If you watched Mets Opening Day, you may have noticed some changes in Gary Cohen’s behavior. I believe he has been replaced by an impostor. Here’s why.
He acknowledged the T-Shirt People.
For years (a decade?) any time the TV camera showed the T-Shirt People, Gary would not only ignore them, he would completely stop talking. Silence. Ice Cold. Now, I have heard the reason why Gary would not mention them, but it’s not my story to tell.
On yesterday’s telecast, Gary acknowledged the T-Shirt Enthusiasts, I think twice, but for sure when they were joined by Billionaire T-Shirt Enthusiast Steve Cohen. I guess Gary knows not to mess with the money, and if Steve wanted to be Man of The People, it would not be wise to not play along. (When is Gary’s contract up? Yes I know Steve doesn’t own SNY, but the Mets definitely get to weigh in on who does the games.)
He discussed Daniel Murphy without sounding like he hated him
Gary was openly not a fan of Daniel Murphy, once calling him a “Net Negative.” You could hear the derision in his voice.
On Opening Day, GKR discussed Murph and it was a perfectly normal even-keeled conversation about Daniel. I have my theory on what Gary’s problem with Murph is but I cant prove it so I will let you speculate amongst yourselves, but I don’t think it was about base running.
Gary did a natural Home Run Call
At some point the Marlins hit a HR to tie the game. (SNY can’t be bothered sharing clips of the bad guys doing good things, so I don’t have it). Did Gary mail it in and say “to the track, to the wall. its outta here” which is Queensish for “It is high, it is far, it is gone” even though those of you with howie rose colored glasses win’t admit it….no, he did not. He did some sort of realistic in the moment HR call, as baseball announcer should.
I wonder if the increased pace is keeping Gary more on his toes…..it’s easy to mail it in when you’re bored out of your mind.
On a similar note, did you notice Keith has no role now? Ron can get in his “smart analysis” shtick, but there’s no time for Keith telling us stories of Sag Harbor or admiring the young woman in thr crowd shot. This is worth keeping an eye on – watch out for Checked Out Keith, especially with a new deal in hand.
So far, Baseball is Back Baby! Nice quick game. Hopefully everyone starts stealing bases like its 1985!
