I was having dinner last Thursday night with Howie Rose, their great radio announcer. I dropped him off at the team hotel and as I was about to pull away, Matt Harvey and five other players crossed in front of my car. I guess I'm not as big a Dodger fan as I thought.
Congratulations to the Mets. And the Cubs, Blue Jays, and Royals.
And Mets fans, you're welcome.
Thank you Ken - it's much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteTHank you Ken. Btw, Justin Turner, for this series, obviously made a deal with the Devil. Is there a sitcom in this?
ReplyDeleteGreat story. I appreciate you leaving our Mets intact.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever called a post-season game? If so, how different was it from a regular season game?
You had dinner with Howie? I'm jealous. The best baseball radio voice. Thanks for holding back.
ReplyDeleteWell, if the 2015 trend continues, the Mets will go to the World Series. So far in the National League the team with the worse record has advanced (Chicago over Pittsburgh, Chicago over St Louis, New York over Los Angeles). And even though I am a huge St Louis Cardinals fan I hope this is the case because I DESPISE the wild card system (thank goodness the Astros are gone).
ReplyDeleteGene F,
ReplyDeleteYes, I called a Padres/Cardinals NLDS game. Great fun. Every moment mattered. You knew that everyone was listening. It was electric. If only we had won.
I like both NL teams in the playoffs and dislike both AL teams. Horns of a dilemma.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated - thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnd as a Met fan in foreign territory (born and raised in New Jersey, worked/lived in NYC for 15 years, moved to Chicagoland in 2000), I will be wearing neutral clothing in public for the next week to 10 days.
Good thing for the Mets that you didn't channel your inner Chase Utley....
ReplyDelete(It is OK to try and make a joke on a comedy writer's website, isn't it?)
I went to grad school in NYC and used to listen to Howie when he was the evening host on WFAN, before he got to do play-by-play. A fine broadcaster.
ReplyDeleteUsually, when the Dodgers lose, I say it never would have happened if Don Mattingly were alive. But he didn't do anything to cost the Dodgers this one. Considering how they did with runners on base, I'm reminded of perhaps the most vicious lead ever in baseball writing, by one of its most vicious practitioners, Dick Young of the Daily News: "The tree that grows in Brooklyn is an apple tree, and the apple is in the throats of the Dodgers."
By the way, Ken, you haven't said anything about the fact that the most important Dodger has been on the disabled list for the playoffs. Apparently, Vin was in the hospital for a few days. I hope it wasn't serious, although, when you're 87, anything can be serious, I guess.
I always appreciated Howie's love for Seinfeld, The Odd Couple and The Honeymooners. Now knowing he's your friend confirms my belief that he knows great comedy!
ReplyDeleteI'm picturing the Abby Road cover. Which one was barefooted -- Mr. Met?
ReplyDeleteGuess this boils down to a Friday Question, but this particular Baseball story really seems the place to be:
ReplyDeleteMLB's Wild Card Game... still trying to work my head around this still new concept.
Series are just one of many aspects that make the game so enjoyable (playing the game in real time - no clock - another reason).
Spring training, regular season (interleague for that matter), post season... all are made up of series.
Having only one Wild Card Game is certainly intriguing - and entertaining - yet still seems a bit off with the general flow of the game, quite frankly the season as a whole.
So,
given that general interest is always up at any sports's year end, that baseball is ever so slowly creeping into November anyway, does a Wild Card Series sound too far fetched?
John Hammes - PLEASE no Wild Card series. As you alluded to, Game 5 of the WS this year would be in November.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the wild card teams already have a series. It's called the regular season. People who complain that the wild card teams only have a one-and-done series apparently ignore that they had 162 games to avoid that scenario. And look at this year. Didn't Astros/KC, Texas/Toronto, and LA/NY have a one-and-done? It was called Game 5 of the divisional series which in effect is a one-and-done. If wild card teams want a longer post season series, there's a simple solution -- win the division.
ReplyDeleteI decided this year to finally learn the Wildcard system. I read several explanations but there was one point none of them addressed. If anyone is still reading this thread and has the patience, I would really appreciate an answer to the question I'm going to formulate.
ReplyDeleteOf the four teams that play in the LCS (the 3 division winners and the wild card team), I read that the Wildcard team and the team with the best record (No. 1 seed) play each other, but not another word was said about how you end up with one winner of the LCS. Do those two teams play best of 5, and the other two teams do the same---then the two winners play each other in another best of 5?
I don't really expect an answer, but I feel better for having asked it.
Hi Diane. The playoff system works like this.
ReplyDeleteFirst there is a one-and-done game between the two wild card teams with the team having the best record getting home field advantage.
After that game the team that won their division and has the best regular season record plays the wild card winner with the division winner getting home field advantage in a five game series (2 at division winner, 2 at wild card winner, 1 at division winner). At the same time the other two division winners play a 5 game series with the team that has the better regular season record getting home field advantage. These two series are called League Divisional Series (LDS).
Now you have two series winners. Those two play a seven game series (2 - 3 - 2) in a League Championship Series (LCS). If a wild card winner still survives as the Cubs have this year, the other team automatically gets home field advantage for this series regardless of regular season record. This is why the Mets have home field even though their regular season record was worse than the Cubs.
Hope this helps.
Bob B.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much; that was very kind. The explanation was very easy to understand and you can't imagine how much I appreciate it!
Ken, did you see this article? It raises some interesting questions. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2015/10/diversity_in_the_tv_writers_room_writers_and_showrunners_of_color_lag_far.html
ReplyDeleteKen, did you see this article? It raises some interesting questions. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2015/10/diversity_in_the_tv_writers_room_writers_and_showrunners_of_color_lag_far.html
ReplyDeleteHaving grown up on Lindsay Nelson, Ralph Kiner, and Bob Murphy, I am admittedly spoiled re radio announcers for the Mets. Gary Cohen is a fine announcer and is worthy of that tradition. But: Howie Rose is awful. He never knows when to shut up and he yammers away ad infinitum on pet peeves long after any relevance. Don't know why all the love, must be younger folks who don't know any better and are used to low bars of quality. And get off my lawn!
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