Photo: AP

If you were at Citi Field at all last season, you likely heard Colin’s voice.

If you are on Twitter at all the past few weeks, you likely heard Colin’s voice, too.

Colin Cosell is going beyond his Mets PA duties. He is using this time of quarantine to give back and bring smiles to people of all age’s faces. How? Just search #CallMeUpColin and you’ll see why. Colin is doing personalized call-ups for fans everywhere, young and old. All he needs is your name, number, at-bat song, and position. He is giving everyday fans an opportunity to feel like they play for their favorite team — how cool is that?

I had the opportunity to chat with Colin about what he’s doing, as well as a few other things.

This #CallMeUpColin has really taken off! One of the best things to come out of this quarantine and I think many would agree. How did you come up with this idea?

That’s kind of you to say, so thank you. I came up with this idea back in December of 2018, shortly after the completion of my first season as one of the Mets PA Announcers, when I decided that I wanted to make the fans more familiar with my voice while also getting to interact with them more. So I posted a tweet saying the first 10 to respond with their name, jersey number, position and walk-up song would get a stadium-style recording from me. I got about 90 submissions and, after Christmas, ended up doing the other 80 as well.

Fast-forward to March 16th when the stay-at-home and social-distancing orders were underway and baseball was suspended indefinitely, and it hit me: NOW is the time to resurrect the Call Me Up Colin project. I just figured it would give the fans a little taste of the ballpark but on a personalized level, as well as a sense of some normalcy. At the same time, it gave me an opportunity to get to know more fans and have the catharsis of being able to do what I would normally be doing at Citi.

Are there any “call-ups” that stand out in your mind so far? Which has been your favorite (if you can pick!).

There are a ton that I love, so that’s a tough question. The more unique ones always stand out. I mean, I’ve had numerous couples ask me to announce them as husband and wife because they had to reschedule their weddings. One woman asked me to record the announcement of her pregnancy so she could play it for her husband and tell him the great news in a unique way.

I’ve been asked to announce call-ups for other sports like soccer, football, and even synchronized swimming. I even had an Atlanta Braves fan ask me to do one for him as if he was coming up to bat at Citi Field, so THAT was funny. But my favorites are the ones for the healthcare workers on the frontlines, kids whose lives have been upended by this pandemic, and educators who have had to completely pivot how they do their jobs. The teachers are always fun, because they’ll use my call-up for them as an intro to their virtual classroom.

Is this something that you plan on continuing to do once baseball is back?

Maybe in some capacity, but not on this scale. This is a LOT of work, and I’ll be a lot busier once sports are back.

What would be your at-bat song?

Skills to Pay the Bills by the Beastie Boys

Aside from this, how else are you getting by without baseball? I’m sure you miss it just as much as the rest of us.

Listening to a ton of music, playing some video games, cooking up a storm, and watching Mets Classics on SNY. I miss baseball like crazy, and it’s devastating to not be wrapping up the first month of the season. But my main interest is getting rid of COVID-19 and getting things back to normal, and I’m willing to wait for as long as it takes to get there.

How do you feel about potentially doing the PA announcing to an empty stadium? Have the Mets discussed that with you?
It would be strange, for sure, but I’d be happy to be working again. It is my understanding that I would, in fact, be in the booth either way. I mean, how else are the players going to know that it’s time for their at-bat? **laughs**

Do you do any preparation before each game? Can you tell us about that? How do you and Marysol (Castro) work together to prepare?

In the days leading up to a series, I diligently scour the upcoming visiting team’s roster so as to get familiar with their names and pronunciations. On game day, I drink a lot of throat-coat tea and do vocal and oral exercises, then make sure I’m familiar with my scripts for that game.

Unfortunately, Marysol and I don’t see or work with each other that often, so we don’t really prepare together. That being said, we’re in regular contact with one another and will alert the other if there are any changes in scripts or notes. We’ve got an amazing working relationship and friendship, for which I am eternally grateful.

What’s the best part of doing what you do? What is your favorite part of the job?

The best thing about doing what I do actually feeds into my favorite part of the job. I absolutely love reading the starting line-ups. That’s when I feel most connected with the fans. I announce our players, one by one, and the crowd reacts accordingly. I feed off of their energy and thrive on that synergy.

What was it like growing up around a grandfather (Howard Cosell) that was seen as a legend in the sports broadcasting world?

It made for a fun and unique childhood, that’s for sure. But he was a devoted and loving grandfather who would do anything for his family. I didn’t fully grasp his celebrity when I was young, but I did know by age 5 that I wanted to do something involving speaking into a microphone.

By the time I was ready to start my career, however, it became quickly evident that there were some mighty big shoes to fill… but I eventually learned to embrace our differences as announcers and broadcasters, and managed to carve out my own unique career. We do share one fascinating parallel, though: My grandfather got his first professional reporting gig in 1962, covering this new team called the New York Mets. I got my first professional announcing gig in 2018, doing the public address for the very same team.

Ask any sports fan and they’ll tell you what their favorite Howard Cosell call or game was. What about you, do you have a favorite?

I mean, DOWN GOES FRAZIER is pretty hard to top. However, during game 6 of the 1977 World Series, when Reggie Jackson hit 3 home runs, my grandfather devolved from broadcasting professional into a simple fan of what he was witnessing. The second the ball left Jackson’s bat for his third homer, you just hear my grandfather laughing and marveling at this incredible feat, and I love it.

If you want your own call-up, be sure to tweet #CallMeUpColin to @CosellPA!