Ron Darling to do some play-by-play for SNY during Spring Training

With the departure of fan-favorite Kevin Burkhardt to FOX Sports, look for Ron Darling to take over the reigns occasionally as SNY’s play-by-play announcer during spring training.

According to Newsday, Darling asked executive producer, Curt Gowdy Jr. if he could get some games under his belt to announce for future use:

"“I wanted the versatility. I just asked him to give me a chance in spring training to do a few games to see if I had any kind of talent at it. And he said yes, so that’s really where it came from.“I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been working at listening, watching, trying to do games on my own at MLB Network, because they’ve got more space where you can kind of sit and do it. And I’m just hoping that I’m good enough at some point to do a creditable job."

Darling, a nine-year veteran of SNY, will announce his first game on March 7 when the Mets face off against the Boston Red Sox. (h/t @kevsorna)

Don’t worry, Gary Cohen fans, Darling won’t be replacing him any time soon and will resume his role as color commentary when the regular season begins.

Thoughts:

This is a fantastic move on the part of Darling. He’s been a vital part of SNY’s success, which also attributed to his winning of multiple Emmy Awards, and has been an important figure in his playoff commentary with Turner Sports.

Darling was always known as the calm, cool, and collective one opposite Keith Hernandez in the booth and his analysis of in-game pitching always added some knowledge even when the game itself wasn’t interesting.

I’ll be looking forward to hearing Darling take the helm as play-by-play commentator. It might not be a smooth transition at first, but if all goes well, he’ll have another accolade to add to his belt once this season is over.