Category: mets

Well Mets fans, bad news.

Flushing Fred, the World Series predicting groundhog, saw his shadow this morning.  According to folklore this mean the Mets will not win the World Series this year.  Some skeptics say that it doesn’t matter if the groundhog sees his shadow or not, the Mets aren’t winning a World Series anyway.

Environmentalists were also on hand this morning and some rich billionaire is looking to disrupt the groundhog’s habitat with a casino.

There was also an unfortunate incident toward the end of teh ceremony when 6 San Diego groundhogs chased away all the Mets groundhogs.  The Mets groundhogs said they were cold, and they had to go to work, and the fun had been out of groundhog day once Fred saw his shadow, but they promised they are Loyal to the Last Out.

I feel bad for these babies.  They are born into this world and then someone forces them to be a Mets fan, and thus a life of misery.  Imagine a child born in November 1986 being subjected to this.  Poor children. Just give them $1000 Alex.

These #MiniMets hit it out of the park with their style! Babies born at #NYP Alexandra Cohen Hospital receive official onesies, bibs & hats, thanks to the @Mets & Steven and Alexandra Cohen. Learn more about our care: https://t.co/JPVdkueytt @WeillCornell, @AmazinMetsFdn pic.twitter.com/oRmipKlCKL

— NewYork-Presbyterian (@nyphospital) January 31, 2023

I imagine Patrick filled out the LinkedIn job posting  or something like that, sent in his college broadcasting tape and a nice resume and cover letter, maybe some letters of recommendation, and had the same chance you did at getting jobs as a baseball announcer.

Via the NY Post

Patrick McCarthy, son of former Mets radio play-by-player Tom, will be the WCBS pre-and-postgame host and swingman game-caller when the voice of the team, Howie Rose, is off, according to sources.

Patrick McCarthy had been doing Triple-A Lehigh games. Last year, at 26, he replaced his dad for two games on Phillies broadcasts when Tom was calling an NFL preseason game.

In other news, Keith Raad, who does not appear to have any family connections, has earned the spot formerly filled by Wayne Randazzo, who also does not appear to have family connections.

Having a famous dad doesn’t mean you are bad, but let’s stop pretending it doesn’t help. If nothing else, it could help you get the “right” agent/agency.

At least someone who made his own career is doing the Super Bowl, so there is still hope for the industry!

…

McCall.com profiled Patrick back in 2018, from which I excerpt

“Why would I want to do anything else?” he asked. “I want to provide my family the opportunities one day that my dad provided for me.”

After an injury shut down his college baseball career at The College of New Jersey, McCarthy reached out to minor league baseball organizations during the winter of his senior year in 2017.

McCarthy’s baseball demo tape consisted of calling two innings of one game the previous summer from the Tom McCarthy Radio Booth in what is now Trenton’s Arm & Hammer Park.

The Fightins hired him, though, which left McCarthy making a two-hour, one-way commute to FirstEnergy Stadium because he was in his final semester at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).

 

If you waste the second to last weekend of the summer watching a baseball game on Peacock, that’s on you.

By the way baseball, 50 million people watched a 6:05 start football game on Sunday.  I guess West Coast sports fans ARE available before 8:30 eastern….and I notice you don’t mind making LA fans watch 9am baseball if the money is right…

PEACOCK AND NBC SPORTS ANNOUNCE 2023 MLB SUNDAY LEADOFF SCHEDULE

Second Season of Peacock’s Exclusive Sunday Morning MLB Package Features 19 Games, Live MLB Window Exclusivity until 1:35 p.m. ET, and NBC Sports-Produced Pregame & Postgame Shows

Opening MLB Sunday Leadoff Game: National League Champion Phillies Host Rockies at 12:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 23

Baltimore Orioles at Atlanta Braves on Sunday, May 7, to Simulstream Live on NBC and Peacock at 11:35 a.m. ET

Peacock Features the Most Live Sports of Any Direct-to-Consumer Streamer in the United States

STAMFORD, Conn. – Jan. 31, 2023 – Peacock and NBC Sports today announced the 2023 schedule for MLB Sunday Leadoff, Peacock’s exclusive package of Sunday morning Major League Baseball games, featuring 19 live games from April 23–September 3.

Beginning on Sunday, April 23, with the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies hosting the Colorado Rockies at 12:05 p.m. ET from Citizens Bank Park, Peacock will stream an NBC Sports-produced baseball game live in 19 of 20 weeks. Each game will feature NBC Sports-produced pre- and post-game shows on Peacock.

On each of the 19 Sundays that Peacock presents a game, it will be scheduled as the exclusive home of live MLB action until 1:35 p.m. ET that day, when the remainder of the day’s schedule will begin. The package will include start times of 11:35 a.m. ET (six games), 12:05 p.m. ET (10 games), and 1:05 p.m. ET (three games).

On Sunday, May 7, the matchup between 2022 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up Adley Rutschman and the Baltimore Orioles visiting Ronald Acuna Jr. and the defending NL East champion Atlanta Braves (11:35 a.m. ET) will be presented live on both Peacock and NBC, marking the second consecutive year in which the NBC broadcast network will present a live MLB game (last season’s package-opening White Sox-Red Sox game on May 8, 2022).

Highlights of the 2023 MLB Sunday Leadoff slate (full schedule below): the New York Yankees and Aaron Judge, who set the American League record with 62 home runs last season, visiting the Cincinnati Reds on May 21; the Los Angeles Dodgers, who led MLB with 111 wins last season, visiting the Tampa Bay Rays on May 28; the World Series champion Houston Astros hosting the Seattle Mariners (Aug. 20); and the 101-win New York Mets hosting the Los Angeles Angels on Aug. 27. The MLB Sunday Leadoff season concludes on Sept. 3 with the Phillies visiting the Milwaukee Brewers.

Date Time (ET) Matchup
April 23 12:05 p.m. Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies
April 30 12:05 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Miami Marlins
May 7 11:35 a.m. Baltimore Orioles at Atlanta Braves*
May 14 11:35 a.m. Los Angeles Angels at Cleveland Guardians
May 21 11:35 a.m. New York Yankees at Cincinnati Reds
May 28 11:35 a.m. Los Angeles Dodgers at Tampa Bay Rays
June 4 11:35 a.m. St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates
June 11 11:35 a.m. Arizona Diamondbacks at Detroit Tigers
June 18 1:05 p.m. Baltimore Orioles at Chicago Cubs
July 2 12:05 p.m. Minnesota Twins at Baltimore Orioles
July 9 12:05 p.m. Texas Rangers at Washington Nationals
July 16 12:05 p.m. San Francisco Giants at Pittsburgh Pirates
July 23 12:05 p.m. San Diego Padres at Detroit Tigers
July 30 12:05 p.m. Los Angeles Angels at Toronto Blue Jays
August 6 12:05 p.m. Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Guardians
August 13 12:05 p.m. Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox
August 20 1:05 p.m. Seattle Mariners at Houston Astros
August 27 12:05 p.m. Los Angeles Angels at New York Mets
September 3 1:05 p.m. Philadelphia Phillies at Milwaukee Brewers

There’s a new article making the rounds about Willets Point, but I am not going to link to it (I will link to a different one below)  I read the first one, and I feel like the person who wrote it just accepted Steve Cohen’s Talking Points – including just accepting the Orwellian-Speak of “Visioning Meeting” or whatever they are calling these things.  In my opinion, this is a dog and pony show that winds up with a casino on parkland, and politicians getting generous donations to their re-election campaigns.

So instead of linking to the article, let’s see what some are saying on twitter.

Then there is an article to which I WILL link, from TheCity.com

..part of Cohen’s gamble appears to be a bet on the market of Chinese immigrants next door in Flushing, said a hedge fund analyst who covered gaming and casinos and declined to be named by THE CITY due to their company’s policy.

But wait there’s more!

To get the go-ahead to build a structure, New Green Willets needs the legislature to redesignate the parking lot, which has officially been public parkland since 1939.

That hurdle has stopped past development schemes, including a plan by former Mets owner Fred Wilpon to convert the lot into a shopping mall, which the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, blocked in 2017.

As Cohen angles to build on the lot, his family and associates have stepped up with donations to the campaigns of key local politicians.

His wife, Alexandra Cohen, donated $117,300 to the state Democratic Committee last year. And Michael Sullivan — the chief of staff at Steve Cohen’s equity management firm, Point72, and an in-house lobbyist of New Green Willets — gave nearly $35,000 in total to several state lawmakers who represent the direct or adjacent areas. That includes $9,400, $5,000, and $2,500 to Assemblymembers Aubry, Catalina Cruz and Jenifer Rajkumar, respectively, as well as $5,000 each to Queens State Sens. Ramos and Mike Gianaris, the deputy majority leader.

Or this…

Zeng told THE CITY in Mandarin. “At the same time, it conflicts with public safety concerns. The reason people oppose a casino is because it could attract crime and bring out high-interest underground loaners who target people with gambling losses and debts.”

Or this..

Aubry told THE CITY that “as far as I’ve heard … they would not necessarily be wanting to go forward without a casino. The casino would provide the economic engine for the rest of the work that they propose.”

So don’t read the story to which I didn’t link, read the one on The City from which I have excerpted.

Anyway, all this is much ado about nothing because… IT IS PARKLAND.