And Now Some Free Consumer Advice

I get rustled over a lot of little things when it comes to this team. For example: Sandy Alderson telling a Social Studies class that Bartolo Colon could be the Opening Day starter … which is classic Mets in the sense that they'll sign a somewhat cheap replacement and then put him in a prime time position to save the world (see: Gary Sheffield as the Mets' cleanup hitter in 2009.) Or, the Mets resigning Omar Quintanilla after a terrible season … which is like using sandpaper and lemon juice to shower instead of soap and a luffa, and then saying to yourself "Man, that was painful … why would anyone do that? I can't wait to do it again tomorrow."

Now, I complain about those things because I think I know a little bit about baseball, and I like to chime in with my two cents on why something the Mets do is bad … or even good, like the John Lannan signing. So when something like this happens, I like to write a little something about it.

Now if you notice, I just told you that I think I know a little bit about baseball. Whether I really do know something about baseball or not is up to you, the reader. But one thing I know I know something about is being a baseball consumer. I feel that I can speak as an authority to the people who think they know a little something about who we want to listen to on the radio. But first, let me explain … I saw something on my phone from Metsmerized which passed along Bob Raissman's piece in the Daily News reporting that Ed Coleman wouldn't make the jump from WFAN to the Mets' new radio home: WOR. It made sense that Coleman wouldn't join the rest of the gang, as he is contractually tied to WFAN more so than the two main announcers, Howie Rose and Josh Lewin. So that, I could deal with … especially since I very rarely listen to pre-game material on the radio. (I'm not a huge fan of the refried blather of pre-game shows in general, so take that for what its worth.)

But here's the one line that caught my eye:

"WOR suits did not look for continuity in their first broadcast season. A radio source said they wanted to shake things up and even were reluctant to bring Howie Rose back."

Now, the rest of what I write should be preceded by "if this is true". Because who the hell knows what really goes on in these board meetings. That said, I highly doubt that Bob Raissman benefits by lying to us. So that said, I'd like to give some free advice to the "suits" at WOR in case they are still thinking about pulling off such a stunt:

You do not touch Howie Rose.

Let me say that one more time for the purpose of making this perfectly clear, and let me put it in bold and underline it:

You do not, under any circumstances, touch Howie Rose.

Sandy Alderson can make a move that I don't agree with because he's infinitely more qualified to run a baseball team than I do. Omar Minaya made plenty of moves I didn't agree with, and yet he is infinitely more qualified to run a baseball team than I am. Al Harazin is infinitely … well, that's a toss up between him and me. But you get the point.

But I can guarantee you that no suit at WOR is more qualified to give me a better option to listen to during Mets games than Howie Rose and Josh Lewin … certainly no suit whose only motivation to change things is for getting into a dick swinging contest at the altar of a corporate buzz-phrase such as "shake things up", as if somebody is going to name a broadcast booth after this decision maker for making the decision to "shake things up".

We have so little to hold on to and cherish as Mets fans … certainly from the product on the field. The one thing that Mets fans can brag about is having five of the best broadcasters in the game. Nobody would even think of getting rid of a broadcaster that not only grew up with the franchise, but can recite chapter and verse from regular season games from 1975 … unless they wanted to "shake things up" to justify their jobs at the expense of the baseball consumer. And in the interest of fairness, because I give the Mets a lot of grief for doing stupid things, kudos to the Mets for stepping in and preventing WOR from taking a colossal dump on our ears. It would have been even better if they were to step in on behalf of Lewin, but I'll cherish this rare moment of New York Metropolitan clarity. Especially when the typical reward we get from rooting for this organization knowing how close we came to losing Howie Rose … while being stuck with Omar Quintanilla for another year.