book; I wanted to read a lot more! Perfect balance between deft writing and a deep understanding of what it means to love the Mets. Thank you!
2
when my daughter moved to Manhattan for school I told her she could cheer for the Yankees, even the Knicks, but not the hated Mets. (she settled on the Riveters although that is another story.) the Mets? ych.
What a thoroughly enjoyable article, on par in sharpness and wit with the work of its subjects. Look forward to hearing more from Devin Gordon.
Having been a Met fan since my father took me to the Polo Grounds at age 6 in '62 to see the Giants (his old team), I'm well familiar with all the broadcast teams we've had, and I agree that Gary, Keith, and Ron are the best, with a unique collective talent for making it entertaining to watch even the most depressing game. However, I was also a big fan of Ralph and Tim back in the 80's (unfortunately diminished by the eminently lackluster Steve Zabriskie). Having read a good number of the comments here, I'm surprised to have seen no mention of Tim. I know many people considered him obnoxious, especially in his later years with Fox, but I found him to be an astute and insightful commentator who greatly enhanced my understanding of the game, while also being quite humorous. I always recall with a chuckle his observation of the match up between Jim Gott and Tim Teufel as being God vs. the Devil (translation from German).
No other Tim fans out there?
3
I grew up in LA listening to Vince Scully broadcasting the Dodgers. Hard to beat him but the Mets radio and TV teams are the best I've heard since. At least they've got that right!
Thank you. Wonderful column. I haven't lived in New York for 35 years and I've become a fan of the teams - Orioles and Royals - in other places I've lived since. But there's always a special place in my heart for the Mets (my daughter, now 21, may be the only kid in Kansas who can sing "Meet the Mets"). Here's hoping Gary Keith Ron, and the rest of us, get that championship season soon.
1
I am a huge Mets fan, and have loved listening to them going all the way back to Bob Murphy, Lindsay Nelson, and Ralph Kiner (which, oddly enough, was also always the order the names were announced in, not dissimilar to how it's always "Gary, Keith, and Ron").
And I thought this was a terrific article in every respect except one: I'm sorry, but in this day and age, I would have preferred NOT to hear the description of Keith's "globally recognized top to bottom scan," nor his commentary on one of the young women he encountered that day at his book signing. There was plenty of anecdotal evidence of "Keith being Keith," as any Mets fan knows when they hear it, to have omitted that unhelpful vignette. It didn't add to the article, and, to me, even detracted a little.
Otherwise, though, great piece. Devin's description of enthusiasm for the Mets being like a puppy repeatedly running into a glass door is both sweet and so true, most Mets fans probably can really relate to it (I know I can).
1
Let's hear more from Devin Gordon. A marvelous piece of writing.
3
Well, Ronnie, Gary went to Columbia. https://www.college.columbia.edu/cct_archive/jul_aug06/features2.html
1
Awesome article Devin!
On so many levels. I’ve been a Mets fan since 1969 and have ridden out the highs and lows (mostly lows) year in and year out.
You really captured the magnificent chemistry and insight Mets fans get to enjoy each night listening to Gary Keith and Ron. What a pleasure, regardless of the outcome.
Us Met fans are resigned to our yearly dose of self inflicted misery, but those magical moments like 1969, 1973, 1986 and 2015 are just enough to keep us eternally optimistic and dreaming of next year.
Also enjoyed the bits of Yankee bashing! They are absolutely atrocious to listen to.
Great job! Just wait till next year.
Josh Levin and Howie Rose are wonderful too.
2
@Steve Schwartz
Indeed they are!! And if you have been a Mets fan long enough to remember Gary Cohen and Howie Rose on the radio together, you heard some really great baseball announcing.
Because we are close in age and I am also from Queens, both Howie and Gary seem like old friends, guys I would hung out with in high school. Their return every year, along with the return of baseball each spring, is an annual moment of pure joy for me.
I am a lifetime Phillies fan living in exile in New York. I remember with great fondness Richie Ashburn and Harry Kallas. Even though I root hard against the Mets I find the Mets TV announcers to be great. They are always objective and appreciative of the players and plays of the opposition. They are not "homers" though clearly and properly rooting for the Mets. I particularly think Ron Darling is a great analyst with a pleasing personality and tremendous insight that he clearly expresses. Now if only the Phillies could start beating the Mets
2
These three guys along with Howie Rose make it a joy to listen to a losing Mets season.
Wait until next year
2
Love this. Such a great piece of writing. Mets fan since 1979, when WOR carried the games and we got them via cable in San Juan. Thank you, Devin, for capturing the charms of this trio and for preserving a bit of that Mets magic, which may not have given us many championships, but has left us some beautiful, unpretentious baseball writing. Call out to Michael Powell, who can also wax poetic about those Metsies.
4
The Mets games are dull. The booth doesn't help. Bland. The bottom line is when you have to write thousands of words about your announcing team, it speaks volumes about your baseball team.
@Chris Mchale
You can always tell who's a yankees fan.
2
@Dennis
Without a doubt!
Great writing. Thanks for a dozen perfect lines. “Every expense has been spared,” just one of many.
2
Nice job, Mr. Gordon! An article as entertaining as its subjects.
1
Great article by Devin!!
As a 50 year NY Yankees fan, I too agree that the Mets ALWAYS have top notch broadcasters, both on TV and radio. I felt they were always more interesting than the post-Messer, Rizzuto, & White, Yankee broadcast team. I always enjoyed listening to Ralph Kiner's stories, his Kiner's Korner guests, and his malapropisms. Howie Rose is great on the radio and I always enjoyed listening to him and Bob Murphy. This current TV team is in that same vein. Always a great listen.
My wife is a Mets fan, and whenever the Yanks/Mets square off, we listen/watch mostly the Mets TV broadcast.
We've listened to local booths through the MLB Network and most of them are truly boring. No need for sleeping pills.
-JGS (husband)
6
I hate baseball and could not care less about the mets, so I read through this to see if there was one iota of redemption. And I had fun. Maybe I will get Serious radio and listen.
3
Man can Devin Gordon Write! Superb piece on what I feel is the best Broadcast booth in the game! Never a dull moment. Hope to read more of Devin's writing
1
Great piece, but a minor quibble. While it's true that Ronnie was born in Hawaii, he's really from the Boston area. That's where he grew up and attended school.
2
Regarding a losing season, as an American living in Spain I think it's a pity that we don't use the relegation system in America. Here, if your soccer team in among the three worst last year, it has to play in another, lesser league. So the second half of the season is very bit as tense and exciting for most teams. The last month is a nail-biter for several. The level of suspense and emotion is greater for the weakest teams because their not fighting for a trophy; they're fighting for their professional lives.
If we used the relegation system in football and baseball, there would be no three months of "meaningless" ball. Every down, every pitch, every play would matter all the way to the last game of the season.
I've been telling all of my baseball friends about Gary, Keith and Ron for years. They are the best in the business, and we as Mets fans are very lucky to have them for so long.
Looking forward to next year!
6
I am both a New York Mets & Baseball fan.
Baseball as a sport requires a player on any level to be able to perform multiple roles with skill & ability.
Throwing, catching, running, hitting; some of these at the same time. Baseball is as much a physical sport as a mental sport, which requires players to think about what is happening during a game & how they can affect the outcome for both themselves & their team. Baseball players have to be flexible, nimble, subtle & focused.
While the game may be boring to the casual viewer, it takes a lot of energy both physical & mental to play the game at a competitive level.
I was a Mets fan from the beginning. I suffered through all of their sad & sorry seasons for the too few great ones to be cherished!
During the mid-1980's The Mets were The Team. They had a wonderful collection of players, all of which had personalities that stood out.
From this fascinating array, two have moved on to make a name for themselves as color announcers for Mets games.
Keith & Ron are consummate baseball professionals & students of the game, both as athletes & historians. Both have great analytical skills & the gift of gab.
Gary, a professor of baseball statistics & a colorful announcer in his own right, poses questions to his booth mates, who take the time to give the listeners a better understanding of the game from the inside.
The three of them has elevated my understanding & appreciation of the game my father introduced me to when I was a child.
4
After being a Mets fan since the beginning (I'm 77) i decided to watch a few Yankee games this summer. After listening to the Yankee announcers for a few games I could no longer continue. Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, now Gary Ron Keith have kept me a Mets watcher of every game!!!
4
I’ve been listening to Yankee broadcasts since 1959. No one touches Rizzuto and Bill White for pure entertainment. I think Michael Kay is bored. Yankees should just team up Cone and O’Neill, they have the sly humor of relaxed athletes and spot on insights. And don’t get me going on Sterling. Sometimes it seems like Walkman’s job is to gently correct his calls and wake him up.
Mets devotee since 1964, being a dedicated Mets fan is similar to nothing else in sports... except only for... the Knicks.
Gary Ron and Keith are peerless as a trio, but Walt Clyde Frazier is every bit their equal as the hilarious offbeat spirited experienced one-of-a-kind commentator on all NY Knicks tv broadcasts with his unforgettable gift of language:
1. "Baker the shot maker"
2. "Melo is Percolating"
3. "Rose with the shake and bake"
4. "Spinning and winning on the baseline"
5. "Giveth then he taketh"
6. "A dubious call by the officials"
7. "Beguiling and bedeviling the Knicks that time"
8. "Wheeling and dealing"
9. "Rose cruising and bruising"
10. "Will it be glory or more purgatory?"
11. "Rose one time too many going to the well"
12. "Eratic, charasimatic, dramatic, acrobatic: that's JR"
13. "Rises with the left hand on Pachulia, ain't that peculiar?"
14. "Weaving and Achieving"
15. "Curling and Swirling that time"
16. "Intoxicating move, leaving and inebriating with that stuff"
17. "Slicing and dicing that time"
18. "He's ubiquitous on the offense"
2
@sol hurok
Please! Gary, Ron, & Keith are the best in the business, but Clyde Frazier pales by comparison. Frazier is an insufferable egotist, who is constantly trying to sound intelligent, but consistently misuses fancy vocabulary words & makes a fool out of himself every time he does so.
Part of the greatness of Gary, Ron, & Keith is that they are so down to earth, honest, open, & unpretentious. Frazier is the antithesis of that; he is the most pretentious figure in the sports world this side of Rickey Henderson.
1
This is a wonderful feature with the exception of the gratuitous inclusion of one of David Cone's most boorish moments. It was really tone deaf. You are right about the Yankee broadcast booth, however. Deadly dull.
3
I thought I was the only one who turned on the Met Games just to hear the terrific Trio.
6
You're not alone my friend... it's one of me favorite times of the day.
1
As good as Gary Keith and Ron are in the booth, and I have to take his word for it because I don’t follow baseball (though I was at Game Five of the ‘69 World Series), the real star here is Devin Gordon. Just as GKandR keep folks watching and listening, Mr. Gordon’s writing did the same, with humor, understanding, and an appreciation of the game.
To the Editor: find more space in the Magazine for Devin Gordon. He can write.
11
Brilliant piece! Can’t wait for your next. As a Yankee fan I have long lamented the poor quality of their announcing. Droning shills for the team with little entertaining qualities except for maybe Leiter and Cone. Gary, Ron and Keith are the antithesis. Hope they keep it up.
8
Boy this guy can write
5
Should be nominated for a Pulitzer. What a writeup!
2
They truly are the best in baseball and we are lucky to have them. I have never understood why the Mets don't put the TV audio on the radio. The boys wouldn't have to change a thing and would be a much more entertaining broadcast. (Sorry Howie)
2
@George Meyer No way. As much as I love GKR, as someone who gets most of his Mets activity via satellite radio, Howie & Josh are terrific in their own way too.
5
This was one of the funniest, well written sports articles I’ve read in, I don’t know, forever. Hilarious beginning to end. Thanks for the explanation of the middle infielder shift.
I see this is Devin Gordon’s first piece for the NYT. I expect to read him again soon. Get going!
8
Loved this! We are longtime Mets fans and really enjoy how interesting, smart and funny they are. We miss them during the winter and are disappointed when the game is on ESPN. Thanks for an entertaining piece!
8
It's always intrigued me how sports fan feel the need to trash announcers who aren't their favorites. We see it in this piece, regarding the YES team, and in the comments. "Michael Kay is a travesty." "Ken Harrelson is the worst announcer west of John Sterling." I wouldn't want to sit next to any of these fans during a ball game. There's nothing more boring than a know-it-all.
I don't think Keith Hernandez is particularly "zany" (a riff on Chicago pizza? Really?), but I recognize his strengths as a broadcaster. And for every instance when Ron Darling accurately predicts what a pitcher will do, I'm sure there are many more when it goes the other way. But he's interesting to listen to, which is the essence of his job. So, too, I'd argue, are David Cone and Al Leiter, particularly they're talking about the psychology of pitching.
Devin Gordon's point is that the quality of NY baseball broadcasters is in inverse proportion to the quality of their respective teams. I think it's an unfortunate angle. He could have demonstrated how good these guys are without telling us how bad the other guys are. Then again, we're talking about the Yankees and the Mets, so trash-talking is inevitable.
3
@NA The comparison with the Skankees (Yankees) was tangential. His point was the excellence of THIS booth, and it was illustrated in a number of ways, such as their excellent ratings, year-in and year-out. They were also compared with other broadcasting teams, both superior (Kruk and Kuip) and inferior (Chicago). Your perception of the "angle" is, I think, more reflective of your need to defend your team (especially when they fall short in a comparison) than of the actual contents of the article
@metsfan: Gordon might not have dwelled at length on the comparison to the Yankees broadcasting team, but his point was hardly tangential. Also, he’s a very good writer. But mentioning David Cone’s off-the-field problems without doing the same for Keith Hernandez is not good journalism.
1
A truly outstanding piece. Thoroughly entertaining. Well done. Thank you! Thank you!
12
“We’re not like Yankee fans, in other words, many of whom inherited the team from their fathers, who inherited it from their fathers, or who chose it out of some genetic predisposition to front-running.”
I grew up hundreds of miles from any MLB team, thousands of miles from NYC. Often a local radio station picked up Vin Scully’s broadcasts. I watched the game of the week on TV with my Dad and Uncle Willie (who spent most of WWII in a German POW camp). Dizzy Dean’s home run call: “Fans, as you seen on your screen, that ball was tagged!” We read box scores and standings in the papers and followed Mantle’s tape measure home runs. We prized Yankees baseball cards. I blurted out an explicative when Mazeroski’s homer beat the Yankees in the World Series, outing my hidden transistor radio to Sister Francis Monica who confiscated it with a brass ruler whack across my knuckles. My Dad and Uncle Willie have been gone a long time. Their sons and daughters inherited the Yankees, the Fighting Irish and the Packers from them. We bequeathed them to succeeding generations. This year in honor of Uncle Willie I wore a Yankees tie to his grandson’s wedding, prompting smiles and tears. My brother and I put Dad's ashes in an end zone of ND Stadium years ago. We have multi-generational group texts during every Yankees and ND game. Inheriting and bequeathing sports teams can form strong family ties that bind long after the original fans have passed on. I’m so grateful for this gift.
4
@Woodsterama
Thank you so much for your comment - in the current over-commercialized world of ESPN screamers and print-media know-it-alls -- people often forget - if, indeed. they ever knew - about the strong bonds shared by family and friends surrounding their teams over multi generations --
My mother loved to tell the story of how I was asleep in my crib - six months old - in October of 1951 - only to be awakened by screams joy coming from my mom and her girlfriend - both fans of the New York Giants - as Bobby Thompson hit his home run and the man on the radio yelled "The Giants win the pennant - The Giants win the pennant...!"
Also -
On the very first date I had with the woman who is now my wife - within the first fifteen minutes of our conversation - we discovered we were both Yankee fans - a wonderful ice-breaker --
These bonds - created by the shared love of a sports team - are just as strong as that old family recipe - or the scrapbook with photos and clippings from years past --
Thanks again for sharing your memories with us...
1
A classic piece of sports writing.
11
Thank you, Mr. Gordon. Thank you.
7
These guys are the best, they are so good at their jobs that my wife is now a Mets fan because of Gary, Ron & Keith!
4
@Michael Mc
While it is so difficult to be a Mets Fan - so frustrating - it is such a pleasure to listed to Gary Keith Ron. I'm also a big fan of Howie Rose on the radio. All of them are in stark contrast to the Yankees TV and Radio teams. Nuff said.
2
Gotta love that trio.
5
A lifelong red sox fan, we used to have it good. Remy and Orsillo knew that we were watching the game too and did not feel the need to micro broadcast every tiny thing.
Then Orsillo got traded to the Padres, and Jerry got sick (feel better Remdog!) leaving us with the Dave O'brien bot and Eckersley.
Eckersley is a lot like country music, a little goes a long way. With his "hair", "gas", "cheese" and iron, first time listeners need an eck dictionary "just to stay in shape".
I'd love to see the whole broadcast blown up. I want 360 go-pro like cameras, high speed cameras, the kind that can show a bullet leaving a gun for replays and a big couch full of commentators, special guests (Papi), beer, snacks, and that Alex Spiers guy holding it all down.
Don't even have it in the broadcast booth. Have it in the studio with a 7 second delay (Papi). You'd have a winner.
2
I've lived in LA for a while. (Sorry, but I thought Vin Scully was boring calling games alone, telling same old stories every game. Wish his ego would've allowed for a veteran color-man to add to the broadcasts. Angels broadcasts suffered when they let Rex Hudler go.)
Thankfully I can get Met games on MLB.com. It's painful to watch the mediocrity on the field but I Love listening to Keith and Ron (and Gary). Think every young baseball baseball wanna-be should tune in for the incredible insights on playing the game they provide on a daily basis. Best broadcast team around. Maybe ever (Sorry Ralph Kiner, Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy. You're a respectable 2nd.)
7
The baseball season is so long. Some would say the game is so slow. Baseball is a great way to hang fire.
Hence, it is imperative that the local broadcast crew bring some color and comedy in between the hits and homers. So many of these baby-boom generation announcers are professionally bland and stiff compared to the WWll-Korea era guys. Hence, three cheers for these guys.
Jerry must get a kick out of how Hernandez (a wonderful ballplayer) is best known for "Seinfeld."
It does not seem fair that a guy as athletic and good looking as Ron Darling sent to Yale. I've heard Darling on some network broadcasts, and he is really insightful for the layman.
Devin Gordon alludes to the San Francisco Giants ' Duane Kuiper. He spent the majority of MLB years on some bad Cleveland teams, and displayed a very, very low slugging percentage. Kuiper only had one home run in his career.
It is still known in Cleveland as the "Kuiper Belt."
1
No mention of any brand of a Wilpon? At least a description of their cheap ways got in there.
Great story. I've been listening for a few years now and these guys really are good at keeping your attention. Without them (Keith, Gary, & Ron) the Mets are unwatchable. I watch the Yankees a lot who have a much better and more exciting team than the Mets, but luckily the Mets and Yankees are only one channel apart so I flip back to listen to the Mets games. Great job guys!
5
...and with gentle reminders of '86
3
Keith referenced "zircon encrusted tweezers" just a few nights ago.
3
Thank your deity of choice for Keith Hernandez. The sports world, like the world generally, desperately needs antidotes to political correctness.
2
The reality might be that baseball is a victim of the times, and shaving a minute or two off the game or blaming Mike Trout will not help solve the problem.
One small quibble: Ron may have been born in Hawaii, but he most definitely a Massachusetts guy.
2
I grew up with the best of the best. No, not Vin Scully, but the mellifluous Mel Allen. HIs call of 'going, going, GONE' as Mickey Mantle hit one long into the night always sent shivers up my spine. And while I agree that Micheal Kay and Co. are, for the most part, unlistenable, I have to take exception that they somehow diminish the Yankee tradition of excellence in any way. That is simply sour grapes and the Mets will never ever taste that kind of success. Nor will any other team for that matter. Lastly, if you truly believe that the Mets are going to be 'really good' next years, you're delusional and deserve the awful team you have.
2
@kenneth62
Oh for the days of the Ballantine Blast with Mel Allen and then the sweet music of Red Barber. However Gary Keith and Ron are just terrific. It is not sour grapes to put down the Yanks Crews - both TV and Radio. They are simply bad. Michael Kay's home run call of 'see ya' is as lame as it gets and John Sterling is simply annoying. No disrespect to the ex ballplayers on Yanks TV, they simply don't have the charisma of Keith and Ron. And I am not a Yanks hater by any means. They are a special sports franchise that has been humbled a bit in recent years as fans have to some extent rebelled against the high prices at the Stadium.
Maybe they could bring back Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy and Lindsey Nelson - They knew how to rev up the audience
1
Great piece, thank you!
2
Best piece of sports writing the Times has published. Please write one on Howie and Josh as they made me Mets fans with their metaphors spinning. Thank you
4
I watch GKR daily from Seattle. Loved the article, but as most articles do about this crew, the focus is always Keith. Would've liked a little more light on the other guys. Also, we don't need automatic men on base to speed up baseball - not "supercool" - and I know GKR have my back there.
1
i have been very fortunate first growing up as a bklyn dodger fan with red barber and vince scully,
and now equally fortunate as bklyn dodgers morphed into mets fans to have gary, keith and ron who are the greatest.
they keep me watching the mets no matter how low we sink in the standings
great article
3
When ESPN takes a Mets game for their network it is SHEER TORTURE to watch without the homey, funny, brilliant, laser-smart trio of Gary, Keith and Ron. These guys are like your best buddies, your Dad, your sports crazed brother, the voices of your days of glory and heartache as Mets fans.
They make it easy to stay with a team whose flubs, struggles, meltdowns and tribulations are legendary. They are, quite simply, family.
7
Have to disagree completely. Hernandez is out of touch with the modern game. Darling keeps auditioning for GM, and no matter how many arcane facts he adds what’s his name’s repetitive chirping of the other two is insufferable.
1. Please lock in Devin Gordon for a long-term deal. In terms of September call-ups, he's made the club.
2. Maybe a little bit more about Ronnie. What is great about him as a broadcaster is that he was a good enough player to be credible and understands pitchers as well as anyone, but not so great like A-Rod that he comes across as a know-it-all who rarely struggled. Keith may be the 'straw that stirs the drink' but Darling is the top-shelf gin that you need to for the cocktail to be at it's best.
3. Gary is truly one of the best PBP announcers there is. He has a great change of gears when things heat up, command of pertinent facts, and does not re-state the obvious to an abusive degree as his cross-town colleagues love to do.
Baseball is not going to become a 2 hour game full of explosive highlights. I do not believe replay has made it a better game, it has slowed it way down, and the umpiring is less confident and accurate than it used to be, as anyone would be if they knew their initial decision was immediately subject to revision. If you insist on replay, 60 seconds to review a play. If you can't determine in one minute that the wrong call was made, the call stands.
Finally 'The Shift' is HIDEOUS ANTI-BASEBALL and if Rob Manfred had a spine he would ban it starting in 2019. No one I know who has watched baseball for any length of time likes it. It is KILLING the game as it has been played for a century.
7
@Jerseyjon thanks for the thoughtful note! i had a ton more to say about ronnie and gary, who i loved and who are fascinating in their own right, but we had to trim so much because "all the news that fits," etc etc. some other time!
1
Loved this article - captured the spirit of the booth and the fans who love the awesomely hapless Mets. 2019 is just around the corner....LGM!!
2
As an ex-Brooklyn Dodger fan the move to the Mets natural, yes, I refuse to watch Yankee games and I associate Yankee fans and Trump fans ....
The trio are a joy, I sense Keith is a political conservative and Ron a progressive and Gary the arbiter .... together the banter is usually far more interesting than the game.
Sadly only a week to go, football commentary is drab, at least we can start bemoaning the failures of the Knicks in a few short months ...
And, yes, son and grandchildren are avid Mets, Jets and Ranger fans .... and my granddaughter loves the colors of soccer team uniforms ....the sports world, she is achanging.
1
@Goodman Peter fwiw, i had to cut for space a bit about gary's twitter feed, which he scrolls thru during broadcasts to stay up on news around the league -- he only follows about 150 and its mostly MLB folks but also a handful of progressives / MSNBC types
And this sure beats the Detroit Tigers crew, who were last seen beating each other up in the booth.
2
Great baseball commentators. Real pros.
1
Make baseball fun again when this team continues to disappoints and has owners who only care about $ and will not sell to real baseball owners.
1
Yes, some announcers are great and some are awful. Some repeat the same wisdom so many times that you want to vomit, and a few, usually on the national broadcasts don't belong in the booth at all. In the end, I watch Met games and Yankee games for the baseball and not the announcers. No matter how good or how bad a team is doing, there usually is a matchup or a player worth watching. A true fan is not a front runner. Remember, if you don't like the chatter you can always turn the sound off and just watch (that doesn't work with a radio broadcast).
Brilliant article. Perfectly captured the essence of this great announcing trifecta. My favorite line of many... "[Keith] has been more like the Cosmo Kramer of the Mets’ booth — a sui generis human specimen who couldn’t be more Keith Hernandez if he tried, and he is definitely trying."
3
You know there is trouble when the announcers are more interesting than the team. Go Booth Go!
1
Hitters, adjust to the shift. Learn how to hit the other way.
5
As much as I love all three, and consider them extremely talented as broadcasters, still nothing can compare to the original threesome of Lindsay Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy. Particularly Murphy, he truly lived each season and expressed it through the microphone.
@Martin X While our memories will always preserve what we remember with warmth and glow, we tend to forget how times have changed and media matures. Lindsay, Ralph & Bob were the best "announcers" (IMHO) of their day, but would sound a bit stale today. As someone who has had a 35+ career on-air, it is those who adhere to the styles of the past that find their skills mundane and unchallenged. In essence, pluck the original trio as they were and plop them into the booth today and my money is on disappointment.
Gary, Keith & Ron are the best "team" there is today, maybe better than prior teams because they've not only incorporated what worked in the past, but have brought it into today. We no longer want announcers in the booth, we want people.
Good piece. Yes, Gary appears to be a super-genius, at times; and Ron extremely smart; and well, I hope all this doesn't go to Keith's head, but he seems like a swell guy too. Hey, let's not forget the folks in the truck.
There's a very slight chance I'd watch golf tournaments if only these guys decided to extend themselves into that sport.
Thanks for posting my comment NYT.
2
A note to the writer Devin Gordon: Did you really need to make that that comment about David Cone? The comment was out of context, unnecessary and marred what was obviously a thoroughly enjoyable piece for so many readers. If I wanted to read a comment like that, I would just follow the Supreme Court.
2
@Spider Marks. I agree. That dig at Cone was completely gratuitous, as relevant to the former pitcher’s contributions as a broadcaster as Keith Hernandez’s admitted cocaine use in the 1980s is to his. Petty and unnecessary.
1
New Yorker and Yankee fan, who loves baseball. I greatly enjoy Gary, Ron, and Keith when I have occasion to watch the Mets. I love my SF Giants, and Kruk and Kuip, along with John Miller, are sublime. There is nothing like their post-game show, which is even more laid back than their play-by-play. As for the Yankees, they have terrific people in the booth, and life is not complete without John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman, our radio lifeline when out and about. As good as Gary, Ron, and Keith are, the Mets are painful to watch, so you are left with discussions about Keith's cat's bowel movements. Yankees produce impeccable broadcasts, with dynamic camera work and brilliantly produced pre and post games. Bob Lorenz and Jack Curry (former NY Times reporter) are nothing short of brilliant with their fast-paced analysis. Meredith Marakovits is a dynamic field reporter. The games move like lightning, concluding with terrifically edited game summaries. We're in the broadcast capital of the world - and they use it!
2
Love these guys and eagerly await Mets games against the Nats. I'm able to watch the Mets delightful broadcast. GKR will tell me things about the Nats I did not know. The Nats TV team are insufferable---total homers. The radio guys are OK, play it straight, but rarely criticize. The Nats deserve criticism after their poor showing this year. Thank you GKR for providing it.
Great piece . Gary Keith & Ron. Thank you.
Great article. It takes soul, stoicism and a sense of humor to be a Mets fan (or to be Jacob DeGrom). The trio in the booth fits just right. I hope the Mets contend next season so they and their singular broadcast team will be on MLB Network regularly, and delight farflung fans like me. Hang in there, Keith. Someday you'll be in Cooperstown where you belong, sporting the finest bronze mustache in the entire joint.
1
Even if you don't love baseball, the Mets or Gary Keith and Ron (and I do, although a fairweather love), this is brilliant.
More of Devin Gordon writing about anything please.
3
I grew up with ‘dem bums’ and the ‘ol redhead’. I even wanted to be a broadcaster. I would make up a game, roll dice and announce what was happening according to the number. And then, a teenager’s heart was broken, my boyhood idols fled to the other coast. I had suffered their many indignities, still hoping some good wood emerge; yes, they finally won but the dropped third strike still riles me. How could I switch allegiance to the YANKEES; they wear pin stripe suits, LIKE BANKERS. And when the Mets emerged, I could once again immerse myself in hopelessness, what joy. Even at my advanced age I will tune in from time to time to see how they are doing. With the Mets the game never ends until the opposition has made the third out; I hold my breadth. These three guys doing the color are pretty good. Maybe they could add a prayer at some point when the people’s team is ahead.
1
What makes the Yankees radio announcers entertaining is they're so bad. Last time the Yankees had any announcers that were truly entertaining were Phil Rizzuto and Bill White. Rizzuto would leave early to beat the traffic back to Jersey, but he earned that right.
1
@Bob M - Ma Pinstripe (Suzyn Waldman) is a fabulous radio voice for the Yankees. She knows the game and lots of stats, applies her knowledge with a light touch, clearly has rapport with the players and managers she interviews and keeps John Sterling from bloviating to excess. When I watch a game on tv, I turn the volume down and play FAN's coverage. Love her!
1
The Yankees radio announcers are not bad. They are the most entertaining. I’ll take Sterling’s Broadway show references over Keith’s - they’re funnier.
@Bob M in my very first draft i had a line about a childhood memory of watching scooter spend three innings talking about garlic bread
Big Yankee fan but I love Gary Keith and Ron. Howie on radio is the best in NY on either team, TV or radio.
But while Sterling and Waldman are a painful listen, Michael Kay is a very good ringmaster and works well with Cone and Singleton. O’Neil is a lovable buffoon but actually know baseball well. Too bad he has a limited vocabulary and short attention span.
Thank you for a very enjoyable read.
My family’s journey to Met fandom was a combo of first generation baseball junkie (Grandpa Jack) and Brooklyn Dodger refugee (Dad). I came of baseball age at the same time as the writer, with what became the ‘86 Mets.
As a kid, my idols included Strawberry, but mostly Doctor K and Mex, Keith Hernandez. Very close behind were Mookie and Ron Darling, Gary Carter, and all the rest.
I rekindled my fan(atic) style interest in 1999 and 2000, having graduated college and returned home.
As adulthood set in, and with it work, travel - a wife - it became harder to devote interest to 162 games a year. Tonight’s West Wing or Sopranos episode became more interesting, and how much watching of a (usually) bad team could I fairly subject my wife to?
The one thing that tuned me in one or two nostalgic nights every long out of it September would be Gary Keith and Ron.
Then something Amazin’ happened this season. My older son, 6 years old, became Mets obsessed. I don’t know quite how it happened? Sure, he had been enjoying little league, and getting more interested in the game or two a year we would attend. He knew he was genetically programmed a Met fan. But I really wasn’t pushing to watch the game.
Yet he started watching games. Then asking me to record them. By summer’s end, he had watched and rewatched more games than not. On Sunday I’m taking him to the season finale. But I’ll be recording it too. We’ll spend a winter with what brought HIM to Mets fandom. Gary Keith and Ron.
2
Nice...Dad :)
I don't care how good or entertaining these guys are. They'll never top Bob Murphy, Lindsay Nelson and Ralph Kiner.
Keith is so terribly out -of-touch with today's game and often acts quite the Prima Donna now. He can be let go and I wouldn't mind it one bit!
Gary holds that whole thing together BEAUTIFULLY. Im once heard a game called when only Ron & Keith were in the booth and it was disastrous!
My husband's parents had a factory in Queens and often took their three boys to Mets games. I grew up in a house full of Yankee fans. You can see the tears on the page in my diary from the day Thurmon Munson died. My husband indoctrinated our kids early. I would ask him, "Why must you force our children to endure a life or perpetual disappointment?" But I confess that lately I've been rooting for the Mets myself. The booth is great--so funny and so interesting. The Yankees are best watched with the mute button on. Too bad you can't mute Sterling on the radio...
2
If Keith starts talking about the Strawberry Alarm Clock, Ronnie is eating ice cream, and Gare is straight-man moderating them AND calling a game, I will watch regardless of the score. GKR are familiar voices in my home--equal parts comfort food, big-brother bickering and baseball savants.
2
Gary Keith and Ron are an incredible broadcasting team. As a Mets fan, even when my team is not playing well (which happens often), I still get a kick out of listening to their play-by-play. They seem to genuinely enjoy being together, they're funny and they have deep baseball knowledge. Long may they preside over the Mets TV broadcasts!
What a wonderfully written piece.
1
Great annaology of Michael Kay, the “Hannity” of Yankees Nation.
Keith would get the boot as a Yankee broadcaster after one week for being too critical of the Yankees.
2
Great article. So true about sports announcing. The Yankee announcers are dreadful and others are so painful to listen to. Gary Keith and Ron are a joy. They appreciate, love, know the game so well and pass on this love to us, the listeners. I almost like the Mets losing so I can hear what these guys are going to say.
1
If all sports writers were this good, I would read more sports writing. A great piece.
1
"Every expense has been spared."
Excellent article, hilarious, and the writing is as good as the broadcasting!
4
Citifield has a large playing surface. The Mets need to take advantage of that by playing, not necessarily "small-ball" but by striving to make contact. Forget the homer's, they'll come though not necessarily in abundance. It's no coincidence that the Mets tend to have good pitching. The vast expanse of Cirifield's playing surface contributes to that.
GR&K are a pleasure to listen to, and I am primarily a Yankee fan. Thanks guys for making the season more fun that it had any right to be.
2
I’m a lifelong Mets fan and that was spot on. We were blessed with Ralph. Murphy and Lindsay but these guys might be even better. Except Ralph. That said. Howie Rose, who is marvelous, deserves a better partner than the boring jabbering Josh or even Wayne.
Can't get the Mets games here in Colorado, so can't comment on the quality of the Mets broadcast team. From the very well written article and the other comments the guys sound great. Some of us. especially those who grew up in the NY Metro area, know well Mel Allen (Yanks), Red Barber (Dodgers) and Russ Hodges (Giants, who screamed into the mic "the Giants win the pennant" about 25 times after Bobby Thompson's home run). These guys announced games all by themselves and made it sound great. By the way the "shift" goes back, at least in my memory, to when Ted Williams was at bat. BTW, I inherited the Yankees.
You had me laughing out loud. I love when Gary, Keith and Ron go to the old baseball cards during real stinkers. They always have interesting stories to tell about the older players. Since moving from tri-state area I’ve kept up with MLB app. When I have to watch on ESPN I really miss these guys. The game isn’t the same without their commentary. I hope we can give them a winner next year.
2
Well done! You've described the mayhem perfectly and that is exactly what keeps us all listening...these three together are truly a treat for serious and amateur fans, alike. Smart, funny, and familiar. As a lifelong Mets fan, my greatest regret is actually when I'm at Citifield enjoying the atmosphere, the food, the game but I can't hear the banter of the best broadcast team in the game. And, seriously, next year....
Terrific and well-deserved article about the most entertaining and insightful broadcasting team in baseball. The tone of the piece (with the exception of the cheap shot at David Cone) truly captures the tone of Gary Keith and Ron. Who else would think to read from the media guide during the 25-4 loss to the Nats (and, no, I didn't sit through that whole thing) and leave their audience wanting more?
The line that "Mets fans are baseball's unwanted stepchildren" stood out to me, because you could take that a step further and say that the Times frequently treats the club itself as an unwanted stepchild. In past years, the paper has assigned rookies to cover the team, at least one of whom went on to cover the Yankees. And how often in recent years has the Times not even bothered to send a reporter to a game, using an AP story instead. Yes, this is a bad team, but they deserve a beat reporter from the hometown paper. There are always compelling stories to tell -- just ask Gary Keith and Ron.
3
Yanks fan, inherited the team from my dad. Devin you are, I guess, too young to have heard Phil Rizzuto doing Yankee games, but he was awesome, like New York's nutty uncle...and today Paul O'Neill kinda fits that role. One of the great things about O'Neill is that when you saw him play, you never thought he'd turn out to be this happy goofball in the booth.
@Diego nope! i am old. in my first too-long draft of the piece i had a line about a childhood memory watching scooter spend 3 innings talking about garlic bread. at the time i thought he was inane but in retrospect it kinda makes me laugh
I still revisit Gary’s call of Bartolo Colon’s first major league home run (“The impossible has happened!”) any time I’m looking for a bit of inspiration.
I thoroughly enjoyed this inside look at the booth. Thanks.
@Charlie Van Kirk (me too)
as a lifelong Mets fan, going back to the spring of 1962 and the Polo Grounds, I can't agree more!!! these three guys are a New York treasure - I often tune in just to enjoy their banter and observations, even when the Mets were out of the post season some time in early May!
Gary, Ron and Keith, never give it up - you are the best trio in all of sports, hands-down!
1
I'm a 63 year old died-in-the-wool Yankee fan that hated the Mets so much that I rooted for the Red Sox to beat them in '86 (it pains me just to say that). But I now find I watch the Mets telecast as much as the Yankees just to listen to these three and have become a closet (I guess not anymore) Mets fan.
2
I watch YES, David Cone is insightful and funny, should be there more often.
1
I'm a devoted Yankee fan and when I was growing up, I remember listening to the wonderful trio of Mel Allen, Red Barber and Phil Rizzuto. Cohen, Darling and Hernandez are their equals.
1
I'm a lifelong Yankees fan who grew up in the Bronx, and I must say that the Yankees radio play by play team is godawful, with no particular character and a firm grasp of the obvious. The TV announcers are much better, but none of them can hold a candle to the holy trinity of Mel, Red and Phil from the early 1960s.
1
What a delicious read! It’s insightful, entertaining writing like this that keeps me reading the Times. Well done!
1
An absolutely wonderful piece that, like Gary, Keith and Ron themselves, captures both the summertime whimsy and the autumnal elegance of what was once the greatest game on earth. Reminded me of Roger Angell's best work. Permit me one gripe that highlights the big business ethos killing baseball, though. Despite what I fork over to DirecTV every year, as a Met fan living in North Carolina, my "territory" is claimed by the Nats, the Braves, the Orioles, and the Reds. How can all these teams be permitted to claim the same territory and black out my beloved Gary, Keith and Ron during the Internet age, when EVERYTHING is available EVERYWHERE? Please, Mr. Manfred, throw the diaspora a bone and update MLB's antiquated black out rules so fans like me can watch our home team's broadcast more frequently. I'm tired of pausing the TV until Howie Rose's call and the picture on my screen sync up properly. And I hate having to miss the KidCaster game tomorrow night!!
2
Nice Article but what about the Radio team which is equally great!?! I prefer listening to the games on the radio to watching on TV (i get more done around the house this way and frankly it's also more evocative for me to hear the game described and the sounds than it is to watch replays over and over.) i love listening to Howie Rose and the rest of the Mets Radio Team!
Loved this story, and love listening to Gar, Ronnie and Keith, even from 5,000 miles away in Ronnie's home state (I think he and my daughter share the same birth hospital). Grew up watching the Mets beginning in '67, saw my first game at Shea in '68 (a 1-0 loss to the Astros on a Jimmy Wynn--aka The Toy Cannon--home run, with Ron Swoboda running through a stop sign at third base trying to score the tying run and being thrown out by at least 15 feet). I learned baseball from listening to Lindsey, Bob and Ralph--especially Ralph. I loved Kiner's Korner and often wonder how Keith would handle a similar show (I doubt they could entice him to stay around after a game to do interviews). Ralph's malapropisms ("And now a word from Manufacturers Hangover") were every bit as famous as Yogi's. But his knowledge of the game was also unmatched. Keith has a little Ralph in him.
I’ve been a Baseball Giants fan since THEY played at the Polo Grounds — and my allegiance followed them to SF. This is a superb piece — which captures the expertise and appropriate whimsy of Gary, Keith & Ron. They’re terrific! The article also gives a nod to “my Giants Announcers” — Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper. “Kruk and Kuip.” And I too have often doubled over laughter caused by comments by those two. I believe that all 5 of these professionals have several things in common: (1) a deep understanding of The Game; and (2) and even deeper love of The Game.
3
Incredible article! This non-baseball fan loved it and laughed all the way through.
2
This was fantastic. Thank you !
2
They’re why I’ve continued to watch many a bad Mets team slog through the doldrums of summer. It’s a pleasure listening to them in this age of noise. They are a treasure for Mets fans.
6
People on the uptown 4 train kept looking at me as I giggled and chuckled through this. So funny!
My husband loves the Mets and Keith Gary and Ron, and has made me a big fan too. They are treasures.
6
Picking up on the author's childhood introduction to the Mets - I was 10 years old in 1969. That's all it took. No post season is fine with me, this wonderful piece of writing more than makes up for it. (And we will always have 1969.)
2
I'm a lifelong Mets fan. I saw my first game as a little kid at the Polo Grounds.
Thank you for this entertaining and well written piece of sports writing.
2
I can't say how much I enjoyed this, I think this might be my favorite piece of baseball writing. It encapsulated my experience watching the mets perfectly.
I'm a long time fan, but I've most resently been turning them on as I care for our infant son at night. I had a little ting of anxiety the other night realizing there was less then a week left. I actually thought to myself "what am I going to do"? It's just like having a friend in the room.
thanks for this Devin.
10
I am a life-long Yankee fan, but this piece makes me smile.
4
Mr. Gordon forgets that our Metsies are jinxed. Next year will bring more Mets injuries. At least we have the best announcers. As Phil Rizzuto would say..."those huckleberries!"
Now a Yankee fan but when I was young I liked the Met announcers of Lindsay Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner. They were ultimate professionals and made listening fun for everyone.
5
I had the misfortune of growing up in NJ, to parents from Massachusetts, so it was unthinkable I'd be a Yankees fan. So I grew up a Mets fan, and when I was seven and in an age when pro baseball players were Gods to me, the Mets had their amazing run in 1986. I've been ruined ever since. That was such a joyous year, with such an amazing and colorful team, and I was at such a formative age that it's never been surpassed. But the personality the 86 roster had was tremendous, as typified with Keith and Ron, and for entertainment, it's definitely better to have announcers with personality calling a disappointing season than robots calling a winning season. Good article! Let's go Mets (next year)!
2
This may have been a love letter to the Mets and their announcers, but it touched on a far more important topic. To raise an analogy that will sound odd to those who are non-religious, MLB reminds me of mainline Protestantism these days.
The ship is listing badly, members (fans) are drifting away, and the rudder seems unattended. Baseball is in deep trouble but whistles past the graveyard. The game has become strikeout or home run, no strategy anymore involving steals, hit and run or as mentioned by the author, bunting a runner over. Too many players frustrate Hernandez because he rightly sees sloppiness and laziness in the field, and on the base paths.
A summit of owners, player reps, ump reps, and the rules committee is needed to do a complete makeover of the game. Intervention is necessary as the average age of fans continues to gray.
4
@Unworthy Servant How are you going to completely make over the game without destroying it? The game will always change and the game will always adjust. I recommend having a little more faith.
As a 10 year old, I took pictures at Camera Day at Shea in 1964, the first year the stadium was open. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when Tom Seaver had a perfect game going until Jimmy Qualls broke it up in the 9th inning. I love listening to Gary, Keith and Ron because they capture so well the hope and hopelessness of being a lifelong Mets fan.
7
Lovely article, thank you. I adore these guys, we (ie, Mets fans) are so lucky to have them.
Wish I could think of examples, but I'm always blown away when Gary offers some absurd piece of trivia: "Last night, something happened that has never happened in the history of baseball..." and it will turn out that a guy started three consecutive games where he was pulled after the fifth inning, faced the minimum number of batters, and got four strikeouts, five outfield flies, and six outs at first base.
I recorded the 9/15 game at Boston, saving it for a cold dark night in midwinter.
3
Watching the Gary, Keith and Ron was a habit I developed to pass the time with my wife who was undergoing chemotherapy. In the lonely days that followed after she passed away, they became my constant companions, familiar voices that I looked forward to spending time with. Years later, they still are my favorite distraction. If they are on, I watch and enjoy the humor and camaraderie. They are the best there is as far as I am concerned and this exceptionally well written article is a tribute to their greatness.
42
I loved reading this.
It made my day.
1986
Next year will be better.
They are alive in the booth if not the field.
12
Great story. These guys make a wonderful team and certainly help us fans get through another dismal season.
9
Thanks for a wonderful description of our buddies in the booth. I've been a Met fan since '68, saw the parade in '69 from my office window, '86 from the crowd at City Hall, yet I'm happiest on a hot summer evening opening a cool one and listening to Gary, Ron and Keith call a game with my beloved, albeit sometimes stumbling, Metsies. We live away from NY now, and each year I debate picking up the broadcasts. If our trio ever leaves.... well, maybe then, we'll see.
5
@Lifesart I live in Pittsburgh. Get MLB.TV and watch the booth. Sometimes I tune into the radio which is just as good. Mets have the best all-around broadcasts in baseball. Who listens to SF? It's bedtime out East by the time they start!
3
@Paul HEY NOW- I loved this article and it definitely made me want to tune in to hear Gary Keith and Ron but leave my Giants alone :)
Wonderful piece! Such a treat to read a baseball article written by someone that understands the tiny beauties that are peppered all through and around the game (including the broadcast booth).
23
Beautiful writing - as good as the trio. Also, brought back the memories of listening to Phil Rizzuto who'll regularly ignore the field to complete his stories. Great stuff indeed.
10
And leaving the booth in the seventh inning to go home early to beat the traffic.
1
Thanks for pulling this really fun and well-written story together. I will need to find a way to tune in to hear this trio. I live on the other side of the U.S. My favorite trio (from another sport and another time) will be Frank (Herzog), Sam (Huff) and Sonny (Jurgenson) -- the three that used to broadcast Redskins games. They were very enjoyable to hear.
Thanks for your service, gentlemen.
4
I echo so many others in saying this is a great piece of writing. I laughed out loud many times. Gary, Keith and Ron make baseball what it is for me. Devin, you have to get together with Jason Smith from Fox Sports Radio (and fellow long suffering Mets fan), the two of you could stay up all night talking about the Mets.
6
This broadcast has gotten me through some very tough years, without them I think I'd be falling asleep in plenty of the games. I've listened to many other broadcast and when the game is not on SNY, I have to listen to the games on the radio because Howie and Josh are just as good! The Mets team has greatest broadcasters ever. they made me love the sport that much more.
11
I’ve been a diehard Yankees fan since I was a kid, but The Mets TV and radio teams are way better than the Yankees. When I watch the Subway Series, I always watch the Mets feed, because the announcers know how to talk and make all that dead time pass with interesting convos and interesting factoids. Gary, Ron and Keith are just a blast to listen to.
16
Really outstanding piece. As a dyed-in-the-wool Astros fan, I was surprised to find my hard-won Met-hate thawing during a two-year grad school layover in Long Island, eventually transforming into a kind of second-team-like. This had everything to do with Gary, Keith and Ron.
I just want to add one of my favorite Keithisms that Devin Gordon didn't touch on here: when asked a question he isn't prepared for, his answer is always: "That's a very interesting question, Gar," as if he's (naturally) already given the matter lots of thought. Thirty seconds later he's like as not switched the kneejerk opinion that followed to reflect Ron Darling's more soberly considered one, but you'll never catch him at a loss. It's hard not to appreciate such refined and instinctive pomposity.
8
MLB broadcasts are fundamentally different from NFL ones, partly, I think, because of the length of the season and the slow pace of the game. Because of those factors (and perhaps others) baseball fans are more local team fans while football fans are more NFL fans. Of course fantasy football is a big part of this homogenization of the sport, making fantasy participants such a pain to watch a game with because they are focused on individual players’ performance and not on the team.
So the thesis of this article is that this broadcast team makes the games fun to watch even if the team doesn’t do well. This is, after all, the hometown newspaper.
The Met crew may be good, at least at keeping the local fans watching, but as the article mentions Kruk and Kuip are the number one rated crew.
2
Devin, your writing is gorgeous.
I just have to point out that you left out an important group of "baseball's unwanted stepchildren": Middle-aged women who discovered Lee Mazzilli in the late 70s and were hooked by the goofy amalgamation of assorted misfits who were his teammates.
I will settle for "Yankees refusenik", but I thought you needed to know.
10
My first Mets game was July 1, 1980 and as my 8-year-old self tried in vain to get an autograph, I was being elbowed out of the way by these young, dolled-up Outerborough women yelling “Lee! Lee!” Maz took it all in stride, even when accepting the bouquet of roses given to him. I never did get my autograph, but loved every minute of it.
P.S. Mazzilli hit a HR that night en route to being named NL Player of Month for July. A highlight of what was a god-awful team.
I am from New York and a huge baseball fan, but for the last three years, because of the silliness and irrelevance of the commentating, I have watched baseball with the sound turned off. I don't want to hear trade rumors, stories about games played many years ago, where the commentators went to eat last night, meaningless trivia or bad jokes. Currently, the only commentators I will listen to are John Smoltz and Bob Costas, both of whom can provide insight into what is happening in the game I am watching.
@Mathman314 Seriously? Keith & Ron frequently give very detailed analysis of what the pitcher and/or batter is thinking about, the pros-and-cons....it's incredibly insightful.
2
I'm a long-time Braves fan, but these Mets guys are the best!
3
As a die hard Brit Mets fan living in London, it's been really difficult to watch this team this year, actually and motivationally: the time difference, the inability to get on base, the losses, the Wilpons, the general indifference to baseball in the UK, the bats usually failing to back up deGrom, the impending retirement of my favourite Met of all time (David Wright)...but listening to these three always keeps me coming back for more. When they retire. it'll never be the same again - we will miss them when they're gone.
(This all said: Jeff McNeil, a 12th round draft pick contact hitter with a .340 average, has also been pretty cool to watch this year :-) - it's truly the hope that kills you!)
11
@Paul +++
The bullpen - how could you leave out the bullpen whose collective failure when it counted so many times in May-July sealed the deal. Not one dependable guy out there.
I think they aged Ronnie 5 years this year.
1
@Jerseyjon Oh yeah! The bullpen. All those young flamethrowers that were traded for last year's veterans...and none of them better than AAA standard (if that). Typical Mets.
Article was fine but the thing about Jackie Robinson was rude and unnecessary. Jackie represented so many things. First Black to play,civil rights,national league baseball in NewYork to which the Mets are the descendent (should we leave it to the Yankees?) and an honorable man.
1
@Todd D Ferrell All true, but Citi Field, especially when it first opened, seemed more like a Brooklyn Dodgers museum that the home of the Mets.
6
@Todd D Ferrell I agree with @Randy. I walked into CitiField the day it opened for Major League baseball and felt like I was in Ebbets Field. I appreciate what Jackie Robinson did for baseball and beyond, but CitiField is the Mets home park and the centerpiece of the rotunda should have been "41", The Franchise.
I blame the Wilpon's, but I blame them for everything!
1
@Todd D Ferrell I'm sure no disrespect was mean towards Jackie Robinson but the Wilpons have shamelessly glommed on to the Brooklyn Dodgers legacy (Robinson; trotting out Fred Wilpon's high school pal Sandy Koufax at spring raining every year) in order to distract from their inept management of the Mets.
1
Oh my gosh this article was so good! Just perfect. Absolutely hilarious. I'm a Yanks fan (and by the way, Gordon is a bit unfair - Paul O'Neill is quite good in the way I imagine Hernandez must be) but this makes me want to watch the Mets. Cheers!
3
An amusing piece but a few quibbles here: Ronnie may be from Hawaii but he registers more as a Boston area guy, Coney is a terrific voice in the maligned Yank booth, and the Hawk Harrelson-Stone team in Chicago was always a great listen. Harrelson is retiring and I'll miss his cornpone humor.
@dave the wave Sorry, but Harrelson may be the worst announcer in baseball west of John Sterling.
Those three even kept me watching the Nationals absolutely killing the Mets 25-4 back on July 31st. Taking turns reading the Mets media guide instead of announcing the game, Gary Cohen suddenly blurts out: "It's like a Passover Seder"...
32
There is no announcer at work today and perhaps none in the history of the game at the level of Vin Scully.
Vin could do an entire game alone, with no sidekick, and keep it interesting. He was never a homer, so he did not engage in the Hawk Harrelson type of blowhard enthusiasm. He told the story of the game as a thread in the tapestry of The Game, with the voice of authority and wit.
Gary Keith and Ron have the unenviable task of covering one of the most mismanaged franchises in the sport. They are appropriate to the nature of the franchise they cover. But Vin was at a whole other level.
5
@rlschles
The Dodgers could set the bar in terms of questionable management over the years... Frank McCourt anyone?
Scully truly a great one yes but no reason to take a shot at GKR as somehow less than because of team ownership.
Fan since '62.
8 years old.
Attended first game ever at Shea. Day game.
"No school today!" my father announced.
So cool.
Got to sit in the dugout with my brother for a picture with Chuck Hiller - who? - came from the Giants where he hit the first national league grand slam in a world series (I think)… but best part was sitting next to Ron Hunt, who completely ignored me when I said, "Hi Ron!" with a chipper 12 year old voice.
I've lived and died with the Amazins.
Duda should have made a better throw home… but I digress.
11-1.
I was high for a while.
Now I just watch tennis.
Especially fun when it's in Queens.
6
@Paul King Chuck Hiller (aka, Dr. No, as in the James Bond villain who had iron hands covered in rubber gloves that replaced his radiation-ruined originals--the nickname best described his fielding ability). I still have my Mets baseball card of him.
@Paul King: I envy you for saying hi to Ron Hunt - my all time favorite Met!
@Paul King Ron Hunt was probably too numb and sore to acknowledge you since he got hit by pitches so often!
The Mets' trio is glorious, as loyal viewers know. They're family, which is why we welcome them into our homes so often, even when things are going badly.
The author might want to revisit the meaning of 'objective'. The 'survey' of fans by Awful Announcing each year is just a write-in poll, which is why (a) the ballot can be, and often is, stuffed; (b) it tells you nothing.
For this faraway Mets fan, MLB.TV allows a survey of different announcing styles.
For example:
- entertaining, but blatantly for the home team (Giants TV with Kuiper and Krukow, who are wonderful)
- entertaining, high energy and fair to all comers (Giants radio and occasional TV with Jon Miller)
- brutally home team-centric, to the point of undermining the broadcast (Nats TV with Bob Carpenter and the must-be-replaced-soon F.P. Santangelo)
- fair, honest and enthusiastic for the home team (Red Sox TV with Dave O'Brien and, now, Dennis Eckersley)
- Cardinals broadcasts are wonderful when their booth includes Tim McCarver. He stands above all, much as Keith and Ron do. I learned more about the game from him than from anyone.
- Dodgers games with Vin Scully were once must-see.
But Gary, Keith and Ron have the unique mix of fan, former player expertise and, most importantly, humility. Broadcasters for teams who think their uniform, logo or wealth makes the team special have a painful task, and it cannot be performed with much value for fans who want to enjoy the game. You know who you are.
4
Beautifully written with echoes of Red Barber (well before my time but I loved hearing him on Morning Edition back in the 80s). I adore Gary Keith and Ron and have sat through many a dismal game just for their reactions. As a transplanted Milwaukeean, I'm finding solace in my Brewers, who like the Mets, filled the void left when our team abandoned our city. Go Brewers! Go Mets (in 2019)!!!
5
An excellent piece. I watch the Mets periodically, and enjoy listening to these guys.
A couple of things I would note, though. I'm a Yankee fan, and I enjoy listening to their sports guys: Michael Kay, Paul O'Neil, David Cone, Jack Curry and John Flarherty. After watching untold numbers of baseball games over the years, it's still true for me that virtually any game I watch I see something I've never seen before. I also enjoy their camaraderie of the sportscasters. And Jack Curry, former NYT reporter, is a brilliant commentator.
I also don't think baseball should seek to significantly change the way the game is played. A lot of the enjoyment of the game is that while it runs sometimes at a slow pace, it can pick up dramatically at certain moments. So fans need to be patient and just enjoy the game and you never know what will happen.
Many sports operate at a quicker pace, no doubt. But it seems lately there is a general fatigue with sports...football is redundant and tiring, so people are following soccer and other sports as well, even things like lacrosse.
But the great thing about baseball is its continuity, consistency, the likelihood that at any moment something weird and unusual can happen. Plus a season that gives its fans seven months of games building to playoffs and World Series.
7
That was some terrific sports writing, equally important to the ambiance of the game of baseball as good announcing. Reminds me of the great Roger Angell.
10
Great article and well deserved. There are quite a few team announcing crews that are really good and very watchable.
What I don't get it how national networks like ESPN manage to do it year in and year out with such poor announcing crews. I've gone to not watching ESPN baseball games simply because I cannot listen to those crews. Really bad. A true disservice to baseball in that it is probably driving folks away from the game.
9
@DS Right on target. Their constant giggling at their own inanity is bad enough, but ESPN drives it off the cliff by miking home plate so that every batted
ball -- even a pop foul -- sounds like a shot from a .44 Magnum. I'd rather listen to a dental procedure.
1
I loved Devin Gordon's piece on Gary, Keith and Ron. I'm both a Red Sox and Mets fan and when they played each other, I rooted for the Red Sox but I watched on SNY because of Gary, Keith and Ron, who are light years ahead of any combo of announcers the Sox have put forward. OK, I like Remdog and wish him the best in his battle against cancer but when he's not in the booth, and he wasn't for the Mets series, the Sox announcers are awful. Especially Eck.
1
Wonderful article - beautifully written. Love our three guys - smart, articulate and funny. Thanks for a great read.
21
Great article. Mr. Gordon is doing the Duke Chronicle proud!
I am a long time Yankees fan. The musical chairs of announcers makes them very hard to listen to. O'Neill is somewhat similar to Keith and Ron and is enjoyable. Everyone else is very non-descript or bad. The Yankees radio broadcast is a nightmare, especially Waldman.
If the Yanks are not on at the same time as the Mets I will watch the Mets solely to listen to their announcing team - they are a lot of fun, as is the radio crew. In addition to GKR, the production value in general of Mets games has improved a lot - before SNY, Mets broadcasts were very amateurish in terms of graphics, video quality, etc.
7
I enjoyed this article even though I've never heard Gary Keith and Ron. I'm a Giants fan and I'm still listening (sometimes watching) as my team sinks towards the bottom of the division. I was glad to see mention of Kruk and Kuip but don't forget Jon Miller and Dave Flemming. Very entertaining. I'll miss all four in the off season.
2
@SF Giants Fan: Croup and Gripe are two of the worst homers in baseball broadcasting and best enjoyed with the tv mute button firmly engaged.
2
I am a HUGE fan of Gary, Keith, and Ron, and my wife literally groans if the Mets are on ESPN or Fox. But there is one thing they, and most sportswriters, including you, do that drives me crazy. That is labeling games that don't get you to the post season "meaningless". Like Gary I became a Met fan in '62 at the age of four. We both then spent seven years loving a team that played 1,134 "meaningless" games, as well as the majority of its games since. And if you argue that you are only calling "meaningless" games played after elimination, consider that the first World Series was in 1903 which means that baseball became the national pastime before a "meaningful" game was ever played. Tonight, to be entertained by my team and the three wise men (who definitely enhance that entertainment), I will be watching, and though the stands may be sparse there will be people who paid good money to go. Why? Because we like baseball. Why don't you guys?
P.S. There is a term for those who care only about the post-season: "Yankee fans".
17
This piece was dead-on in every way. I was a Reds fan growing up in Ohio, so when I moved to NYC in the 80’s I couldn’t root for their evil rivals, the Mets (see Bud Harrelson). I fell for the Yanks in the 90’s because their dynasty echoed The Big Red Machine. But Michael Kay became intolerable and discovering the joys of GK&R have won me over, even into these melancholy final days of the season.
7
Isn't Bud Selig still around selling PEDs to anyone who walks by? Have they renamed the baseball hall of fame to the Hall of PEDs yet?
Hollow and pointless? Whaaaaat?!!! Fugeddaboudit. Go Yankees! MichaelDavidKenPaul!!! We don't need "and!"
1
@David Hoffman Michael Kay talks so much during the broadcasts that one can only conclude that he gets paid by the word.
Go Sox!
1
Absolutely delightful piece, and I never even liked baseball.
4
As long as you were showing pictures of Ron and Keith in the mid-1980's, you should have shown the one with Gary and his shoulder-length hair during his college days.
28
Please, FOX Sports, please sign these guys up for the World Series! Save us from the drone of Joe Buck!!
61
The only thing I can say about the article that is negative is the closing, I don't think the Mets are building something special for next year. Leaving out the pitching, I don't think you are going to see much change, and I really am doubtful that Conforto and Nimmo and Rosario and McNeil are going to carry this team to a winning/playoff season, and the Wilpons won't invest in filling in the missing pieces, because they don't care if the mets win or lose, the mets still averaged 31k fans a game with a crappy team.
The writer was making a joke at his own expense and being sarcastic when he said the Mets were going to be better next season! You know ..the whole get your hopes up ..and only to see them crashing back down to earth ..as usual with his beloved team!
1
Great writing!
I actually strongly disliked the Mets years ago. But watching this trio won me over - I'm a fan forever, particularly of Keith, Gary and Ronnie.
6
Really great article. Gary Keith and Ron and the reason I am a Mets fan, period. In fact, I am always a little bit disappointed when I go to see a game at CitiField because I am missing out on their commentary.
9
Great piece! And I inherited the Yankees from my mom, not my long-suffering-but-sated-before-he-passed-Red-Sox-fan dad. As for the Yankees’ booth, we know. One broadcaster surrounded by a gang of banal ex-players who interrupt the flow with anecdotes and observations that go nowhere. But, what’s our choice? Turn on the…RADIO? “IT is high! IT is far! IT is GAW—caught just 10 feet from the wall, he makes the play.”
1
GKR are always fantastic and that makes SNY worth watching no matter how bad the Mets are playing. Even blowouts become fun when they review old baseball cards. The best team? Far from it. The best announcing team? No question.
8
glad to see a comment mentioning the baseball cards
Great piece but didn't like the shot at David Cone. Totally unnecesarry to the story.
18
The shot against David Cone, one of the best analysts of the game, was despicable. Ken Singleton is a much loved broadcaster, who calls an excellent game. Wow, no reason to go after them. Not funny.
This is a great piece of writing...kudos to Mr. Gordon. And, as a die-hard Yankees fan, makes me wish we had Gary Keith and Ron in our booth. (...a nice marriage of form and function. Couldn't resist after the harsh, but true take re: the Bombers.) But, he's onto something about baseball: it needs to open the windows and eliminate the "precious" odor. Keep the insight, the respect, but add some levity. The world's already waaaay past too serious. As a Little League coach, our first rule is "have fun"...the rest will follow. Maybe MLB could do the same.
7
Former New Yorker here, whose father was a Yankees fan. Now I'm an SF Giants stalwart watching the team chase the Pads for last place in the division. Devin Gordon's shout-out to Kruk and Kuip is well deserved and much appreciated. What an excellent article in so many respects. I see that it is Gordon's first contribution to the NYT magazine. Don't make it his last!
35
Too bad, as a Red Sox fan, I won't be seeing much of these fun fellows except a couple of games every few years in the regular season. They sound like a barrel of laughs.
We have to make do with Remy (a class act), unctuous Eckersley, boring Gomes, and winning.
Yeah, yeah, I know, remember '86. That was soooooo long ago.
5
[[Yankee fans are doomed, year in and year out, to dull mechanical chatter, creating a void in their hearts that must surely make those 27 world championships feel hollow and pointless.]]
Ha! Dream on.
1
Animal House comes to mind.
We all know this guy.
....I really enjoy watching the Mets in large part because of Gary, Keith and Ron....you never know what's going to come out of their mouths, and that's what makes it so much fun. Win or lose, you'll always find an interesting dialogue taking place in the broadcast booth. Keep it coming.
20
Kruk and Kuip are the best hands down, but didn't expect NYT to acknowledge this here in this home spun article. Well done.
1
Great writing! Thank you.
1
Best thing I’ve read in NYT in a very long time!
5
I find myself laughing out loud as I recount Devin's phrases and visuals -"a polygot mob of sports immigrants," the cathouse in a winter wonderland and our successes vanishing like a good sneeze.
Magnificent writing. Thank you.
37
The closest the Yankees can come to our crew is Kay, O'Neill, & Leiter (Kay being the weakest link). My Yank fan wife insists we watch the Mets on the big screen while she keeps tabs on her team on the ipad (with no sound). Devin Gordon hits it out of the park in his first at-bat!
2
What a great piece. Note to the NY Times editors: Please hire Devin Gordon to write more articles. And yes, the announcers are key to baseball's success. Can't stand listening to the Yankees' announcers—and their fans will hate me for saying this—but the Bosox have far better announcers too.
12
Terrific piece! And the best line: ”The special seasons always seem to arrive out of nowhere and vanish just as quickly, like a really good sneeze.” Sad but so very true. LGM
52
I love Howie Rose and Josh Levin, but yeah Gary, Keith and Ron are the best. I try to watch every game just see them and now that the Mets are pitching well and bringing up good, young players, that’s a real bonus.
2
A fitting tribute.
On the Yankees, yes, they stink....I actually think Paul O’Neill, who is not mentioned and I had given up on, is actually gotten a little better. He might be listening to the Mets, learning.
But on Coney...the very low blow kind of spoiled the whole for me. Keith no angel, and a cute aside about Keith giving a fan a once over in no way makes up for the fastball at Coney’s head.
2
They need something to make it interesting, given what the Coupons have done to this time and likely are going to continue to. This isn't the mets of the early 80's, because back then Doubleday was around and he wanted to build a winning team. The only thing Jeffie and Fred and Saul want to do is use the mets as a piggy bank, using the many hundreds of millions in revenue for themselves and their development project while leaving a crap team on the field..and this is going to go on as long as the Wilpons own the team, I guarantee it, they basically have the 7th best revenue in MLB and have somewhere around the 17th in payroll, in a major market city where 2 decent tickets to a game, two sandwiches and 2 beers is close to 300 bucks. At a small market team like KC I could get the best seats in the house, get better food, and it would cost less than that.
2
As a life long Yankee fan this column just solidifies my belief that Met fans have such an inferiority complex that even their announcer have to be praised in an over the top manner.
Ron Darling is exceptional, the other 2 tolerable, Keith has a large jerk factor though with great insight, Gary is just annoying with a terrible home run call, admittedly no home run call can measure up to Mel Allen’s from my childhood.
In 2009 when both new stadiums opened Michael Kay sung the praises of Citifield on the Yankees first game there, when the Mets came to the Bronx, Gary and Keith couldn’t stop denigrating the place, this just epitomizes the differences in the fan bases and per this article the broadcast teams.
1
Wish my Phillies had a crackerjack announcing team like Gary, Keith and Ron. Instead we have a very deep voiced professional announcer who drones on and on with a bland color guy as his sidekick. Their idea of fun is a “ back when” inane baseball quiz with the answer coming two or three innings later after they have ,predictably.put you into a deep sleep.Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
1
Keith Hernandez is an outstanding announcer and a fine player but I had to laugh when I read his being compared to Hunter Thompson without the drugs.
When Hernandez, then one of the best first basemen, was traded from the Cardinals, an official of the players' union said his use of cocaine was involved. Hernandez denied this, called the official a liar and got him fired.
A few years later, some other players were on trial for their drug use and Hernandez had to testify in the case. Under oath he admitted that he had used cocaine and when asked why he lied about it, he said he didn't think anyone would find out the truth.
He ruined someone else's life to lie and protect himself. No matter what else he does, no matter how many appearances he made on Seinfeld, he can't escape this.
4
Flat out false. Moffett was fired months later as Marvin Miller was taking back over the union leadership. KEITH got an undeserved apology, but that was that.
1
Excellent article! The three are a gem of a broadcasting team! They can be appreciated even more, if one lived in the Atlanta Braves TV area which encompasses a good part of the southeast! Pathetic is the word for their broadcast duo! Having Caray as a last name had to get half of that job!!!
1
This is beautiful. Best sports writing in this paper. Best writing overall in today's paper. Gary Keith and Ron should be the ones who rewrite baseball rules for the future. Someone has to save this game from demise.
6
Well done! I listened to Nelson,Murphy and Kiner in 1962 describing Choo Choo,MET,Elio,the Duke et al. Now I still listen to the Mets only because of these three gents, despite the snafus on the field and in ownership.
My cable remains a budget item cuz I still have a love/hate relationship with the Mets.I am a New Yawker 400 miles away on Lake Ontario listening/watching.These guys exemplify team.Nice piece!!
4
When making it out to Citi Field is pointless seeing the Mets waffle, stay at home and watch on TV just for Gary Keith and Ron.
3
My suggestion for how baseball should reinvent its product is to let fans in on how the big league game is being played NOW. I’d love to see a Sabremetrics data feed pushed out on the internet in real time during a game. This could include data like a batters “book” on an opposing pitcher, pinch hitting options, dynamic graphics on shifts, pitch patterns, etc. Give me the data so I can play along too.
Math, statistics, and strategists will love it, everyone else can still just kick back and enjoy GK&R.
If you love baseball, the game with good broadcasters is enough. Calling the game, appropriate silences, good baseball talk, and occasional banter. Glad it works for this trio. Unfortunately, too many get caught up in their own conversation and the game ends up being a second thought. That's when I hit the mute button and turn on the radio. Baseball is a game of beauty - don't need to dress it up.
2
We are truly a team that at times (most) doesn't deserve the broadcasting crew that we have. Fortunately, like us they are stuck with our team and share in our misery. It's a common bond that truly makes them feel like family.
They Make Baseball so much fun..... I am a fairly new METS Fan since having my son follow David Wright and play with #5 - so for about 18 years these three have made watching this team a blast and I learn alot while watching... now my son is in college and I find myself all alone listening to every game... and enjoying every minute will all the ups and downs of the NY METS... LGM
I always learn something new about the game. They are the best.
By contrast I always turn off the sound if I watch a Yankee game.
10
The Mets broadcast booth has been more consistent than any other NY announcing booth since I have been a Mets fan (mid 80s) and far superior to any ESPN or Fox national broadcast teem.
I wish the actual team was as consistent.
5
Well written article! They are a joy to listen to, particularly with the team playing so poorly. Ron is my favorite, a guy who is very bright but doesn't come off like a snob. In a way he reminds me of Ralph Kiner, who could speak about his fabulous career without sounding like he was bragging. When the Mets games are occasionally broadcast on other networks, I watch with the volume off.
3
In October of 1988, the Mets were in the NLCS against the Dodgers. Rusty Staub had recently opened a second ribs joint on the corner of 5th and 47th, and I was having dinner with a group of friends when Rusty stopped by the table to say hello. It was an off night for the NL, so the game on the big screen TV was the ALCS, the Red Sox vs the A’s. At some point I noticed that Rusty had taken a seat at a table right near the TV, joining a man and a woman. I gradually realized that the man was Keith Hernandez, who would resume playing in the NLSC the next night at Shea. As a lifetime baseball and Mets fan, I remember wishing I could listen in on their informed conversation as they watched the game. With Gary Keith and Ron, I believe that is the closest I will get to sitting at that table with Rusty and Keith.
5
I'm a lifelong Mets fan, and what a wonderful article this is. If only the current Mets owners understood the spirit of the Mets as well as Devin expresses it.
17
Fun article, but it's hilarious and predictable that a Mets fan can't (correctly) extol the virtues of their broadcast team without bringing the Yankees into it. The little brother complex is incredibly real.
By the way, Singleton and Cone are two of the best broadcasters in the game. Kay is fine when talking about the actual game, terrible when he goes into radio show mode.
2
Michael Kay is a travesty as is everyone else in that booth. LGM!
13
@Jake Yankee broadcasts are a 3 1/2 hour long infomercial. Games are best watched with the sound off.
The real trick is to remember to put/keep the game on when it is a blowout. The later innings of those games is when some really "interesting" TV is broadcast. And as a teen during the Mets glory '80s seasons, I'm still in awe of Ron and Keith.
5
Wonderful story. I'm a Phillies fan now living in upstate NY and I happens to catch a some Met games, especially the ones against my beloved ,albeit sometimes frustrating Phils. I'm fairly critical of the three person crews that blab their way through lugubrious games, but this trio is excellent for all the reasons mentioned in the story. I like how natural they all sound, a refreshing change from the top 40 radio like voice of the Phillies lead announcer Tom McCarthy. The work so well together I keep the games on even when decided. Makes me miss Harry Kalas and Richie Ashburn who shared the kind of chemistry these three have.
4
Loved the article! It captures the essence of our announcers giving Mets fans reasons to stick with the team broadcasts during another season of dashed hopes.
GKR work great as a team because they keep each game interesting by taking the minor moments and potential turning points and giving them context. And their decades of being with the team give the wins and losses and exciting moments and heroes like Flores and Nimmo historical context and hope for returns to future glory. I hope that they continue with the Mets for many years to come!
6
Similarly, I started following the Mets in '84. As I recall, they were pretty lousy for a long while before then, so I figure they'll turn it around again at some point. I attended game 6 in '86 - while I don't expect to ever see a game or a series as exciting as that one, I live in eternal hope.
3
Enjoy Ron and Gary the most. Keith at times displays too much
self absorption. Actually my family and I encountered both
Gary and Keith while the Mets were playing in Colorado back
in that wondrous year...2015. Gary was quite gracious, Keith
hardly at all. Ron the intellect displays a wonderful awareness
of both pitching and good rock n roll. Together though they
can really roll and entertain. Humor is appreciated this season,
but a strong brew appears to be in the mix for 2019. Remain
a diehard since '62.
I consider myself a baseball fan first and a SF Giants fan second. I watch/listen to a lot of games with satellite radio and Xtra Innings. There are a lot of good announcers in the biz and I enjoy most of them (a reason to dread the post season and the onslaught of network experts). Most years I tune in for the Mets because of exactly what you have described. This year has been a bit more difficult because of exactly what you have described. I was surprised to see the Kruk/Kuip numbers as they don't talk enough baseball. P.S. I have trouble telling the difference between Ron/Keith voices, they sound like brothers.
1
Like many commenters I too read this entire article and loved it. This really caught me off guard:
"The special seasons always seem to arrive out of nowhere and vanish just as quickly, like a really good sneeze."
Wonderful writing!
11
There’s really no secret as to why baseball, and professional sports in general, aren’t fun anymore. It’s all about money and individual, rather than team achievement. It used to be a mark of distinction to put on a major or minor league uniform. For children today, it has been reduced to one of many career choices. The last MLB game I saw was in 2002. Baseball isn’t on tv anymore (I don’t have cable) and the only chance I have to see the game now is basically during the World Series. What are the bosses of baseball thinking? Answer: the short term dollar- and it’s about to run out.
4
I'm the life long Yankee fan who suffers nightly through the Michael Kay talk show as you mentioned. (MLB offers 'Ballpark Sounds' thank goodness.) But I watch the Mets now and again to listen to Gary Keith and Ron because they call a great game and I learn something about baseball. And yes, when the Yankees play the Mets I watch it on SNY...This 'talk show' thing is ruining TV sports
25
Devin, awesome piece. I got hooked on the Mets in 1969 when the nuns in my Catholic school in Brooklyn wheeled televisions in on stands to let us watch the World Series against the Orioles. Life's been a slog ever since, except for 1986 and the few other seasons they made interesting, as you pointed out. I moved away from NY in 1978 and have listened to some excellent local broadcasters, like Joe Angel and Jon Miller in Baltimore, and have lamented the banality of recent national broadcasters on ESPN and Fox, with certain exceptions. Thanks for letting me know it's not just me. Keep up the great work ... and keep the hope alive.
11
Cardinals fan in San Diego here. Those three announcers are the best! They are the only ones willing to call it as it is, especially “Ronnie”. Love listening to them when they play the Cards. I lived in St Louis in 1979 when Keith was co-MVP; and in 1982 when he wore the fur coat at the Cards World Series parade! We thought that was the coolest thing, a handsome man in a fur coat. Keep up the good work guys—wish you were the Cards announcers.
16
Only reason I watch. That trio makes these 60 plus bones feel like 30 something.
My 39 something kids live the old timer references and learn baseball by listening.
Let’s play two!
8
... and yeah, don’t forget about Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner. For years and years, to me Bob Murphy’s voice was synonymous with the Mets.
41
... and I loved it when Ralph Kiner would stop into the booth for an inning or two to spread baseball wisdom and memories. His speech was slurred, but was still sharp as a tack and it was a joy to see how much Gary, Keith, and loved to hear what he had to share.
1
What a great piece! Lifetime Mets fan here who was 16 years old when they won the World Series in '86. I was able to attend the Subway Series. Knew someone who gave us box seats tickets at Shea (he was the VP for WOR-TV). They were four seats right behind third base - first 2 rows. The article is spot on in that many baseball teams just don't have very good announcers. I agree that Gary, Keith, & Ron are in the top three broadcast booths. Announcers are absolutely key to keeping the game interesting. Thanks so much for this wonderful piece. I love these guys too!
9
Long suffering Met fan here. Gary, Keith and Ron are the best. They make listening to national games, such as the upcoming playoffs, almost impossible to listen to. I think this season has been particularly tough on Keith as he has occasionally gone off on rants bemoaning the state of affairs in modern baseball. Love these guys.
And very well written article by the way.
38
@MD Monroe ditto! Watching games on other networks is excruciating. No other call teams I've heard even come close.
3
@MD Monroe At least Ron does some of the national broadcasts on TBS though.
@MD Monroe " "Long suffering" and "Mets fan" are redundant. Let's go Mets!!
2
This idea that baseball needs to be more fun serves only to denigrate the sport and indulge those who can't seem to be able to hold their attention to a game that has been in play for a century or more. This is all about money and those who profit off the sport wanting to keep the dollars rolling in and not about the pure essence of the game.
12
@R L Donahue
Sports has never just been sports, that is a myth 'sports purists' try to spread to promote the idea "it was different in the old days". It wasn't, half the fun of the Dodgers/Giants rivalry were those games (my parents were at the infamous 51 playoff w bobby thomson's HR, they literally dared each other riding the subway to play hookie, and they went). Bill Veeck understood that, and a big source of entertainment in the 'old days' was rooting against the Yankees......baseball was fun, the game experience has always been a lot more than the sport, it is the personality of the teams and players, the stadiums, the atmosphere. And it has alway been a business, back in the reserve clause days it simply was a business for the owners, little for the players, and fans were simply a pocket to be reached into, the owners cared little about the fans then or now.
1
@R L Donahue
I so agree. Leave baseball alone. If you can’t pay attention to it and find it boring go back to your video games.
If MLB wants to make their games more “interesting”, speed them up by cutting down on all that gosh darned advertising.
Who doesn’t hate seeing the same, crummy commercial played over and over over the course of nine innings?… And then there are the extra inning games, which are torturous because of commercials.
I actually read this entire article (as opposed to scanning through, as is my want), It was so well written, true, a areal gem. I actually laughed out loud. Still smiling. Thanks. Great way to start my day!
88
I was a seven year old in 1962, young enough to be a clean slate, but for my father’s lifetime of resentment toward baseball for the flight of his beloved New York Giants. The Polo Grounds was for me, the site of my first Met game, not the symbol of abandonment.
In baseball, you pick a team for life, and I have no regrets for my choice, aided by living in walking distance to Shea. We Met fans have been blessed with two great long serving broadcast trios; let’s not forget Lindsay Nelson, Ralph Kiner, and Bob Murphy.
Gary, Keith and Ron have made even the worst seasons tolerable; they are knowledgeable without being boastful. They are old friends you like to visit with even if nothing special is on tap. Collectively, they are greater than the sum of their parts. The contrast with their crosstown competition could not be starker; even if I were a fan of that Bronx team, I think I would watch with the sound off.
I was saddened when Lindsay Nelson left the Mets broadcast booth for San Francisco. The thought of losing any member of Gary, Keith and Ron would be harder to take than another losing season.
Let’s play two.
21
Gary, Keith, and Ron really are fun, darn it all! For most sporting events I prefer to turn the sound off and play guitar while watching. But these guys draw me in and the next thing I know I've missed seven innings worth of practice. Amazing.
7
Good baseball writing!
As one of those Yankee fans whose fandom for the team was passed down from my Dad, I agree with the sentiments expressed about our announcers. They’re nice guys but often utter maddening observations and meaningless colloquialisms. If I hear one more time about how “we just have to win some games,” or “the Yankees know Sonny Gray is better than his stats, Sonny Gray just has to pitch better” I’m going to throw something at the screen.
Oh, and by the way, I was a Yankee fan during the long years when we finished in or near the cellar, had wife-swapping pitchers, batters who rarely legged out ground balls, and ownership that didn’t care. So don’t tell me how only Mets fans understand suffering.
12
@Bill Harts sorry, only Met fans *understand* suffering. Like my 33 year old niece (fan since she was 2) saying back in 2015 "the last 10 years have been hard, but ya gotta believe"
1
I "cut the cord" a month ago. My new service doesn't include SNY. I debated waiting because I love the Mets, but decided with this season, who cares.
A week later and I missed Gary Keith and Ron.
Next year I'll pay extra for SNY.
25
@profwilliams Me too.
You can stream the Mets live on the SNY/NBC site @profwilliams
What a wonderful piece of writing. I will never again be able to eat a soft boiled egg without thinking of Gary Cohen’s head
7
This is the best baseball article ever written. I’m from a mixed marriage family: half are Mets fans as Brooklyn Dodger Refugees and the other (me) are Legacy Yankee Devotees. But I love the Mets, too. Saw them at the Polo Grounds way back in The Beginning. Ron Darling is all he’s cracked up to be and a nice person. One of the last photos taken of my dad (who went to his grave still mad at the Dodgers for leaving Brooklyn), was talking to Ron at Spring training at Port St Lucie about some finer point on pitching. Made my dad’s day. Thanks, Ron.
42
Fully disagree with this overly LONG-winded piece of fluff. The Yankee announcers have unparalleled knowledge of the game and like good waitstaff at a fine restaurant, they move the experience along, add expertise at the right times, and don't call too much attention to themselves. The only one I find even mildly annoying is Cone who can always be counted on to deliver an on-cue screed whenever anyone bunts.
I suppose the Mets need to create a tempest in a teapot in the booth since they don't do much of note on the field.
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@Plennie Wingo
I wouldn't go that far, Michael Kay is the ultimate homer and his sucking up to the Yankees ownership is well known, and in terms of knowledge of the game the three Mets announcers know the game as well or better than Kay et al, and they show their knowledge every game. Whether you agree with Keith or not about modern baseball (I agree with him for the record, about the current HR at any cost hitting for example), he knows the game, and Darling's commentary, especially with pitching, is worth listening to..and Cohen is no slouch either.
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@Plennie Wingo
The Yankees broadcasting team are unbearable. I remember one game, the opponents were up at bat. "Shallow fly ball to centerfield" the announcer said. The ball was caught on the warning track. Are you joking? They say ludicrous things to back up the Yankees, and knock down the opposition.
Lifelong Mets Fan
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There three are the best. It's as if you are listening to your(knowledgeable and witty) friends talking instead of some boring stuffed shirts. Ninety percent of the time they are the only reason to watch the Wilpon's awful mess.
MLB could do itself some good by listening to their critiques of the now often dull and always slow game. They could start improving things by making the hitters stay in the box, banning the awful shift and getting more broadcasting teams like Gary, Ron and Keith.
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I'm a St. Louis Cardinals fan, but whenever we play the Mets I always watch their broadcast. These guys are the best.
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Excellent I love the Mets and Gary,Keith and Ron. In the summer they get me through the heat and are the best announcers around. This is great TV whether the Mets are good (rarely) or bad (mostly), Keith and Ron represent our winning belief and their team, Gary is the heir apparent and a combo of Lindsey Nelson and Bob Murphy rolled into one. A very enjoyable read on a cold and rainy fall day.
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Outstanding article. I, too, think that when Gary, Ron and Keith work together, they are the best in MLB. And this comment comes from someone who truly follows all 30 teams, and watches as much MLB as possible. The only other current MLB broadcast team as good -- in their own way, of course -- is Bob Costas and Jim Kaat when they work a MLB Showcase game on the MLB Network channel.
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@wbinokla zz I only noted who wrote the article at its very end. I thought the person was a veteran NYT writer of some sort. I agree - give Mr. Gordon a chance to write more stories of this sort.
More than once this year (and other's) when I engage other baseball friends in conversation I have mentioned how much I enjoy the Mets announcers vs. those of the Yankees. And unlike talking politics these days, most of them concede that GRK are superior to Kay and company.
I should mention that when wintering in Port St. Lucie Ron Darling spent some time at the pool serving our community. He signed my book that contained Roger Angell's famous short story involving Darling's Yale team vs. St. Johns and its stellar pitcher, Frank Viola.
What viewers don't appreciate that these guys' professionalism isn't by accident. I noted that Ron appeared in PSL to be reading up on all matter of material that might add to his telecasts while others of us were sunning and cooling off in the pool.
One gained a greater appreciation of the craft of the Met announcers when recently I filled on Binghamton University soccer telecasts. As much as I prepared upon post-game review there were obvious misfires when the cameras rolled. It is not easy as it appears!
It is too bad that Costs and Kaat (recall that for a time he was a Yankee broadcaster!) currently have such limited exposure. I agree next to the Mets threesome, I agree they are very good.
Clearly one of the best sports related stories I've read it years. Captures the essence of watching baseball, while listening to announcers who make the experience enjoyable, entertaining and informative, while at the same time having fun. The point made by Mr. Gordon should not be underestimated....it is impossible to watch and listen to many of the other baseball announcers, because they are simply boring, repetitive and "uninformative". It is interesting that many television announcers of professional football for example similarly fail to provide an enjoyable experience....with the rare exception of announcers like Cris Collingsworth. As Mr. Gordon describes so well, Gary Ron and Keith team allows me to continue to watch the "Meties" even when the team is boring mind numbing and performing badly. I only hope that part of Ron Darling's wish comes true...the Mets win a World Series, but Ron decides not to leave and to remains an integral part of a remarkable team of announcers.
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What a wonderful tribute to the finest announcers I have listened to over the course of 70 years of following baseball.
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