The Mets returned to action Tuesday night at Citi Field after taking a breather on Monday following a 7-3 West Coast road trip. Unfortunately, they looked very rusty in a 5-0 loss to the Washington Nationals. The offense was silent and the defense was sloppy. As they’ve done for years, SNY’s booth kept us entertained anyways. Gary Cohen did the honors while talking about his scorecard troubles in the third inning.
Gare arrived at Citi Field for the series opener before realizing he didn’t have his security blanket with him. Luckily, Keith Hernandez was generous enough to provide some help:
Last night, Gary shared the story of how he forgot to bring his scorecard… and Keith stepped up in his time of need. pic.twitter.com/fEvtgBUwtC
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 26, 2023
As a creature of habit myself (it’s the former baseball player in me), I’d feel exactly the same way Gare did upon realizing he forgot something he always brings to the ballpark. SNY had been off since Friday after a couple of national broadcasts over the weekend. That may have had Cohen out of his routine.
There are two parts of this clip that stand out to me. One is Gare had already planned on transcribing his scorecard from Tuesday’s game onto the version he’s used for 30-plus years. The other is that he’s been using a scorecard while calling games for nearly four decades!
Cohen spent three years calling minor-league games before landing a radio gig with the Mets. His minor-league career spanned from the Spartanburg Spinners (1983-84) to the Durham Bulls (1986) and the Pawtucket Red Sox (1987-88).
Gare’s MLB career began in the Mets’ radio booth in 1989 before transitioning to TV with SNY starting in 2006. So, the man has literally filled out a scorecard for most (who are we kidding, probably all) Mets games for the past 35 years. One would think he’d take days off when not in the booth, but Cohen showed his scorecard from Sunday night’s game in the above clip.
So even when he’s not working a Mets game, he’s watching intently with a scorecard. Now, Gare didn’t say this specifically, but for someone who is so protective of using the same scorecard every night, there’s no way he doesn’t still have every single one stored in his house.
The million-dollar question is, where could they possibly be? Also, how much space does this take up? And how are they organized? These scorecards are likely one of Gare’s most prized possessions in this world. He probably stores them with extra care in an important spot of his house.
I can relate here, but only to a degree. I haven’t scored a game in ages. But, I still print out my game tickets to save. It certainly seems like Gare is cut from the same cloth. Now we have to find out the details at some point before his broadcasting career is over. Which, you know, is hopefully in the very distant future.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
