November 29, 2007

The Next Mets Radio Announcer

from MetsLifer.com
In case you haven't heard Tom McCarthy will be leaving the WFAN Mets radio broadcasting booth next year to return to his previous employer, the Philadelphia Phillies (commence booing). It's too bad because I like McCarthy and he eerily sounds exactly like Gary Cohen so it was quite nostalgic having him in the booth with Howie Rose.

So this opens the door for a new announcer to become one of the voices of the Mets on radio. For once, Mike & the Mad Dog had an intelligent and interesting discussion yesterday afternoon regarding who should be the replacement. Here were some of their recommendations, with my thoughts on the nominee.

1) Gary Cohen - Forget it. Cohen, Hernandez & Darling are a Mets fans' dream team on TV. Don't mess that up.

2) Ed Coleman - He'd be good, but to me Ed C is the Ahmad Rahsad of the Mets. A guy you want in the locker room, giving you interviews and inside news but not necessarily in the booth.

3) Chris Carlin - A Mets fan, but too brash to be an every day radio guy.

4) Sean McDonough - Good voice and capable broadcaster, but without Bill Raferty next to him it just won't feel right.

5) Dave Popkin - Who, you ask? Let me explain why this is the guy you want on the radio

Dave Popkin is an up and coming young broadcaster with a great voice and is extremely knowledgeable. He's been working side-by-side with Gary Cohen doing Seton Hall basketball games on the radio, so he's been learning at the feet of the master. Popkin has done minor league baseball games on CN8 as well as a ton of other sporting events as broadcaster for ESPN affiliated sporting events.

I've had the pleasure of meeting Dave Popkin on a few occasions and I can tell first hand that he is a class act guy. Popkin is someone who the Mets can have in their broadcast booth for the next 25 years. I grew up listening to Gary Cohen, and Popkin is someone who a new generation of Mets fans can grow up with. He's a young guy who can bring some fresh perspective and commentary. And he'll be working alongside Howie Rose who is a consummate professional to balance the broadcast.

Pretty soon we'll be in a new stadium, hopefully have a new pitcher named Santana, and I think it would be perfect to have a fresh new voice in the broadcast booth. Dave Popkin is the next Mets radio announcer.

If you want to take a listen check out his website at www.davepopkin.com and you can hear some of his commentary. I'm hopeful that MetsLifer.com will be able to get an interview with Dave Popkin in the coming weeks as he becomes a candidate to be the next Mets radio announcer.

Good luck, Dave. We'll be pulling for you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

id still love to see gary go back to radio...he was great

Jimmy Free said...

The Mets would be lucky to have Dave. I lived in Iowa for work for one year and Dave was the radio voice for the Triple A Cubs team when I was there. He knows baseball, is funny and reminds me of ESPN and Red Sox announcer Dave Obrien and Jon "Boog" Sciambi. Sign him up!