Yesterday we discussed The Curse Of Bob Murphy. Yes it’s absurd, but people seem to enjoy my absurd theories such as the Curse of Lee Mazzilli (any way to explain the awfulness that befalls this franchise.)
Today’s theory is based upon The Curse of Bob Murphy, and it’s the Gary Cohen Curse.
I like Gary, he is a fine broadcaster. I liked that the Mets brought him up from the minors way back when. He’s solid and I’ve enjoyed his work on both radio and TV.
The problem is that he has put a curse on this team.
Gary showed up in 1989. The Mets were coming off their best run in franchise history, with a championship and some very good teams in 1985 and 1988.
He started off slow, and could only drag the Mets to a second place finish in ’89. Do you even remember who won the East that year? No it wasn’t the Pirates and it wasn’t the Cardinals. Think harder. Anyway, the Mets lost to them.
In 1990 Gary managed to get Davey fired, and then worked his magic on making New Yorkers hate Buddy Harrelson. Guys like Torborg and Howe who were geniuses elsewhere – became busts.
Baseball had to change the rules to get the Mets to another series. In 2000 the King Of Finishing Second (Bobby Valentine) finished second as expected but because of Selig’s ruining of baseball the Mets were able to get crushed by the Yankees.
In 2003, Cohen became the Mets main play by play guy on radio. (See Curse of Bob Murphy). When the Mets started SNY they made Gary the main guy. Gary is the voice of terrible late-season collapses. The Gary Cohen highlight reel is filled with a Todd Pratt home run and a bunch of crushing defeats.
The Curse of Cohen also applies to St. John’s basketball which really used to be something in this town.
Gary is back behind the mike. Is Jerry Manuel enough of a gangsta to overcome Cohen’s jinxing from the broadcast booth. Will there ever again be a happy recap? Should we trick Gary into taking the Phillies play by play job?
www.metspolice.com
