A feisty discussion on Twitter last night was about whether or not Gary Cohen should do some work in the radio booth this post-season. In 2006 Gary popped in for like two innings, and my memory is that it was not universally recieved.
So I ask you – should Gary pop in?
Now a second question. This question is just to start a discussion and is not a shot at Wayne. If Josh has to miss games to do the Chargers, and I don’t know if he does, should Gary sub in the radio booth on those days?
My opinion? Let the radio guys who did radio all year do the radio. That’s not an anti-Gary stance, it’s just a stance to let the radio guys who did radio all year do the radio.
Discuss!
Do a 3 man booth Josh has Charger Duties… Gary can work the middle three innings with Howie.
In 2006, Gary did the 6th inning of every game. That meant that he had the call of Endy Chavez’ catch, amongst other things. To me, that call was a lot better than anything Tom McCarthy (back then the 6th would have been his) could have provided. After 2007, McCarthy’s second year in the Met booth, he returned to Philadelphia to become the heir apparent to Harry Kalas in the TV booth, where he remains to this day. Having Gary’s voice on that moment as opposed to a guy who will always be a Phillies guy means a lot, frankly.
Nowadays, the structure is slightly different. The primary announcer role, which used to rotate between Gary and Murph back in the day, used to call innings 1-2, 5, 8-9. Now, the primary (Howie) gets 1-2, 5-6, 8-9, or six innings a game. I think it’s even less of a big deal now to give Gary an inning because Howie will still have 5. Josh would keep his 3. (Side note: isn’t it amazing that an announcer as solid as Josh only gets 3 innings?) I don’t think it’s a problem at all. Gary called Mets games on the radio for 17 years before SNY started. He still calls Seton Hall basketball on the radio. In fact, he’s been calling the national broadcasts of Division Series games for years on the radio as well for ESPN. He’d be an absolute asset.
I think Wayne Randazzo is fantastic, especially for a guy in his first year with the club. But I also think he’s much better suited for the clubhouse, pregame, and postgame. Assuming that Josh has Charger duties, he would miss Game 3 of the Division Series (Chargers have the Monday nighter), Games 2 and 7 of the NLCS, and Game 5 of the World Series. Now, keep in mind that extra innings affairs usually go back and forth with the primary announcer getting the odd-numbered innings and the secondary announcer getting even-numbered innings. If the Mets walk off somebody in the 10th inning of Game 5 to win the World Series, that’s a call I’m taking to my grave with me. And if Josh isn’t there, I want that to be Gary’s inning. But again, that’s just my perspective as a fan.
jmbarron048 Are your inning inaccurate for Howie or does Josh call two innings?