The year 1989 was memorable for many significant events. It was the year of the first free elections in Poland, it was the year the first liver transplant took place and it was the year the Berlin Wall came down. Of perhaps less historical significance but of equal importance to many Mets fans, it was the first year a minor league baseball announcer named Gary Cohen ascended to the radio booth of the New York Mets.
Cohen became the tenth man to broadcast on the radio for the young Mets franchise as he joined the legendary Bob Murphy. Fast-forward 30 years later, and on Tuesday, June 18, 2019, this former neophyte, now legend himself, broadcast his 2000th career game as a Mets announcer. He is the longest-tenured broadcaster in Mets history.
Gary Cohen was born on April 29, 1958, in New York (Queens, naturally) and was educated entirely in the city culminating with a degree in Political Science from Columbia University in 1981. A life-long Mets fan, Cohen’s favorite player from his youth was Bud Harrelson. He told The Sporting News, “Bud Harrelson was my guy. The little guy who overperformed, probably, his natural ability. I loved them all, but he was definitely special.”
Cohen has been a versatile broadcaster throughout his career. He has done play-by-play in ice hockey, from the college level all the way to serving as a back-up for the NHL’s New York Rangers. He also calls college basketball and to this day is the voice of Seton Hall radio.
His Mets radio career lasted until 2005, when it was announced on November 9 of that year that he would become the play-by-play announcer for the new Mets cable television network, SportsNet New York (SNY). He became the franchise’s 16th television broadcaster–there have been a few others who filled in for a day or two.
Cohen was joined in his new role with former Mets Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling with Ralph Kiner doing selected games. It didn’t take long for the main threesome to mesh and be widely known as the best booth in baseball. Cohen adroitly knows exactly when to stop talking as to not ‘step on’ his booth-mates, as they make their points. In 2017, The Guardian ranked the booths of all 30 major league teams with the Mets trio finishing first.
Gare, as he is affectionately known as by Mets fans, has called many notable events in Mets history. On June 1, 2012, he called the first (and still only) no-hitter in Mets history, thrown by Johan Santana. On July 31, 2015, two days after shortstop Wilmer Flores was nearly traded, Flores hit a dramatic walk-off home run in the 12th inning against the first place Nationals. Many called that hit the turning point of the 2015 season and it led the Mets to the World Series.
On September 26, 2015, Cohen called the Mets’ 10-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds where the Mets clinched the National League East for the first time since 2006. Who can forget his “tears for joy” call after the final out was recorded? And of course, On May 7, 2016, Cohen called Bartolo Colon‘s first Major League home run making Colon the oldest player in MLB history to hit his first homer. That was the day “the impossible has happened.”
Many phrases coined by Cohen are now common expressions among Mets aficionados. Some examples include a home run which is “outta here”. An important strikeout is of course “he struck him out!” And when the Mets win a game right after the final out, “the ballgame is OVER.” There are many, many others.
But his radio career didn’t quite end with his move to the TV booth. In 2006, while the national networks televised the Mets’ playoff games, Cohen did an inning or two of radio play-by-play. He was behind the microphone in the sixth inning of Game 7 of the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals when Scott Rolen came to bat.
What ensued next is well enshrined in radio lore as Rolen hit the ball to deep left that Endy Chavez caught over the wall, preventing a two-run home run. Cohen perfectly captured the moment as he called it “the play of the year, the play, maybe of the franchise history.” Who can forget the mountain of emotions that were stirred up by that call? Therein lies his genius–the ability to paint with words exactly what’s going on while evoking emotions that few broadcasters can create.
So now after 30 years and 2000 broadcasts, it is time to pay tribute to a man who’s been a constant for the Mets for three decades. Managers, front offices and of course players change, but through it all Gary Cohen has been there. There are complaints galore when he does not broadcast a game such as when the Mets are on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN or on Fox. Such is the relationship the fan base has with its announcer.
He prepares meticulously for every game and seems never to take his audience for granted. He has been there when the Mets have struggled and when they have won. He paints the word picture perfect every time so all can enjoy the subtle nuances of our National Pastime. He is there from the start of the Grapefruit League to game 162 and sometimes beyond. He is Gary Cohen and let’s hope he’s not ‘outta here’ for a very long time.
