Giants radio duo adds annoying clichés to playbook

THE GIANTS’ radio team, Bob Papa and Carl Banks, used to stand out for their reliability and sensibility. Papa was a solid nutsand-bolts man who clearly described every pre-snap scene. Banks was concise and candid, often pointing to particular players, Giants included, for failures to perform and why.

But lately they’ve gone the way of a duo performing a sportscasting satire.

Papa has become an irrelevant stats parrot — misleading red-zone data included — and a cliché machine. Last Sunday, his, “The Giants don’t want to allow any big plays,” was as winceworthy as his redundant filler, “They move the chains for a first down.”

Early in the fourth quarter, with the Giants’ offense and defense both moribund, Banks repeated a plea: “Someone has to step up and make a play!”

We often hear that one, but what does it mean? How can one step up and make a play if the ball or the play is not near you? Could Banks identify anyone who appeared unwilling to step up and make a play? Or did the Giants lack volunteers to step up and make a play?

Come on, fellas.

In 1978, when I was assigned to cover the NBA’s “Piscataway” Nets, the first person I met was the team’s official scorer,

Herb Turetzky. He was more than that, he was the lean-on for everything needed to know about the Nets and the NBA.

And no ref who worked a Nets home game would dare start a game without checking in with Herb.

Last week, after 54 years on that job, Turetzky announced his retirement. Fifty-four years, brothers and sisters! Heck, King Henry III of

England reigned for 56 years — but he began at 9.

Funny that Bob Costas, during MLBN’s telecast of Game 2 of White Sox-Astros on Friday, would bring up the ages of the managers — Tony La Russa is 77, Dusty Baker is 72.

After all, the three fellas in the booth — Costas (69), Jim Kaat (82) and Buck Showalter (65) — are all eligible for Early Bird Specials (no substitutes, no sharing), as they total 216 years.