New York Mets play-by-play announcer SNY’s Gary Cohen is known for telling it like it is. The 65-year-old Cohen, who was inducted into the Mets’ Hall of Fame alongside radio voice Howie Rose, grew up in Queens as a die-hard Mets fan and has been the TV voice of the team since 2005.
Cohen is not pessimistic, but he is realistic about a team that often falls short of expectations. Perhaps the one negative comment he’s made that he’d like to have back is referring to Daniel Murphy as a “net negative” following New York’s postseason run in 2015. The Mets elected not to re-sign the All-Star second baseman, who revived his career with the Washington Nationals and made his former team pay time and time again.
Still, Cohen has been critical of the team when need be. It’s not his job to cover the team with rose-colored glasses and shill for ownership, even if that’s what some of the players view his job description to be as a self-described fan.
Former Mets third baseman Todd Frazier, a frequent contributor to Foul Territory, an analyst for the YES Network, and a broadcaster for the Little League World Series, recently revealed that he once confronted the veteran announcer over what he believed was negative coverage.
“People kept telling me back home, this guy is cutting you up, he’s cutting the Mets up,” said Frazier, a Toms River, New Jersey native. “I’m like, ‘Ah, that’s what they do, you know?’ I start looking into it. Players are like, ‘He’s always done this. We can’t stand it. And I went up to him one time and said, ‘Gary, I gotta talk to you man.’ I said, ‘What the heck is going on? I thought you’re a Mets fan. He’s like, ‘I am,’ and he got pissed off at me. I said, ‘Well, start rooting for us.'”
You can accuse Cohen of many things but he’s never overly negative. He’s constantly rooting for the Mets, but he does so professionally. The idea that players may not like the Mets broadcasters, especially Cohen, has already been disproved by Howie Rose. According to Rose, the trio of Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling frequently visit the clubhouse.
It’s also not Cohen’s job to root for Frazier, regardless of whether he’s a fan of the team or not.
“We had our conversations back and forth,” Frazier added. “It was a good five-minute conversation. It was actually in front of some players, too. We got a newfound respect for what he does and what I do. It was fine after that. We’re both men; if we have a problem, we go straight to the source, and that’s how I’ve been raised. I felt better about it, and I hope he did too.”
Frazier said that he put it into the back of Cohen’s mind that the players were also listening, and they got families at home listening too.
“You don’t always have to knock us down, and that was part of the conversation,” he continued. “And I hope he respected me for what I said, and I respected him for his comments back.”
It is unclear which season Frazier refers to when he talks about his time with the Mets. He had a much better performance in 2019 after signing a two-year, $14 million deal with the team. However, he struggled in his first year with New York due to hamstring injuries. In 2018, Frazier had a .213 batting average, .303 on-base percentage, .390 slugging percentage, 18 home runs, 59 RBIs, and a .693 OPS. A year later, he played 133 games and slashed .251/.329/.443 with 21 home runs, 67 RBIs, and an OPS of .772.
While the two have worked out their differences, Cohen stands as a steadfast voice in Major League Baseball, unafraid to voice his critiques while maintaining a genuine passion for the New York Mets. Despite occasional clashes with players like Frazier, his commitment to delivering insightful analysis with professional integrity remains unwavering.
If anyone can prove that candidness can coexist with unwavering team loyalty in the world of sports broadcasting, it’s Gary Cohen.
