Boo-yah! En fuego. Master batter?
Rich Eisen’s This Was SportsCenter podcast series has been an incredible walk down memory lane with famed colleagues from the golden era of ESPN’s flagship show, and the recent episode with Linda Cohn was no exception.
Cohn is one of the most iconic SportsCenter anchors of all time as the record holder for most programs hosted, reaching the 5,000 episode mark back in 2016.
In the interview with Eisen, Cohn talked about a number of topics including her longevity at ESPN, her many SportsCenter partners through the years, and even how Ken Griffey Jr. apologized to her personally after a bizarre interview back in 2014.
Cohn and Eisen reflected on the nature of SportsCenter and how their time at the anchor desk differed from one another. While Eisen had a dedicated partner in Stuart Scott for much of his prime tenure, Cohn has notably worked with just about everyone who has ever walked through the doors in Bristol, Connecticut. She also stated that she tried to read highlights as a fan and that her love of sports and not her ability to drop a catchphrase was the key to her long-term success.
But given catchphrases were all the rage at the time, she tried her best to start one that would be all her own. Unfortunately, it was almost immediately put to a halt by then-ESPN executive Norby Williamson because it was a little too close for comfort as a play on words.
“Whenever I was doing highlights the pressure of trying to think of a catchphrase, and I had bounced this off a friend of mine who lived in North Carolina. She did graphics, she was in the business. And I said, I have an idea for a catchphrase,” Cohn relayed. “When a guy is up at bat and he hits a home run, because you were so great with home run calls, I think I have an idea for a home run call and a catchphrase over a highlight. Whether it’s Mark McGuire, Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds, as soon as they’re on the highlight hit a ball that obviously was going to be a home run, I would say, ‘Mike Piazza: master batter.”
Eisen broke out into hysterical laughter, asking how someone didn’t try to put a stop to Cohn unleashing the “master batter” catchphrase upon the American public. Cohn said she thought that the way she said it would be dry and subtle enough to slip through and be memorable and funny. Unfortunately, ESPN executive Norby Williamson didn’t see it that way.
“It was an open and shut case. It was a Broadway show that opened, one show, and closed the same time because Norby Williamson called me in and he goes, ‘What made you think that that was a good idea?’ And I said, ‘Ok, I thought it would be kind of funny.’ Well, don’t ever do that again. And that was the end of the conversation,” Cohn said.
That is an incredible story and an awesome reminder of the power and prestige that SportsCenter had during its prime years. But now we are left to wonder what could have been had the phrase “master batter” entered our wider lexicon.
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