Two weeks after New York Mets broadcasters Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez lost it over the phrase “stroking out,” they were sent into another fit of laughter over the term “knob.”
During the Mets Monday afternoon game against the Miami Marlins, Hernandez noticed Francisco Lindor’s bat looked different, and the apparent change had him wanting to approach New York’s $300 million shortstop about his knob.
“Maybe on the airplane or tomorrow I’m going to go ask him about his knob,” Hernandez said on the SNY broadcast. “About – what’s behind it, what’s the purpose behind it, how does it make him feel?”
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 20, 2022
Play-by-play voice Gary Cohen responded with silence, desperately trying to contain his laughter before letting out a sort of snort. The reason for Cohen’s laughter was because in addition to being the butt of a baseball bat, “knob” is also slang for male genitals. So just two weeks after Hernandez called himself a “creepy old man” for using the phrase “stroking out,” he was now prepared to ask Lindor, “how does your knob make you feel?”
The hilarity is par for the course in the SNY booth, with Cohen, Hernandez and Ron Darling frequently showing off their elite chemistry. Innuendo similarly is no stranger to the SNY booth, with Hernandez once infamously ogling a woman eating a hot dog. And he’s now twice in one month made an accidental reference to male genitals.
We don’t know whether Hernandez ever approached Lindor on the plane to ask about his knob. But Tuesday night, Mets field reporter Steve Gelbs offered some clarity into Lindor’s reason for changing his bat. According to Gelbs, the larger knob provides counterbalance to the barrel of the bat, and Lindor uses it against starting pitchers with high-velocity fastballs. Or just when he doesn’t feel great before the game.
[SNY]
