Mike Francesa: Gary Cohen was second to only Vin Scully on radio

Gary Cohen is the play-by-play voice of the best TV booth in baseball, but that might just be holding him back from something he’s better at.

On the latest episode of The Mike Francesa Podcast, the former WFAN host was asked about the Mets SNY broadcast recently dominating the Yankees on YES Network during the Subway Series in viewership by a stunning margin of 70 percent. Francesa refrained from judging the talent in both booths, knowing there would be backlash if he said anything negative about Michael Kay, his former radio rival. But Francesa did have something positive to say about Cohen.

“Gary Cohen happens to be an exceptional baseball broadcaster,” Francesa said. “I think on the radio, he’s the best baseball broadcaster in the country. I don’t think he’s the best TV baseball broadcaster. I think he’s good. And I think he’s made a very, very good transition and it was not an easy transition for him and one he was not comfortable with. But from a radio standpoint, I felt he was second to Vin Scully as a radio broadcaster as a play-by-play guy. He is a brilliant radio play-by-play guy. Howie Rose is a superb radio play-by-play guy. Superb.”

Francesa quantified “superb” by explaining there are okay, good and much better than good radio announcers, and Rose fits into that much better than good category.

“And Gary Cohen is ahead of Howie,” Francesa added. “I can listen to Howie any day of the week doing a game and I feel like I am not missing anything. He is superb.”

But second to only Vin Scully is about as high of praise as a radio announcer could ask for. And Cohen hasn’t been able to flex that muscle since 2004, when he left the radio booth to join Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling in helping to launch SNY for the 2005 MLB season.

Throughout his more than two decades on SNY, Cohen has proved to be an exceptional TV play-by-play announcer. But radio allows a play-by-play announcer to shine more than TV. On radio, the play-by-play voice is everything for the listener, making it so the audience feels like they’re able to see the game. On television, the play-by-play voice has to be more of a point guard for the broadcast.

As great as Cohen was on radio, there should be no second-guessing his decision to become the Mets’ TV voice. He’s beloved by Mets fans and regularly recognized as being part of arguably the best local broadcast in the sport. The only surprising thing about Cohen’s career trajectory is that he never landed a prominent national gig. But for Cohen, he already has his dream job as voice of the Mets.