Gary Cohen - Biography

Gary Cohen (born April 29, 1958 in Queens, New York) is an American sportscaster, best known as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.

Cohen joined the Mets' broadcast team in , after stints as the voice of the minor league Durham Bulls and Pawtucket Red Sox. He also called ice hockey and basketball games for Providence College, and football for Brown University. Along with his work with the Mets, Cohen has also called postseason MLB games for ESPN Radio and CBS Radio.

In addition to his baseball duties Cohen has called men's college basketball games for many years, starting with his duties with St. John's on WFAN and, following WFAN's loss of the radio rights to St. John's games, Seton Hall on WABC which he continues to do to this day. He also served as a backup announcer on New York Rangers radio broadcasts as well as calling Olympic hockey and NCAA tournament games for Westwood One on multiple occasions. Cohen graduated with a political science degree from Columbia University, where he began his broadcasting career with WKCR Sports. While at Columbia, he announced soccer games with future presidential adviser and Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos.

Radio

Cohen's signature radio phrases included (bold face indicates calls that make Cohen's announcing style similar that of the late Harry Kalas of the Mets division rival Philadelphia Phillies).

• "And a pleasant good afternoon/evening everybody", used at the start of every game
• "Back to talk about it in a moment" at the conclusion of each game
• "SWING and a miss, (he) struck him out!" after a meaningful strikeout
• "[Player name] would be next" when a player is on deck with two outs
• "It's outta here!" when a player hits a home run
• "...and the ball game is over!" for the ending of the game by describing the final play and finishing it

He is known for his vivid and succinct description of the game action, his smooth baritone voice, corny joking with former broadcast partner Howie Rose, and his sometimes biting, but always well-informed baseball commentary. In , Cohen became the Mets' lead radio voice following the retirement of Bob Murphy.

In October 2006, during the Mets' postseason run, Cohen returned to the WFAN booth with Rose and newcomer Tom McCarthy for a couple of innings each game; he was behind the microphone for Endy Chávez's miraculous catch in Game 7 of the NLCS which the Mets lost.

Television

It was announced on November 9, 2005 that Cohen would become the play-by-play announcer for the new Mets cable television network, SportsNet New York (SNY). As part of the agreement, Cohen also calls about 25 Mets games per year on WPIX along with analysts (and former Mets) Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez.

Because of their popularity, Lynn Cohen along with Gary and Keith and Ron have created a website www.pitchinforagoodcause.org where the net profit from the merchandise sold by the website goes to charity.

Family

Cohen is married to Lynn Cohen and has five children, Jess, Jaclyn, Trevor, Kira and Zach.

Notes

External links

• SportsNet New York Profile of Gary Cohen
• Ultimate Mets Database - Gary Cohen
• Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling's Charity website