The two most anticipated releases will happen over the next month. Former Mets catcher Mike Piazza will release his autobiography, Long Shot, on February 12. The book was co-written by writer Lonnie Wheeler, a Cincinnati sports columnist, who also wrote autobiographies on Henry Aaron (If I Had a Hammer) and Bob Gibson (Stranger to the Game). In a recent interview with Newsday, Wheeler said Piazza addresses the performance-enhancing drug question head on – and in detail. Wheeler told the newspaper he believes Piazza is “clean.”

While the Piazza book will draw great media interest, it is Howie Rose’s first book, Put it in the Book: A Half-Century of Mets Mania, that may turn out to be the most insightful and revealing read of them all. According to advanced media information, Rose will share his Mets memories, both as a fan and, later, as the Mets radio broadcaster. Sound exciting? No, but the release also notes Rose will share his “thoughts and opinions on the current Mets team and roster and his thoughts on the future of the club.” If Rose is as honest with the written word as he is on the microphone, this could get interesting. The book hits shelves on March 1.

I must admit, I was excited to see Ira Berkow was releasing a Mets-related book titled, Summers at Shea: Tom Seaver Loses His Overcoat and Other Mets Stories. Berkow is a Pulitzer Prize winner and has been covering New York baseball since 1981. Good read, right? I’m concerned. The advanced media says the book is “culled from 50 years’ worth of columns.” That, to me, smells like a reprint of old material, but I will reserve judgment until I read it for myself. Berkow’s book will be released the same day as Rose’s title, March 1.

Mets fan and author Matthew Silverman is also releasing another Mets book on April 2. It is titled Swinging ’73: Baseball’s Wildest Season. According to Joe DeCaro, senior editor at Metsmerized Online, the book is not “your regular everyday telling of the “Ya Gotta Believe” season … instead I was transported through time itself and relived the 1973 season not only from the Mets perspective, but also from that of the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees as well.”

Finally, on New Year’s Eve, Howard Burman quietly released Season of Ghosts: The ’86 Mets and the Red Sox. Burman is an accomplished author and playwright. He describes Season of Ghosts as a story of  “one of the most dramatic baseball seasons ever, as it stretched both backwards and forwards–from the ghosts of seasons and players past to the reality of what followed … On an institutional level the game faced critical issues–player contracts, collusion, drugs, free agency, charges of racism, cheating, gambling, the growing popularity of professional football, and the influence of cable TV and satellites. Yet it produced a season of intense drama ending with an unforgettable post-season.” Season of Ghosts is available now.

Howie Rose

Yesterday, WFAN’s Mike Francesa discussed how Mets broadcasters Howie Rose and Gary Cohen were “out of line” during this past weekend’s Subway Series.

Francesa said that it’s great that the Mets have fans as announcers, but that they sometimes take it too far in rooting for their team, especially against the Yankees.

Frankly, I love that Rose and Cohen are as die-hard of Mets fans as I am. Yes, I agree that there should be unbiased announcing if the opposing team wins or hits a home run. However, I love the excitement when we hear “It’s Outta Here!” from Cohen or “Put It in the Books” from Rose.

Is it so bad for a fan of the team to be an announcer?

I could see how a Yankees fan would be upset after listening to the Mets broadcast from the weekend. Rose talked about Nick Swisher’s antics after the back-to-back-to-back home runs, and Cohen was not shy about saying that Russell Martin’s first home run was a cheap Yankee Stadium homer.

Gary Cohen and Kevin Burkhardt

But here’s the thing: If Yankee fans are upset about it, go listen to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman on 880. That’s their radio broadcast anyway. Rather than complain about the Mets broadcasters, Yankees fans should have enough to complain about with that interesting duo.

The whole point of radio is to attract an audience. Die-hard Mets fans enjoy Rose and

Cohen because they believe that the announcers are in the same boat. When a Met gets a clutch hit, it’s made that much more special when Rose or Cohen presents the call.Along the same lines, when the Mets blow a save or suffer a heartbreaking defeat—not too uncommon in our team’s history—Rose and Cohen are right their with the fanbase suffering.It’s not like they show up to work, call the game and say goodbye. These guys genuinely care about what they do, and it shows in their passion for the team.

While other teams or fanbases may have a problem with what Rose and Cohen are doing in the booth, they should simply be worried about what Mets fans think. Everyone I know loves them, and I’m sure the vast majority of Mets fans would agree.

For me, this is really wonderful because I get WFAN with the best baseball announcers team now working. (Vin Scully works solo) So for every single Mets game, I can hear Howie Rose, Wayne Hagin and Eddie Coleman and it’s bliss.

I’m sure many of you grew up with a transistor radio tucked under your pillow so you could pretend you were asleep when Mom or Dad checked after lights out as I did. I have three radios – office, living room and bedroom – so I hear it all no matter where I am in the condo. Or I can take my transistor out onto the porch and listen there.

And I listen carefully – each of these men has his own style and his own stories. They carefully describe each pitch, each play and everything else you need or want to know about the game. It never gets boring.

Howie has his signature sign off – “Put It In The Books” – and when I hear that I know it’s time for me to sign off too, but during the season there is always the next game with Howie, Wayne and Eddie to look forward to.

I think it’s baseball as it ought to be.

For those of you still watching the Mets . . . WFAN play-by-play man Howie Rose will call the game against the Phillies on Fox Saturday afternoon. Rose has worked games for Fox before, but never before has he worked with Tim McCarver. He said he is looking forward to it.

I’m looking forward to it too!

Howie ranks right up there with all the great Mets radio and TV announcers of the present and the past.

Be sure to tune in to FOX at 4:00 PM Eastern Time and enjoy the broadcast as well as the game.