The New York Mets broadcast booth doesn’t always stick to baseball.
Sometimes, that team of Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling talks wrestling. Other times, it’s porous borders.
Millions of Americans are dealing with poor air quality conditions as lingering smoke from wildfires in Canada continues drifting to the United States. Several sporting events earlier this month, including multiple MLB games, were canceled because of the air quality.
Thursday afternoon, the Padres-Pirates matchup in Pittsburgh was delayed because of the poor air conditions. And former NL MVP Andrew McCutchen was seen wearing a mask during the game. The smoke also started making its way to New York during the Mets’ game against the Milwaukee Brewers, prompting play-by-play voice Cohen to jokingly ask if there was a way of keeping the smoke in Canada.
Keith’s got border jokes pic.twitter.com/Xe2YW97fmP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 30, 2023
“Is there anything they can do to keep the smoke from the wildfires north of the border?” Cohen asked. “Can they put up a screen or something?”
Considering the absurdity of Cohen’s suggestion, it’s obvious he was trying to make a joke. The only way to keep wildfire smoke north of the border is if everyone in the United States simultaneously turns a fan on and aims it north, but a giant porous screen would do nothing to stop airflow from traveling south. What Cohen’s suggestion did do, however, was set Hernandez up on a tee with the opportunity to make a border comment.
“Well, borders are fairly porous all over the world right now,” Hernandez eagerly chimed in, causing Cohen to take a brief pause before chuckling at the quip.
“I think we all share the smoke,” Cohen said. “I don’t think there’s anything you’re gonna be doing about that,” he added of Hernandez’s concern for global borders.
Hernandez is a documented Republican, even praising Tucker Carlson earlier this year during an extended interview. So his border concern shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. The United States border, however, has become much less porous in the last month.
[SNY]
