Neil Best of Newsday reports long time Mets director, Fox Sports director, and Sportscasting Hall of Fame member Bill Webb will not be returning full time to SNY for the 2017 season. This will mark the first time in the history of SNY Webb has not been the full time director of Mets games.
Sadly, this move does not come as a surprise as the 64 year old Webb has been battling stage three cancer since 2015. It was his battle with cancer that caused Webb to miss the 2015 World Series.
Webb has long been considered one of the best in the business, and he has been credited for revolutionizing the way baseball games and sporting events in general are telecast. Webb has become known for close-ups shots of both players and fans in crucial moments. Perhaps better than anyone, Webb has the ability to both capture and convey the tension and emotions over the course of a baseball game.
SNY has released a statement on Webb no longer being the full time director stating, “Bill Webb is a hall of fame baseball director who has contributed greatly over the years to Major League Baseball as well as Mets television broadcasts. We certainly appreciate the valuable contributions he has made to SNY over our first 11 seasons.”
While Webb is not ready to serve as the full time director, SNY will welcome him back if he is ready saying, “We have great fondness for Bill and have left the door open for him to return to direct a select number of games if he is available.”
With Webb unavailable, Dan Barr will take over as the team’s director. With Webb being ill and with Webb’s Fox Sports duties, Barr has directed over 100 Mets games over the past two seasons.
We at MMO continue to wish Webb the best of luck in his cancer fight, and we appreciate his tremendous work over the past decade. Like all Mets fans, we hope he can return in his role with the Mets. Until such time, we know we are in good hands with Barr.
