KEITH-IN’ IT REAL
We would be the losers if Hernandez’s honest voice were lost
If Keith Hernandez had apologized for his brutally honest take on Marlins pitcher Jose Ureña drilling Braves rising star Ronald Acuña Jr. Wednesday night it would have been time to question his credibility.
It would have also been time to lament the loss of one of the few honest, unfiltered voices left in a baseball broadcast booth. No offense to others, but there are plenty of mouths who choose their words carefully, thinking about the image their statements project. The baseball broadcast booth, a place that once thrived on spontaneity, has become predictable and more PR driven.
There might be other voices who would have endorsed Ureña hitting Acuña but they would not have the scallions to say it.
Now it’s more about speaking to an imaginary audience that teams and sponsors would like to attract than speaking to viewers who are actually watching. While there was a backlash on social media to SNY’s Hernandez telling Wayne Randazzo: “I’m sorry, people aren’t going to like that. You know, you’ve got to hit him (Acuña), knock him down. I mean seriously knock him down if you don’t hit him. You never throw at anybody’s head or neck,” there was also a congregation Hernandez was preaching to.
It is far better for us that Hernandez says what he honestly believes rather than saying what he thinks the target audience, and the suits running MLB, want to hear.
That’s why Hernandez has never been shy about questioning the “analytical” side of the game or other elements of “modern” baseball emphasized on many broadcasts and studio shows. He’s also comfortable enough to riff about his life in general.
Has Hernandez crossed the line on occasion when apologies were necessary? Yes. Yet he also knows the feeling of being forced to apologize by a network employer. In September of 2002, while working for then-Mets rights holder MSG, Hernandez wrote a piece for the network’s website saying the Mets had “no heart” and had “quit a long time ago.”
The organization, and its players, were furious and Hernandez agreed to deliver an in-person apology to the team. At the time we expressed disappointment in someone who had taken a huge step backward after building a reputation as a guy who consistently spoke his mind. After his Wednesday night words, Hernandez stood his ground against those who characterized him as a doddering, “old school” fool.
In the broadcast booth, hopefully, there is still room for analysis and commentary that can be appreciated across multiple demographics. Obtaining universal consensus is not necessary. It’s actually a detriment. And if a voice knows a comment or insight will tick someone off, well, tough.
Don’t hold back. And don’t back down.
Keith Hernandez didn’t. Good for him.
MORE THAN O-KAY BY HIMSELF
Whether it be on YES or ESPN-98.7, Michael Kay rarely gets to work solo.
So, it was no surprise Monday when he yakked without Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg, Kay was on Cloud 9 having the stage to himself. The callers loved it and even his colleague Alan Hahn gushed about how “compelling” Kay is as a solo act. On the YES simulcast it was apparent Hahn’s compliment went directly to Kay’s (large) cranium.
Seriously though, doing a talk show solo was milk and cookies for a big mouth like Kay. A really interesting broadcast would be Kay doing a Yankees game on YES solo. That would be challenging. YES honchos might want to think about this. At the least they could save some dough having to just pay one voice that particular evening.
KEITH OVER-MAN
ESPN has little use for baseball. That’s no grand revelation. For a couple of weeks, the Bristol Clown CC Faculty hyped their upcoming MetsYankees Subway Series makeup game on Monday night as an “exclusive.” Bad enough fans of both teams would not get their TV voices, but ESPN decided it was a swell idea to use Keith Olbermann as its play-by-play voice working with Tim Kurkjian and Eduardo Perez.
Things went downhill from the get-go. Mets shortstop Amed Rosario led off the tilt with a home run. Olbermann called the dinger “dramatic.” Why? It wasn’t a game winner. It was a leadoff HR in August in what, at least for the Mets, was a meaningless game.
The rest of the broadcast was “highlighted” by Olbermann talking about his baseball experiences. Unfortunately, Kurkjian and Perez were too polite to tell Mr. Olbermann to shut the hell up.
LOOKS LIKE THEY DO KNOW
When we hear an employee of Garden boss James (Guitar Jimmy) Dolan deliver the word about the joint we usually see it as propaganda or spin.
On his Tuesday ESPN-98.7 gabfest, Alan Hahn said when he works in MSG’s Knicks pre and postgame studio, “no one has ever told us what to say.”
Nonetheless, he indicated the Knicks studio crew “already knows the issues that are sensitive.” Guess that means Hahn, and his MSG colleagues, won’t be reviewing “I Should Have Known,” Dolan’s phony musical tribute to the #MeToo movement.