Mets: Best SNY booth antics from Gary, Keith, Ron, and Steve in 2020

Although there were only 60 games, the brilliant New York Mets broadcast booth gave us some memorable moments in 2020.

Regardless of the product on the field, the New York Mets‘ announcing crew always has fun. Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling have been a trio in the SNY TV booth since 2006, and they make even the most unwatchable Mets games worth watching. So much so, Mets fans on Twitter sometimes report that they turn blowout games ON, rather than off, just to see what “GKR” will do.

Steve Gelbs joined the crew full-time in 2015, and the four of them have provided a lot of memorable moments and in-game laughs over the years. In 2020, with no fans at the ballpark and GKR announcing from Citi Field every day with Steve in the SNY studio, the team got even more creative with how to make the broadcasts as entertaining as possible.

By all accounts, their efforts were a resounding success. The Mets finished the 2020 season with an uninspiring record of 26-34, but their announcers batted 1.000, as usual. Let’s take a look back at some of the most fun, absurd, and memorable moments from the SNY booth in 2020, most of which have nothing to do with the in-game action.

The clothesline saga

It all started in mid-August, in a game against the Washington Nationals. Hernandez was lamenting, as he had been all season, that he missed having Cohen in the same booth as him and Darling. Hernandez is known for discussing his sweet tooth and penchant for pints of ice cream at length. In this game, the topic turned to cookies, and how to combine GKR’s love for cookies and desire to interact during the games.

Enter, the between-booths clothesline heard ’round the world!

https://twitter.com/snytv/status/1293714017354211329?lang=en

The legend of the clothesline lived on past August into September. By September 18, GKR had finally mastered the art of clipping Insomnia Cookies to the clothesline and successfully wheeling them between the booths. Cohen was particularly pleased with himself for accomplishing what Hernandez had failed to do – transfer the cookies via clothesline without them falling into the abyss.

In this game, the Mets were losing 12-0 to the Atlanta Braves. It was an ugly one on the field.  And yet, I was laughing out loud at this ridiculous clothesline saga thanks to the Mets’ fun-loving announcers. This bit was a perfect example of the SNY booth at its best: providing a reason for fans to keep the game on when the Mets are down big.