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In a report for CBS, Jon Friedman profiles Ron Darling, Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez, who “loyal fans and many critics say [are] the best announcers in baseball.”
…speaking of broadcasters, i’m not sure what to make of Wayne Hagin, who took over as the play-by-play man for WFAN…i’m starting to think i’d rather listen to just Howie Rose…on his own…ala Vin Scully…i prefer howie’s play by play, and i prefer howie’s commentary…what’s more, hagin is almost too polished…he has a lot of gravitas and a traditional cadence, and i miss the genuine excitement that the broadcast used to have…sorry, wayne…
Hagin stinks. too bad there isn’t a way to have the TV broadcast on the radio too.
I agree. Hagin turns me right off. For one thing, he sound very generic, bordering on that wacky disc jockey voice.
For another thing — and this is a complaint I have with all the Mets announcers to a greater or lesser degree — he is overly praising of the opposition. Everybody is just the best ever and having a “fantastic” game.
But I could overlook all those things if it weren’t for the fact that he just plain says some stupid, untrue things that prove that he is not really all that knowlegeable. Here is just one specific case. I wonder if anyone remembers hearing this:
When they were playing the Braves during the first week of the season in Atlanta, during one game he stated the following about Chipper Jones — and I will paraphrase because I don’t remember his exact words:
“Chipper Jones — he’s a certain Hall of Famer and he still has a lot of career left.”
Huh?
Don’t get me wrong, Chipper Jones is an excellent ballplayer. But HE’S 36 YEARS OLD! And he gets injured all the time. How can a knowlegeable baseball person say that he has a lot of career left in him? And as far as him being a certain Hall of Famer, I have two words for Wayne Hagan:
Jim Rice
Tell me where I can find HIS plaque in the HOF. It looks very much like Chipper and Jim Rice will have similar type careers — except for the fact that Rice did it in the era before the terrible pitching and the crazy home run totals.
So if Chipper is a certain hall of famer, why isn’t Rice in?
Anyway, Hagin says a lot of stupid stuff. It’s embarrassing. It seem like he just likes to hear himself talk. He says a lot of boring, fluffy cliche-type things.
sounds like sour grapes, just because he praised chipper. i dont mind announcers giving due where its earned, otherwise you end up with yankee announcers who never credit the opposition, and you end up thinking the only way the yankees can lose is if the yankees beat themselves, not if the other team/player outplays them.
Yes, you are right about the Yankee announcers, particularly John Sterling, who whines about every pitch and every call that goes against the Yanks.
But you kind of missed my point. It wasn’t so much that he praised Chipper — hell, Chipper has worn the Mets out over the years. It’s the fact that he so flippantly declared Chipper a sure Hall of Famer and stated that he has a lot of career left. Clearly, neither are immediately true. Both are possible, I suppose, but neither are undisputed facts as his comments seemed to indicate.
you’re right about that, i dont think he’s a certain hall of famer, and i certainly dont think he has a lot of career left
I’m going to have to disagree with you guys here. As far as health goes, yes, he does have his issues, but let’s face it, with today’s medicine it’s not a far fetch for a guy to play into his 40’s, and with Chipper’s numbers and ability I certainly wouldn’t rule it out. He can easily go into the AL and DH - he will surely produce good enough numbers to remain in the bigs. So if you think about it, by saying that Chipper has a lot of career left he could mean 4-5 years, which in reality is a lot of career for a professional sports player.
As far as HOF goes, I would say that Chipper may not be a sure lock as of today, but he certainly will be by the time he’s done playing. Let’s compare him to Rice:
RICE JONES
playing time: 16 yrs 16yrs to date
HR: 382 390 (will be at least 450)
RBI: 1451 1313 (will be at least 1500)
AVG: .298 .308
SLG: .502 .547
OPS+: .128 .143
Plus Chipper is a career 3B while Rice is LF - makes a big difference for HOF. Rice has been to the postseason twice, Chipper was on a division winning team for 11 straight years.
I’m not a big Chipper fan - as a matter of fact, I hate the guy, but you gotta give him his dues. He’s a great player and he WILL be in the HOF.
I do think Chipper is a Hall of Famer… but I don’t understand one thing. Why would you choose to compare him to Jim Rice? If you are trying to make a case for Chipper in the Hall of Fame, wouldn’t you want to compare his numbers to someone that is actually in the Hall? I’m sure his numbers stack up to a lot of them.
Also, Chipper did spend a few years in the OF as well.
WHO ELSE IS GOING TO THE GAME IN PHILLY ON SATURDAY?????????????????????????
THEY REFUSe TO MAKE poST SO WE CAN MEET UP AND HAVE METS NATION BE VISIBLE
I do not care for Wayne Hagin. I love listening to baseball on the radio and i just can’t get comfortable with him, i don’t know why. I don’t think he has a voice for New York (if that makes sense). Can we see if Uecker is available?
I second that motion…bring in “Harry Doyle”!
“juuuuuuuuuust a bit outside”
Ueckerist: Excuse me, Furson, but could you please stop yiffing with that dog? Your flagrant yiffery is bothering our pitcher.
ThatDamnFurry: how much am I bothering him? where is he
Ueckerist: Juuuust a bit. Outside.
After Bob Murphy, you can only go down, and you’ll never hear better.
Amen.
i couldn’t agree more. hagin is not good, which is probably why he bounces around a lot. he’s very stiff and cold. doesn’t connect at all. i was thinking the same thing about howie taking it on by himself. sometimes, when i can’t sleep, i’ll listen to vin call a dodgers game and just love him. he’s the best.
I can listen to Vin Scully over and over again, especially the 2nd best call in baseball history:
“little roller up along first, behind the bag AND IT GETS BY BUCKNER. HERE COMES KNIGHT AND THE METS WIN IT!”
The only better call was Russ Hodges on the Shot Heard Round the World in ‘51.
Actually “It gets through Buckner!”
Yeah, gomets is doing what I do a lot, and that is to confuse Bob Murphy’s call with Vin Scully’s. Murphy said by and Vin said through.
Easy to confuse the two best baseball voices ever.
I’d rate the SNY team amongst the best on TV in any sport.
Hagin is a hard listen, painful at times! Almost as bad as Gary’s face is for TV.
Gary’s face or Howie’s face? Which do you prefer?
I think Howie, sadly, has a face made for radio. Maybe that’s why he’s so good at it.
Gary is great. Murph was my all-time favorite, but Gary is top notch. However, in the Cohen/Rose debate, I have to side with Gary because they showed a picture of him once from the 70s and he looked pretty cool with long hair and a beard. He could get that look back, even if it was only through a wig. But Howie? Good as he is, there’s no help for that mug. And by the way, I love him, but he always sounds like he’s shouting.
I never thought I’d miss Tom McCarthy but he’s considerably better than Hagin….who’s overly structured and doesn’t really work well yet with Howie…..
In retrospect, Tom McCarthy wasn’t all that bad.
But the guy he replaced — Ted Robinson — was HORRIBLE. Absolute rubbish.
There should be a law: Tennis guys are prohibited from announcing baseball.
I’ve still yet to hear Hagin, so I can’t really form an opinion on him.
Gary, Keith and Ron are great. To people who are not Mets fans, Keith is the only one I could see taking exception too. I still dig him though.
I love these guys too, but someone should tell Keith that the word neither should not be used in the place of the word either! This bothers me. And the word “irregardless” is not a word. I know, I know…why should I care? I do, call me crazy.
It’s okay, their otherwise noble approach enbiggens us all. ;)
“irregardless” not being a word is a promulent misconception…it’s become an official word through usage
please please its “embiggens” and “cromulent”
Johan embiggened us all with his cromulent performance.
haha. It annoys me how every time Wily Mo Pena is involved in a play Keith calls him Pena (Pay-nuh).
Keith has hispanic blood. How come he cant pronounce this guys name right? I can also see other fans taking exception to Keith, but he just calls it how it is, whether the Mets make a stupid play or the other team does.
Keith made a classic comment last night that had me laughing out loud once I thought about it.
John Lannan throws a nasty breaking ball to strike somebody out and Keith says…. ” Wow, that was really nasty Gary, this curveball just moves 11-5….. (pauses, then adds) on your clock dials! ” As if we couldnt pick that up.
Another funny one last night was Keith says… “Sorry Gar, I keep stepping on your feet” and I am thinking that he means he keeps cutting him off, then I come to find out he is actually stepping on Gary’s feet. Too funny.
He really is genuine and funny, I get the point that he just never uses the “cough” button to say something, he just shares it with all of us.
“I get the point that he just never uses the “cough” button to say something, he just shares it with all of us.”
I meant to say I get the idea.
At one point, either last night or the night before, Keith said something like “I wish we had heaters for our feet in here.” This was right in the middle of Gary doing the play by play. Tooooo funny.
I just read an article about how refreshing it is to hear un-sanitized dialogue from pbp’ers, despite the potential (and occasional) mistake, and I totally agree. I love hearing a player/broadcaster who’s bored, and tells it like it is. “this game sucks, I can’t wait to eat a steak later…and I think I’m in the mood for a nice cabernet.” Because that’s what we’re all thinking.
Irregardless is one of those rare words that has no real use (since it means the same as regardless.) It’s still considered a word, though. However, I only recommend using it as a joke.
Okay, I will concede if we can all agree that using it as a joke is the way to go. But I do really like Keith and he does keep me laughing. There is never a dull moment with those guys, so it makes watching the games fun and interesting.
And I love his game day attire. I can’t remember which game it was but they cut to a shot of the guys in the booth and I swear Keith looked like Willy Wonka!
And it’s great when Gary is interviewing someone in the booth (Racheal Robinson) and you see Keith sitting there like a little kid who can’t wait to get a word in, I think it must drive him nuts to just have to sit there and be quite for a few minutes.
But you gotta love him…tootsie pops and all. I mean the guy is a legend, 11 consecutive GGAs and two rings, you can’t beat it!
kind of like flammable and inflammable
I’ll tell you I live in the Hampton roads area of Va. So I have to watch all the games on Direct Tv MLB package. We have the best announcers by far, it isn’t even close. Having to watch some other feeds like the last three where MASN had the feed you have no idea what terrible announcers are out there. SNY should lock these guys up for a very long time if they are smart.
I have MLB.TV so I’m quite aware how awful a lot of other broadcasting teams are. I would have to say the Marlins probably have the worst broadcasters, but I remember being quite appalled when playing the DBbacks hearing Mark Grace (awful awful broadcasting voice). I still love when we go to LA getting to hear Scully though, the guy is the MAN.
Agreed. Watching home Dodger games was a rare treat amongst most of the other crappy way game announcing.
I was going to write the same thing. I had the package lat year and after watching tons of away games and some AL games I can honestly say SNYs team is at the top of the pile. Watch a marlins or Nationals home game and you will want to mute the TV. Same with TBS Brave’s coverage.
LOL, I have said the same thing. Don Sutton for the Nationals is a complete Moron. I don’t think his lips and brain are connected. The only other group of announcers that wern’t bad, was the announcers for the diamondbacks last year. Then you have Vince Scully for the Dodgers which he is a great guy but I swear he never takes a breath over the entire 9 innings.
Scully says more than most TV guys because he is being simulcast on radio. Quite a skill, actually.
Hagin is pretty much middle of the pack. He’s no better or worse than most of the baseball announcers out there. As Mets fans, we’re a bit spoiled, having 40+ years of Bob Murphy and a few glorious years of Howie and Gary together. But most of the announcers out there are either total homers or dull as dishwater.
and howie and gary arent homers? theyre amazing announcers…but they are homers of the worst kind.
how are you defining the worst kind of homer? just curious
There are homers like Sterling/Waldman–who are so without objectivity, they might as well be broadcasting from the Yankees dugout–and there are homers like Howie and Gary–who grew up as Mets fans and make no bones about living and dying with the team, yet are not a bit hesitant to criticize the Mets when warranted, or praise the other team.
Seriously, Gary and Howie try hard not to be homers, and get knocked for it sometimes. Listen to the Nats or Marlins announcers sometimes, who actually root on air. The Nats guy yells “get up, get up….get outta here!” on any long fly, calls the team “we”, etc etc.
Hagin is awful! There is not much more to say.
Yea i gotta agree with the general consensus. I am no fan of Wayne Hagin. He does not paint a good picture of what is going on at all. The other day he was announcing one of Pagan’s at-bats, and Pagan struck out looking but I had no idea based on what Hagin was saying. He said something along the lines of “and the pitch… no swing… Brian Schneider coming to the plate…” and I was like…”umm…”
I think one of the things that makes this broadcast team so good, is that they discuss parts of the game that most ignore. For example, last night Keith was all over the Nats defensive alignments, and why they would be effective or ineffective. Aside from pointing out the occasional shift, I have never heard a broadcaster talk about team defense before.
No doubt! They discuss specific pitches a lot, too, sometimes clearing up what pitch was just thrown and whether it was a good call or not…
Oh well. I got the Nats feed, and heard a lot of comparison to different Braves’ players/ prospects. Sutton didn’t get the memo, apparently.
As a Mississippi Mets fan, I’m restricted to the XM broadcasts of the games. I do like Hagin, though. He’s a lot better than listening to the other teams’ announcers.
theres only one simple solution, and that is to bring Bob Murphy back from the dead. Get it done.
And if it doesnt get done, then fire Omar.
Hagin sounds like he should be calling games for the Springfield Isotopes. He sounds like a charicature. I do not like him at all, and after a lifetime of listening to Bob Murphy, Gary Thorne, Gary Cohen, and Howie Rose on the radio it’s tough to get used to not liking a guy. McCarthy was passable - Hagin is not.
I realize they were in a pinch so I would give them a pass for this year, but I’d love to see someone with tied to the organization as a color guy next year. Either that, or what about the guys we had pre-SNY that they didn’t want to keep because of their other commitments? O’Brien, Robinson, Thorne….it obviosuly does not bother them on the radio since Howie does Islanders games and Eddie C. is always on call.
Am I the only one who thinks Gary should have stayed on the radio? I loved Howie with Keith and Ron when Cohen was sick, and Gary is just not as good on TV - his over-calls on flyballs are exposed, and by comparison he was simply as good as it got on radio.
That still wouldn’t answer who his partner should be. If no one else, Eddie C. works well with Howie, although I think we could do better.
I think he sounds like he should be calling on of those fake Yankee games they used to watch on Seinfeld.
lol that is great.
Oh no! Paul O’Neill just split his pants! Forget this game!
Gary Thorne is terrible…
Agreed, dave27. Caught a bit of the early action on the ‘FAN last night. Slow going early, and Howie was stuck in storytelling mode (it being the anniversary of the first game played at Shea)..
Hagin punctuated every one of Howie’s ellisions (admittedly, self-indulgent… but heartfelt, and bringing a personal touch to the game) with a backslapping non-sequitur straight out of “Henny Youngman’s Rejected Jokes.” (”My kids speak two languages– they talk English, and they talk back.”)
His style– you could call it “Announcer Guy”– grates. But worse, as someone pointed out above? He doesn’t seem to add anything by way of insight/understanding of the game. Which is kind of the job of a color man, no?
GIVE HAGIN ANOTHER CHANCE! HES A GREAT LISTEN! SERIOUSLY, i was feeling like you at the start of the season, and now he sounds GREAT. and he has a large knowledge of the opposing players than howie does. he does sound like a topes sendup of skully, yes, but he calls a more accurate game then most announcers.
Wayne Hagin’s screen name is ghobot.
lmao
hahaha
Couldn’t agree more that Gary, Keith and Ron are the best TV announcers in baseball. I’ve had the Extra Innings package for three years and there are a lot of awful teams out there. Florida, Colorado, sometimes San Fran. These guys are always on top of their game.
I was dissapointed that the crew wasn’t more critical of the Mets poor bunting after getting leadoff batters on in the 10th and 11th. Even if Easley was safe on Churches bunt, there should never be a play. Ball has to go to the third base side.
Still love the team though. Greatest broadcast team in the game.
Yeah, give Hagin some time. He’s got a good voice and his chemistry with Howie will take some time. I think we need to give this a while before we can really decide.
i am pretty sure people will warm up to him. i remember when people hated cohen!
I think Hagen isn’t bad but just too cool and professional sounding. You can hear the New York in Gary and Howie. And Bob Murphy, though a native San Diegan became a Noo Yawkah
Gary and Howie were just so great on radio.
The jury is out on Hagen so far, but the traitor Tom McCarthy (a lifelong Met fan) was great after a season with Howie.
These guys are the best. I cannot think of a team with better chemistry, and I absolutely love it when they say things that let you know that they do not take themselves overly seriously. I hear Keith apologize for stepping on Gary Cohen, and unlike most guys Cohen genuinally smiles and doesnt care.
How about when Keith ends up “Mooning” the camera as he looks for his box of blow pops, and then they spend several minutes discussing why there are too many of a particular color.
Simply put - they are easy and enjoyable to listen to the 200 times a year it takes to win it all.
I”ve been waiting for this to come up. Hagin stinks! The radio is all I ever listen to so I’ve given the guy plenty of time to endear himself and he has failed. What was he saying last night? Poetic Justice? He really sounds like the cliche broadcaster with a stick up his butt. Having said that, he is better than some of the homers on other teams. As an XM listener, I have to hear the other teams’ broadcasters when the Mets are on the road and you would think that some of the Mets’ homeruns where singles by the inflection used by their broadcasters. So I guess what I’m finding out as I type is that Hagin is better than a lot of people but no where near good enough for the Mets.
You’ve been waiting for this to come up? How quickly did you decide a guy who’s been doing this for 14 games stinks? 6 innings into Opening day? One week in? He’s new, how can we pass judgment on this guy in 2 weeks?
We were blessed to have a gentleman like Bob Murphy for 42 years. Well, I only had him for just over 30. But there was nothing like hearing “Hello everybody” that first day of spring. And his calls of some of the classic moments are etched in my brain.
It’s extremely unlikely we’ll ever have a Voice of Summer like that again and I’m not even hinting Hagin is one of these guys, but let’s give this guy a chance before blanket statements like “he stinks”.
Mr. Q, I’ve heard enough to know I don’t like him. McCarthy wasn’t around long before I knew I liked him. The voice, the choice of words, basically everything about doesn’t seem natural to me. I’m sorry that our requisite sample size differs but I still say he stinks.
I’m in total agreement metsfan704. I always love listening to the Mets on the radio and yes we have been spoiled. Even McCarthy was better than most. I can’t listen to Hagin and I feel like Howie can’t connect with him.
mccarthy made mistakes CONSTANTLY. i hated that. and he didnt have a nice tempo.
can you think specifically what bothers you about hagin. because i didnt like him at first because it felt like he didnt even like the mets. he kept gushing over every philly
The nice thing about Tom is that he sounded alot like Gary
His voice is great for radio
Hagin bothers me for the same reason that I don’t like the nationwide broadcasts like ESPN or FOX. He’s so bland, and full of standard jargon that test well in middle America but show no real flare or unique insight into the game. It’s pretty dumbed down in my opinion. He belongs on TBS.
Free Howie Rose!!
FreeHowieRose would be a good moniker for this site. FireWayneHagin would be good too.
Hagin definitely comes across as a little cold and distant. Thank God for Howie. I’ll give them a chance to develop a rapport, tho.
As for the TV guys, best in biz, not even close. I like it when they get a little goofy, because they can turn it off in a second if something happens.
It’s also great to hear Keith Ron open up about what life was like on the 80s Mets. Some stories are coming out that I’ve never heard and it’s great stuff.
Nobody calls a game like Joe Morgan. I simply cannot beleive someone who was such a great instinctive player could butcher a game so easily. He is the Joe Theisman of baseball, he is arrogant and wrong so often it is hilarious. In last nights game in the span of thirty seconds he said (paraphrasing) good for manny laying off a pitch he cant handle, and then 30 seconds later - manny can handle ANY picth thrown to him, please espn for the love of god dump him, or keep him for unintentional comedy sake.
Gary keith and ron are a pleasure to listen to. I have yankees fans telling me they tune in just to hear the three of them.
My favorite calls ever: al michaels calling gibsons home run and sam rosen’s 94 stanley cup call AND THIS ONE WILL LAST A LIFETIME (still get the chills) MATTAU MATTA STEPHONB MATTEU. I hope gary keith and ron get the chance to call a mets world series win, I am sure Gary has a good qoute ready….OUTTA HERE.
I thought the Steffan Matteau call was Howie Rose and not Sam Rosen.
yes matteau was rose, rosen was “this one will last a lifetime,” I mixed them together without giving “put em in the books” his due and proper.
“Fetisov of the Devils plays it cross ice into the far corner, Mattaeu swoops into intercept, Mattaeu behind the net, swings it infront, HE SCORES… MATTEAU!! MATTEAU!! MATTEAU!! STEPHANE MATTEAU!! AND THE RANGERS HAVE ONE MORE HILL TO CLIMB BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!BUT IT’S MOUNT VANCOUVER! THE RANGERS ARE HEADED TO THE FINALS!!!”
best call I have ever heard in my life.
Agreed.
How much does it kill Howie to have do Isles games?
Joe Morgan is a bad announcer who is full of himself and the Big Red Machine. See http://www.firejoemorgan.com on of the very best sites on the web about baseball, and particularly bad baseball writing and commentary.
Vin Scully called the Gibson homer on TV. Jack Buck called the Gibson homer (”I DONT BELIEVE WHAT I SAW !!!) on national radio
I know this sounds ridiculous, but Hagin sounds almost giddy when things go against the Mets…like he’s a mole, or something…
ha i used to think that too! but i think its because we are so used to how homerish our announcers are.
The first game I heard Hagin do was a Saturday game in spring training. I was very disappointed. But the more I’ve listened to him the more he’s grown on me; Coooo-stanza! (another Seinfeld reference). But I think we’ve been a bit spoiled. I’ll reserve judgement until a majority of the season has passed.
always good to see a thread with multiple Seinfeld references. My dad has a theory of life that you can somehow connect everything in life to a Seinfeld episode: I tend to agree
I agree, didn’t like hagin the first listen, but each time since he’s grown on me, i think eventually he’ll fit really well, im sure he and howie have aren’t going to instantly gel. i think its also more of a case that the majority of the listeners are so used to howie and gary its tough to get used to some else. that’s how i felt at first
Ah yes, the holy trinity.
Wayne is ok - sometimes he waxes a little too poetic.
i like the TV guys for the bosox whathisname and Jerry Remy.
Now you’ve gone and done it Matt. I was wondering when this was going to happen ever since I saw Anthony on giantsfootballblog
You might want to add a little color to the white backdrop, not much, but a little.
I dislike the tone and cadence of Hagin’s voice. He has this annoying lilt that makes it sound as if he’s drunk or slow. The slow pace of his voice is just annoying to someone like me who grew up in NY..
When Ted Robinson started doing Mets games I didn’t like him at first. But I quickly warmed up to him. I can’t see ever warming up to Hagin.
that’s the big problem with Hagin. He’s from the midwest and did Cardinal and Rockies Play By Play. I’m going to give him the season to get it right - ithis is the capital of baseball and we are demanding. But I think he deserves a year before the jury convicts
it’s simple
Hagin’s a nice guy, but hiring him was a mistake - he’d be a fine announcer in the Midwest, but he’s just not right for this region
he should be fired and so should whoever hired him
hagin used to broadcast for the rockies in colorado…. so coming to new york i’m sure is an adjustment for him. give him some time.
there was a point in last nights game, contrived or not, where he was describing the action before the pitch in a way that added to the anticipation - which is what i prefer in an announcer. get me in the game and describe the details. let howie handle the editorial - he knows the new york mentality. hagin doesn’t… yet.
and yes, vin scully is definitely numero uno on the list of today’s announcers. he approaches it like they used to in the golden age (perhaps because he’s from the golden age). what’s surprising though is that they actually pay charley steiner and rick monday to take over for scully after three innings on the radio. no need in my opinion. let scully go all game long - a national treasure.
from wednesday night’s game, scully: “tonight is fleece blanket night. the dodger’s looking to fleece the bucs and put a blanket on the series.” and then yes, without a breath onto something else.
How about Kevin Burkhardt? I think he’d be a great fit with Howie.
I disagree completely! Give Wayne Hagin a chance! He’s a true professional and got a bum rap in St. Louis because he took over after the immortal Jack Buck. Geez, guys….relax! That’s as hard as taking over after Vin Scully. It was a tough act to follow indeed, but so far, I have genuinely enjoyed his smooth voice, professional knowledge of the game, and unbiased calls. I am a devout Mets fan but enjoy the fact that our guys are not like Sterling and Waldman, whose bias and obsession with the Yankees is embarrassing to listen to!
why are people NOT giving this guy a chance! hahah one guy just said fire him and the guy who hired him?!
i hope someone can recall all these comments, because i have a good feeling that people will warm up to hagin. a regional guy? there is no such thing as a guy calling a game has to become just like his region. if that were true, we would never have had enjoyed bob murphy.
It doesn’t get much better than Keith and Darling, they are both insightful and Keith is hilarious. Cohen is better on radio but is good on tv and I wouldn’t want to hear anyone else call a big play. Howie is great on radio and tv. I work nights so I listen to the majority of the games on the radio and I couldn’t stand Tom McCarthy. After listening to Hagin for two weeks I actually miss McCarthy. Hagin calls the entire play as a whole and doesn’t pause. I wish the Mets could find a good tv guy and have Cohen and Howie do the games on the radio.
I guess as a Mets fan that has listened to alot of games on the radio I got very spoiled by Cohen (who is one of the best on the radio) and Bob Murphy. That team was as good as it gets.
The problem is that Gary, Ronnie and Keith sound so good its like they are good buddies calling a game in their basement or den. Besides I wouldn’t want to break up the best announcing team in all of sports.
They are now even better than Al Michaels and Madden - who is a caricature of himself.
yeah, I miss Murph
he was the king
I hope he’s enjoying an eternal Happy Recap
Wayne Hagin is uncomfortable to listen to. He just seems to stumble with his words and doesn’t seem to have good instincts at matching hi swords to the game.
Nothing against Howie, and I like Howie, but he makes Howie sound like Vin Scully.
Maybe it takes time, and I didn’t like Tom McCarthy for awhile. Now I can listen to McCarthy down in Philly and I realize now how much I actually miss him! Hopefully Hagin gets more aclimated and starts settling in.
Not to change the subject, but I will anyway: Are any bloggers planning on meeting at tomight’s game? I guess most are heading down Saturday from what I read over the last few weeks.
I know Eddie C is great as a beat reporter, but I don’t mind him as play-by-play either. My guess is it’s easier to find FAN another beat reporter than an announcer who knows this market, knows this team and can identify with the fanbase. Seems silly that the Mets didn’t give it to him (since I heard Coleman did audition).
Problem with Eddie is that he is too close with certain guys on the team. He’s very good friends with Wags and was somewhat tight with Glavine. I don’t think the Mets wanted to have that in the booth
I think Eddie does a good job in spring training games. I’m not crazy about his interviews though
Eddie C was OK, but I think he’s much better at reporting than announcing.
OT: Hey Matt, you need to get a different photo of Zakarin. He looks so sad in the one you’re using. Like his girl just left him or his dog just died.
I swear I’ve learned enough about pitching to write a book from listening to Ron Darling. He’s fantastic. Keith is definitely the coolest and one of the most insightful announcers out there. Love the other guys too. We’re seriously spoiled getting to listen to that team every year. I hope they sign 10-year contracts.
Keith just has this cynical edge to him that separates him from all of other blowhards in his profession and that is what makes him KEITH!
Keith is so cool he is the Jerry Garcia of television announcers !!!!
Eddie C. is a terrible announcer, his accent is just too much, coudl you imagine Francessa announcing? it would sound the same.
I was thinking Hagin was an average announcer and then I read all these posts on how terrible he is, the only problem is that some people have also said that Tom McCarthy wasnt good…are you kidding me? Not only was that guy a great listen but he worked well with Howie, and listening to him you thought he was a mets fan (he is really a phillies guy)
Gary is great, Ron is great (albeit a little slow to listen to, but him and Al Leiter do the same things and Ronnie is a heckuva lot better)…Keith is only a good listen to mets fans and to people who are drunk, or both….but I am a mets fan who drinks so I love the guy and his history lessons, tootsie pops and general dislike for the announcing profession.
I mean what other baseball announcer will get mad that it is ONLY the 3rd inning and then grunt about it on several occassion during the year.
Also I head they were thinking about replacing Wayne Hagin with eitehr Jon Miller or Joe Morgan…exactly, if that was the case you would love Wayne.
McCarthy is a lifelong passionate Mets fan, not a Phillies fan. The Phils mgmt wanted him back and gave him a great TV gig and he had to take it.
one of the many things the mets have over the yankees is there radio and tv broadcasters. listening/watching the yankees personalities makes me want to break my tv/radio
hagin sounds like hes leaning forward into the mike wearing a suit. not relaxed at all. very unlike our past announcers
Wayne Hagin is better than John Sterling and that’s enough.
Yeah, but so what?! We have to come up with a better reason for tolerating Hagin than that!!! Hagin just makes me yearn more for seeing the game live. He is just flat-out painful to listen to.
I would be better than John Sterling. My CAT would be better. If I was a Yankee fan I would learn Spanish and listen to that broadcast.
Sterling’s not a high bar to clear. But I think Hagin will work out in the end !
I had the MLB.tv package for half a seson and have the Extra Innings package this year, so I have seen a lot of the NL crews. The Mets do have the best of the lot. They’re knowledgeable and they’re not obnixious homers. I also really enjoy Vin Scully. Every time I hear his voice it’s like a flashback to the 80’s and the MLB game of the week on NBC. He’s awesome.
The Marlins probably have the worst team. I’ve hated Carpenter and Sutton here in DC, but Carpenter has seemingly gotten a tad bit better. I guess getting fired and then re-hired will chasten a guy.
Ron Darling is the best color man doing baseball games today bar none. I hope SNY has him locked up to a long term deal.
Mattie-I’m diggin’ the new look Metsblog website. Rock On!
WHO ELSE IS GOING TO THE GAME IN PHILLY ON SATURDAY?????????????????????????
THEY REFUSe TO MAKE poST SO WE CAN MEET UP AND HAVE METS NATION BE VISIBLE
ha, i am going to put a little thumbnail of me whenever i post.
Does any get the feeling the Mets were trying to lure a big name to fill McCarthy’s spot and got middle-of-the-pack Hagin instead. I really enjoyed McCarthy’s repartee with Howie, and he sounded so much like Gary!
In any event, I am trying to give Hagin a chance, but he sounds so midwestern (not that there is anything wrong with that, I love midwesterners). Eddie C would probably just sound better.
Nothing beats the guys in the TV booth. Wouldn’t it be great for one of those guys to rotate in with Howie, kinda like what Murph, Lindsay and Ralph used to do?
I do really miss Bob Murphy. He has to be one of the best radio men ever to call a baseball game.
hagin is much better than Eddie C. hagin is quite accurate. man, i hope people give him a chance.
Matt’s criticism of Hagin was spot on and didn’t go into the cheapshot zome. Hagin just sounds too generic for me. I also feel that he leaves NO dead air, he talks right up to the pitch, describes the pitch and goes right on yapping about something that isn’t always related to the action at that point in time. He’s not terrible, but he’s just nowhere near as good as the guys that have been in the booth for the past ten years. I too would favor Howie going solo at this point, I was just thinking that the other day.
Hagin is growing on me as well (though I do
miss Tom McCarthy). My beef is with Howie
Rose who has grown into a company hack
(after years as a smart outsider) and to a lesser
degree with Ed Coleman who must say
“there’s no question about that” about six times
a broadcast.
Wayne Hagin can’t win. Who are we going to compare him to? Gary Cohen and Howie Rose, two of the most knowledgeable Mets historians in the world? Ed Coleman, who has been a fixture on the Mets beat for as long as I can remember? Mets champions Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez? Bob Murphy (no further explanation needed)? No one that is brought in from outside the “Mets family” can live up to them, not McCarthy, not Hagin, not Ted Robinson or Dave O’Brien. Nobody.
Murph was the best. I love Howie, but I can’t listen to the radio broadcasts without missing Murph.
How about Maz? Let Howie do all the pbp, and let Maz do color. He’s far from slick, but he’s all NY, baby.
Howie and Gary is/were the best radio annoncers I’ve ever heard - even better than Marv, Vin or Oh Doctor! himself, Red Barber.
Both were great with every sport he does. And he has the greatest sense of irony and humor.
I do not like Hagin, didn’t like McCarthy, Robinson or the other guy (was it O’Brian?). I want someone who knows the Mets. An objective homer like Gary and Howie is fine, but these other guys all sound midwest. Get me someone from New York who knows the Mets. My choice is Kevin Burkhardt.