Mets playoff villain will be a part of the unbiased broadcast team vs. the Phillies

The first ever New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies playoff series begins tonight and if you’re not tuned into Howie Rose, Keith Raad, and maybe a little bit of Pat McCarthy, you’ll be (mis)treated to the sounds of the national broadcast.

No matter who you root for, the national broadcast of any sporting event has a reputation for being underwhelming. Ill-preparedness? Bias the other way? Whatever your biggest gripe is, MLB playoff baseball loses something with the lack of hometown flavor.

When the Mets play the Phillies this weekend, a modern New York playoff villain will be a part of the crew calling the game.

While Ron Darling is watching the Yankees, Adam Wainwright will call the Mets games

Adam Amin, AJ Pierzynski, and Adam Wainwright won’t be brought to us by AAA life insurance although they probably should be given the first initial of each name. Pierzynski’s time in the major leagues didn’t include too many major encounters with the Mets with most of his service time taking place in the American League. A villain for many teams, it’s Wainwright’s presence that’ll grind the gears of Mets fans most if he has anything negative to say at all about the team.

It was Wainwright who froze Carlos Beltran in the 2006 NLCS to send the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series. How, of all people, did we get him?

Darling was never going to get the Mets because of his affiliation with them in the regular season. Jeff Francoeur would have been fun but alas the scheduling seems to try to at least take away from personal bias based on where a player spent a part of their career.

If it helps at all, Wainwright seemed excited for Pete Alonso when he hit his game-winning home run two nights ago.

In case the thought of hearing Wainwright critique the Mets becomes too triggering, you can always tune into the game on 880AM or the Audacy app on your phone. It’ll give you a live chance to listen to a call like this one live.