Jan 13 2006 09:45 AM
Its amazing to me that Healy could be so universally disliked by everyone who either follows or is a fan of this team, yet somehow the guy was a fixture for years. How the hell did that happen?
January 13, 2006
Mets' New Network Makes Great Calls
By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Before a single Mets game has been seen on the fledgling SportsNet New York, the team's new network can be praised for ending the announcer chaos that once reigned at the MSG Network and Fox Sports New York.
Two months ago, Gary Cohen was hired as the sole play-by-play announcer for all 150 S.N.Y and Channel 11 games. And yesterday, S.N.Y. named the former Mets Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling as the analysts.
Thus ends the population boom in the Mets' cable and broadcast booths, where Hernandez, Ted Robinson, Ralph Kiner, Fran Healy, Tom Seaver and Dave O'Brien worked last season. Kiner and Seaver will play some type of unspecified roles at S.N.Y., but not during the games, apparently.
And perhaps no sweeter words could be expressed about the dim prospect of Healy following the Mets to their new network than those uttered on a news media conference call yesterday by Jon Litner, the president of S.N.Y, who said, "He's under contract to MSG for another year."
Sanity breaks out. (soupcan - 'Ouch')
Having three announcers completely identified as the Mets' voices is reminiscent of the days when Kiner, Bob Murphy and Lindsey Nelson called all the games on television and radio. It's no longer quite so cozy; the Mets' radio games will be called by Howie Rose and Tom McCarthy.
"I grew up in San Francisco," Hernandez said, where the Giants games were called by Lon Simmons and Russ Hodges. "They were the two guys, on radio and TV. You turned the game on, and it was Lon and Russ."
The hiring of Hernandez and Darling had been expected, especially with David Cone unwilling to call as many games as S.N.Y. needed and Al Leiter continuing his playing career. The fact that all four were Mets was not a prerequisite to being considered, but their connections to the team did not hurt, said Curt Gowdy Jr., the executive producer of the network.
"I wanted the best people available," Gowdy said.
The inaugural year of S.N.Y. coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Mets' second World Series championship, so having two members of that team in the booth is a promotional and a historical advantage. "One thing about that team is they owned this town," Darling, 45, said on the conference call.
Hernandez, 52, played down the hard-partying image of that team, at least in terms of other teams he played with during his career. "I can't say that those Mets were No. 1 on the list of carousing on the road," he said on the call. He suggested that young, athletic men on his teams were not going to play tiddlywinks on the road after a game.
Hernandez has been calling games for about a decade, but last year his MSG-F.S.N.Y. schedule was cut to 32 games from 50 or 55 in previous years, a decision he preferred not to discuss. "I always wanted to do more games," he said, then added, "This is the biggest job in my post-playing career."
Darling spent his first year in the booth last season, working with Mel Proctor on 150 Washington Nationals games. He and Proctor met for the first time in a taxicab on the way to their first game, in Philadelphia.
"Somehow we pulled off the first game and went on from there," Proctor said by telephone. The arrangements, first to put the Nationals on the air, and second, to hire Proctor and Darling, were made so hastily that Darling slept on Proctor's couch for three weeks before finding his own place.
Proctor said that Darling's biggest adjustment was to maintain his energy over 150 games, a greater load than most TV announcers have. "He's usually low-key," Proctor said, "but one game, he came running in late, runs into the booth, out of breath, in a hurry, all pumped up, and it was the best game he ever did. I said, 'Ronnie, that's the energy you need to bring every time.' "
Darling and Hernandez will generally work one-on-one with Cohen, although Gowdy said that he may tinker with using all three, a trial process that will begin in spring training. S.N.Y. has not scheduled its first game.
Darling is a lesser-known commodity than Hernandez, who has improved, after a rocky start, with more work. There was a time, after he finished playing, when continuing in baseball was a remote idea.
"In 1991, I got away from the game for four years and I barely watched," he said. "I cleared my head and realized it was a beautiful game." He has also preserved the hair hue of his youth with Just For Men coloring ("The Rejuvenator!"), which he has promoted with Walt Frazier.
So let us recapitulate what S.N.Y. has wrought: Cohen. Darling. Hernandez. No Healy. A good start.
E-mail: sportsbiz@nytimes.com
