New York Mets Radio: An essential tool for fans nationwide

Whether at home in Queens or somewhere else across the country, the New York Mets radio broadcast is an essential tool for following the team.

Quick: what is your earliest baseball memory as a New York Mets fan?

For many, it is the glimpse of the field the first time they ever walked through the tunnel to their seat at Shea Stadium or Citi Field. For others, it’s pulling an all-nighter watching the Mets win on a West Coast trip.

Mine is sneaking a portable radio into school to try and listen to day games, even when the Mets weren’t on.

For this generation of baseball fans, I’d go out on a limb and say that the majority of people have experienced their favorite moments either live or on television. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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If you’ve watched broadcasts for teams around the league, particularly over the past few seasons, it’s clear that the baseball world is at a crossroads when it comes to broadcasting. Styles are shifting, booths are being reorganized, and young fans are being exposed to more analysis and data than ever before.

Unfortunately, the days of watching a game on television and being taken on a journey by the likes of Vin Scully and Dick Enberg are fading. In their place is an over-reliance, in my opinion, on launch angles, exit velocities, and route efficiency, in order to fill air without crews taking the time to tie the statistics back into the story of the game.

One of my favorite pastimes is checking Mets Twitter to see the comments whenever games are not broadcast on local stations.

This is why I advocate listening to the game on the radio.

Maybe it’s because it’s 4 o’clock and I’m still at work in Los Angeles when the Mets games start, so it’s easier to listen to the game on WOR (with Mets games moving to WCBS in 2019).

It could be because baseball and the radio have been made for each other since August 5, 1921, when the Pirates beat the Phillies in the first game broadcast on the medium (Neil Best at Newsday had a nice feature in 2017 titled “The Evolution of How We Consume Baseball Games”).

Don’t get me wrong; the Mets’ television broadcasters should be regarded as among the best in baseball, especially when it comes to the quality of information and entertainment you get from them every night.

But the reason I am drawn to the radio feed is that I never need to wonder what is going on in the game. I always know what just happened, what that means and why I should care.

There’s just something about closing your eyes and envisioning the action, rather than wondering how the national TV broadcast got on the topic of Bryce Harper’s free agency during a Mets – Dodgers game.

If you have the opportunity over the next few weeks, take the time to listen to a postseason game on the radio – even for just a few innings. I’m interested to hear your thoughts on the value of the information you get from both platforms.

Many won’t notice the change to Mets broadcasts on the radio in 2019, because they’ll be either at Citi Field or watching on television. Which is completely understandable.

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If you’re like me and the countless other transplant fans around the country though, you’re counting down the days to Spring Training so you can pop in an earbud and catch the action from Port St. Lucie.