5 greatest calls of Gary Cohen's Mets broadcasting career

For many of us New York Mets fans in the Generation Z and Millennials age groups, Gary Cohen was probably the voice of our Mets childhood fandom on SportsNet New York. He is to our generation what Vin Scully was to baby boomer Dodgers fans, and Bob Uecker to Milwaukee Brewers fans.

Today, Cohen, alongside fellow broadcaster Howie Rose, who I honored on this site yesterday, Al Leiter, Howard Johnson, and Jay Horwitz will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame today in a pregame ceremony prior to their game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

I considered about 15 to 20 different Gary Cohen calls for this tribute, but since the assignment calls for the five greatest Gary Cohen Mets calls ever, I must limit it to five.

Greatest Gary Cohen Mets calls ever No. 5. Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso's back-to-back home runs on August 5, 2019.

The Mets was in the midst of a crazy surge back into the Wild Card race after disappointing the previous three months, and they were the hottest team in baseball. And the Mets had the chance to complete a crazy comeback win, and Gary Cohen stepped up alongside the team for this one.

Great broadcasters tend to make great cross-references to other parts of culture, and Gary Cohen made a brilliant ode to Bruce Springsteen's classic hit "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" following back-to-back home runs from Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso in the seventh inning, by saying "Scooter and the Big Man bust the city in half."

"Scooter" was Conforto's nickname while "the Big Man" was the reference for Alonso as he led the majors with 53 home runs as a rookie that season. Conforto added a career-high 33 home runs of his own that same year. That was a brilliant description by Gary, who has used these references to entertainment a lot behind the microphone.

Greatest Gary Cohen Mets calls ever No. 2: Johan Santana completes the first-no hitter in New York Mets history.

I discussed Howie Rose's call of the final out of Johan Santana's no-no here yesterday, but Gary Cohen's call of the no-hitter was just as iconic. Howie mentioned the number of games the Mets played, while Gary mentions how many years it took for the Mets to get their first no-hitter ever when he said "it has happened."

Cohen then proceeded to remind the viewers of the great pitchers that had gone through the Mets organization throughout the first half century of Mets baseball and the fact that none of them had thrown a no-hitter in a Mets uniform, until Santana, whom the Mets gave up a lot to get outside the organization. After all, the Mets were a franchise that prided itself on pitching, and their two championships revolved around young starting pitching.

Greatest Gary Cohen Mets calls ever No. 1: Endy Chavez's catch in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS on October 19, 2006.

The greatest two words in sports are "Game Seven," and it was an intense scene at Shea Stadium as a sellout crowd of over 56,000 witnessed perhaps maybe the greatest defensive play in franchise history in spots very few moments could top. Scott Rolen was at the plate for the 83-78 St. Louis Cardinals, who had a bad postseason that year, was at the plate, and smoked a pitch off Oliver Perez for what looked liked to be a two-run homer, but Endy Chavez had other ideas.

Gary Cohen understood the magnitude of what a Game 7 is supposed to be, with the seasons hanging in the balance for both teams, the pressure the Mets faced as the class of the National League that season. And at the time, everyone was convinced after Chavez's catch that the Mets would ride that to their fifth pennant ever and their second trip to the World Series in seven years.

But Yadier Molina's 9th inning, go-ahead homer, and Adam Wainwright's curveball to Carlos Beltran changed the course, and the Cardinals went on to win the World Series seven days later.