The Mets and Sesame Street [Videos]

Happy 40th birthday, Sesame Street.

Watch Keith Hernandez, Mookie Wilson and Ron Darling on the classic TV show.

Awesome.

Ron Darling owes nearly $550G in taxes

First Jerry Koosman, now Ron Darling. (Lenny Dykstra, too, but at a much grander level.)

According to the Tax Watchdog blog, Ron Darling, the former pitcher and current SNY and TBS analyst, owes $544,197 in state and federal taxes.

From Tax Watchdog…

What's owed:

• The IRS filed a $71,076 lien against Darling on July 29 in the New York City Register's office.
• The state of New York filed a $12,664 tax warrant against Darling on May 23 in the New York County Clerk's office.
• The state of California filed an $84,860 lien against Darling on June 6, 2008, in Contra Costa County Court.
• The IRS filed a $375,597 lien against Darling on May 15, 2008, in the New York City Register's office.

Darling could not be reached for comment.

Come on guys, pay your taxes!

Hat tip to Bart Hubbuch on Twitter.

Is Keith done at SNY?

Bob Raissman brings us very chilling news about our beloved SNY trio.

Keith Hernandez may not be back.

From Raissman…

"I've enjoyed the four years and, hopefully, I'm in the middle of negotiating my new contract, hopefully, I'll be back (next season)," Hernandez said.

Darling, eyebrows raised and totally surprised, looked at Hernandez and asked: "Are you doing that (negotiating your contract on TV) now?"

"Hopefully I'll be back," Hernandez said. "If not, it's been a great four years."

Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez were one of the few bright spots for Mets fans this season.

Keith is a fan favorite and is always entertaining.  I’d be very sad to see him go.

SNY getting creative to keep fans tuning in

In a dismal season, the Mets are getting creative.  From meet and greets with fans to gimmicks on TV, the team is hoping people keep tuning in even if the team isn’t winning.

The gimmicks on TV will come into play tonight and tomorrow, both giving Gary Cohen some well deserved time off.

Tonight, during the 6th inning of the game, the SNY broadcast will go completely silent.  No announcers will be on – at all – during the entire inning, rather letting the actions on the field speak for themselves.

I wonder if Cohen has his fingers crossed that no spectacular play will occur during this inning of play.

Tomorrow, Cohen will get the entire day off.  Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling will be at the helm for the entire game.

You may remember that Cohen had a day off earlier in the year with Kevin Burkhardt taking over the play calling duties.  Tomorrow, though, is all Darling and Hernandez.

I like these little things SNY does to keep the TV feed fresh.  Last year we saw Hernandez sitting behind home plate and discussing the game from the field perspective.  We also saw all three broadcasters move up to the upper deck level and call an entire game from that perch.

I dig it.

Gary, Keith and Ron catch tons of praise in the Observer

There is a gem of article in The New York Observer on everyone’s favorite broadcasting trio.  Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling are fawned over in a must read for any Mets fan.

Here’s an excerpt…

The old adage for a good broadcast is that when things are going well, it’s like you’re having a conversation with the viewer at home.

Keith and Gary and Ron have done just that over the past four years, for 60 games a season, and about another 90 games using some combination of two of them. But the viewer they’re talking to is jaded, and cosmopolitan, and, not infrequently, a little bored with the Mets.

Keith and Gary and Ron don’t pull for their team. They remark, cruelly and accurately, on the Mets’ poor play. They voluntarily discuss the Mets’ horrific collapses of the last two Septembers. They digress.

This wouldn’t work in St. Louis, where approximately 100 percent of the supposed best fans in baseball wear red to the games, or on the North Side of Chicago, where there is a rich tradition of homerism in the booth. Nor would it work in the Bronx or in Boston, where the fans crave reinforcement of a smug certainty that their organization is different, and special, and superior.

What Keith and Gary and Ron do is something less obvious, and more difficult.

For the full article, head over to The New York Observer.

An afternoon with Ron Darling

Gallagher's Steak House and SNY Present: “An Afternoon With Ron Darling: A Benefit for Urban Dove” to Assist New York City's at Risk Youth on Wednesday, June 24, at noon at Gallagher's Steak House

New York — New York Mets 1986 World Champion hurler and SNY Mets television analyst Ron Darlingwill be the guest of honor at a benefit luncheon for Urban Dove to assist New York City’s At-Risk Youth on Wednesday, June 24, at noon at Gallagher’s Steak House in New York City.

“An Afternoon with Ron Darling: A Benefit for Urban Dove” is priced at $75 per person, and includes a three course Power Lunch featuring Gallagher’s Certified Angus Beef steak as the entree, a copy of Darling’s book “The Complete Game,” and an autograph and Q & A session.  Seating is limited, and for reservations contact Gallagher’s at 212.245.5336. Darling’s teammate, pitcher Bobby Ojeda, SNY’s Mets studio analyst, will be a special guest. Gallagher’s is located at 228 West 52nd Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in Manhattan’s Theater District.

***

What:     “An Afternoon with Mets World Champion pitcher Ron Darling: A benefit for Urban Dove”

Who:       1986 World championship pitchers, SNY Mets television analysts Ron Darling and Bobby Ojeda

When:     Wednesday, June 24, 2009

                noon

Where:    Gallagher’s Steak House, 228 West 52nd Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue, NYC

Reservations: 212.245.5336

Price:     $75

Subways:  1, 2, 3, Q, N, R, W trains

The menu: Appetizer: Caesar Salad or Onion Soup or fried calamari; Main course: Gallagher's Certified Angus Beef steak or grilled salmon; Sides: cream spinach and Gallagher's potatoes; Dessert: Gallagher's Cheese Cake.

Game Recap: Mets 4 -- Nationals 1

Johan Santana was on fire tonight. Enough said.

On The Mound

Santana was in control from beginning to end. There's not much outside of his final line that needs to be said: 7 IP, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 6 K. He was pitching in mid-season form and absolutely dominating batters.

He is too awesome.

Francisco Rodriguez followed Santana, something Mets fans are hoping to see often during the season, pitching a scoreless inning. He did allow two hits, but struck out two in the inning.

I love it. Santana to K-Rod. Beautiful.

Pedro Feliciano pitched the 9th inning, striking out one in a no-hit effort.

With the release of Ron Villone, it looks like Feliciano is the only left hander going into the season. Very interesting.

At The Plate

The left fielder platoon drove in all the runs tonight. Daniel Murphy went 3-4, driving in two runs and Fernando Tatis drove in two runs on one hit.

Murphy has been absolutely raking this spring. He is such an exciting player sometimes.

Los Carloses each knocked a double, with Carlos Delgado scoring twice in the game on two hits. David Wright made his return to the lineup, singling once.

Delgado was hot during the World Baseball Classic, hopefully it lasts through the whole regular season.

Off The Field

Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling called the game on SNY, and did a pretty good job. There were flubs and mistakes, but overall I would say I was impressed at their play-by-play / color combination without Gary Cohen.

On Deck

The Mets welcome the Florida Marlins to Tradition Field tomorrow for a 1:10 p.m. start. The game will be aired on WPIX.

Omar Minaya is a very funny fellow

"Oh God, let's get that." -Omar Minaya, in the SNY booth, 8/20/08.

Bouncing ball hit to Carlos Delgado, who knocks it down. Minaya is in the booth talking to the trio of Gary, Keith, and Ron.

He utters those words, and the trio erupts in laughter. Delgado recovers and makes the play. Minaya thanks him.

Too funny.

Live from SNY (part 7)

The guys autographs. Ron Darling, Kevin Burkhardt, Keith Hernandez, and Lee Mazilli from top left to bottom right.

Live from SNY (part 6)

Ron Darling himself...

Live from SNY (part 5)

The guys...

Live from SNY (part 4)

According to Ryan Punzalan, my man on the street, Keith Hernandez just made a very bold statement.

Ryan relays that Hernandez just made the statement that Fernando Martinez will be the Mets starting left fielder in Citi Field in 2009.

Another tidbit: Ron Darling, on the trading deadline, said that he believes Bill Hall would be a great fit for the Mets "because of his power and he's a right handed bat."

Keith Hernandez and his love affair with camera angles

In another life, I think Keith Hernandez would have been either a photographer or cameraman. Or both.

Every single time, without fail, that SNY switches to a new or "exciting" camera angle, Hernandez swoons and exclaims his love for the newest video angle.

It's truly hilarious and is just another wonderful facet to the team of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Mr. Hernandez in the booth for SNY. They're the best in the biz (not just my personal opinion) and continue to keep us entertained through every game this year.

Kudos to you, SNY booth. Excellent stuff.

Keith Hernandez, Legend

I'll be out and about all day, so I'll leave you with a guest blog from Ryan Punzalan. Feel free to e-mail me your own articles, and if they're good, I'll run them!

Anyway, here is Ryan's article:

You're probably thinking, why legend? Let's face it, Keith Hernandez is the king of comedy with it comes to color commentary. There's something about his informations or antics that make the game even better. No offense to Ron Darling, but every pre-game show I just can't wait to see who's sitting next to Gary. Just to display how great this man is, I prepared a short list on what he says in the booth that makes me crack a smile:

• He calls Gary Cohen, "Gaer" as in, "I noticed something about Delgado's swing Gaer."
• Keith loves to talk about footwear, especially Crocs, or lack of them.
• Mex loves to talk about his Tootsie Pop, usually in a bin or in his mouth.
• Keith seems to point out every ad-placements as possible.
• The Coors Freeze seems to amaze him more than anything
• New SNY camera angles also seem to astonish him as he's always caught saying, "Great angle guys."
• He seems to like color too, as he's always talking about the colored highlighters for his scorecard.
• I keep noticing that Keith makes fun of Kevin Burkhardt so much, especially around other fans and stuff.
  
• ..and to top it all off, Keith just loves to talk about the Cardinals and how events during his time there. He also loves to talk about the Cardinals Minor League system and his events there too. Hello Tulsa.
  

That's not all of them, but yeah, those are the great ones that pop into my head. He has such great chemistry with Gary and he gets extremely entertaining during a blow-out or an extra inning game. His spontaneous jokes are just great and I firmly believe he loves his job way too much.

With fun comes controversy. Of course you all remember the incident with the comment towards women being in the dugout and how he states that a woman should not be in the dugout. Comment aside, he brushed it off and continued to be as random a commentator can be, and every enjoys it.

I may be a bit biased, but I truly think that the team of Cohen, Hernandez, and Darling is easily the best broadcasting team in the business right now. Cohen's perfect play-by-play, Darling's in-depht analysis, and Keith's speech about how he hates the head-first slide just fits every position. Keith's great, and he know's he great.

Thanks Ryan!

TBS picks up Darling

Last season, Ron Darling appeared on TBS during the playoffs as a commentator and analyst. This year, TBS will feature Darling on it's new Sunday broadcasts.

USA Today is reporting that Darling, along with Buck Martinez, will appear on TBS' new Sunday format, which will contain a 26-week package of afternoon games. In the new package they are allowed to show one single team as much as 13 times over the course of the season.

If the Mets are ever featured on TBS, those of us in the tri-state area won't be able to watch it, as it will be blacked out, but this is probably good news for any fans outside of the Mets general vicinity.

Darling is an amazing broadcaster, so it comes as no surprise for him to get picked up nationally like this. He's very insightful and knowledgeable, and knows how to keep it upbeat and interesting through the entire game.