Gary Cohen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about Gary Cohen, the sports announcer. For the English footballer, see Gary Cohen (footballer).
Gary Cohen (born April 29, 1958 in Queens, New York) is an American sportscaster, best known as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.
Cohen joined the Mets' broadcast team in 1989, after stints as the voice of the minor league Durham Bulls and Pawtucket Red Sox. He also called ice hockey and basketball games for Providence College, and football for Brown University. Along with his work with the Mets, Cohen has also called postseason MLB games for ESPN Radio and basketball games for Seton Hall University and St. John's University on 1050 AM before it was taken over by ESPN. He also served as a backup announcer on New York Rangers radio broadcasts as well as calling Olympic hockey for Westwood One on multiple occasions. Cohen graduated with a political science degree from Columbia University, where he began his broadcasting career with WKCR Sports.
[edit] Radio
Cohen was well-regarded by many around New York and the baseball world as one of the sport's top radio announcers, a man whose style contrasts greatly from his former broadcasting counterpart from the New York Yankees, John Sterling. Cohen's signature radio phrases included "A pleasant good afternoon/evening everybody", used at the start of every game; "Back to talk about it in a moment" at the conclusion of each game; "Swing and a miss, he struck him out!" after a meaningful strikeout; and "It's outta here'" when a player hits a home run. He is known for his vivid and succinct description of the game action, his silky baritone voice, joking with former broadcast partner Howie Rose, and his sometimes biting, but always well-informed baseball commentary. In 2003, Cohen became the Mets' lead radio voice following the retirement of Bob Murphy. In October 2006, during the Mets' postseason run, Cohen returned to the WFAN booth with Rose and newcomer Tom McCarthy for a couple of innings each game.
[edit] Television
It was announced on November 9, 2005 that Cohen would become the play-by-play announcer for the new Mets cable television network, SportsNet New York (SNY). An issue that arises with Cohen's transition to television is that he does not have the same stage to showcase his deft ability to "paint the word picture." As part of the agreement, Cohen also calls about 25 Mets games per year on WPIX along with analysts Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez.
