1. Mets analyst Keith Hernandez hasn’t been in a movie like this since he played in the Seinfeld“Beloved”.
Hernandez recently caused quite a stir in Philadelphia when he revealed that he is asking SNY to give him time off when the Mets play the Phillies because he can’t stand the way Philadelphia plays the game.
“I’ve expressed to the front office — not the Mets front office, our SNY front office — that I hate doing Philly games, so I guess they gave me the series. … They’re hot right now, I’d like to t ‘I could see them. But in terms of core and defense, the Phillies haven’t always been up to it.”
Many people associated with the Phillies — broadcasters, producers, the Phillie Phanatic — scoffed at Hernandez.
There were graphics of Keith Hernandez.
And the Phanatic carried around a Hernandez doll.
There was just one problem. The Mets took three of four games from the Phillies over the weekend, and Philadelphia played so poorly, its low moments ended up turning into a 2 minute, 20 second video about of The Benny Hill Showtheme music.
After earning that TKO, Hernandez scored another win Tuesday morning while appearing on WFAN’s Boomer & Gio Show in New York.
While baseball broadcasts are now so analytics-heavy and filled with so many fake stats, Hernandez spoke to many of us old-timers who don’t give a damn about exit velocity while telling a story about Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil and the new manager. Buck Showalter.
“[Play-by-play guy] Gary [Cohen] it should say, ‘Exit speed, 108 miles per hour,'” said an annoyed Hernandez. “I could care less. I know when someone hits the dog with the ball. I don’t care what kind of miles per hour it is. But Jeff told the analytics people, who had so much control last year, which Buck has put in their proper place, which is a tool for the manager. They bring a lot of information. Many of them are too many. Many of them are very useful and relevant.
They were always last year, ‘Your exit speed is down.’ A guy came up to him a few times and said, ‘On that base hit, your exit velocity wasn’t very good,’ and Jeff says, ‘I don’t care about exit velocity. What was the result? I got a base hit.’ I love him!”
It used to be that analysis-heavy telecasts were alternative broadcasts. Now, baseball broadcasts have become so comprehensive in analytics that we need alternative telecasts that don’t mention analytics at all.
And Keith Hernandez should be in the booth for those broadcasts.
2. If you have heard it SI Media PodcastOver the past few weeks, you’ve heard me ask many times, “What’s going to happen in bars and restaurants during Thursday Night Football now that the game will be streamed exclusively on Amazon Prime?”
Well, that problem was solved today. DirecTV and Amazon announced a multi-year deal to deliver Thursday Night Football in more than 300,000 sports bars, restaurants, hotel lounges and several other key locations nationwide.
3. It’s been a while since a video went viral so quickly and then got tired and aired like this one from the stands at last night’s Mets-Yankees game, during which a fan used his hot dog as a straw for his beer.
4. I got done with fantasy football years ago, but every year around this time, I enjoy Kyle Brandt’s Fantasy Name Generator bit.
5. I know athletes live a completely different life than normal people because they earn a lot of money and have to deal with fame and people constantly bothering them, but it’s important to remember that all it takes is a small wave to t made a child’s day.
6. While Ronald Acuña Jr. did a good job of being kid-friendly in the video above, Heat star Tyler Herro went with the complete opposite approach as he went head-to-head with a youngster on the court.
7. This week’s SI Media Podcast features an interview with Tim Burke, also known on Twitter as @Bubbaprogone of the first Deadspin reporters who broke the story of Manti Te’o’s 2013 cheating girlfriend, which is the subject of a new two-part Netflix series.
Burke details how Deadspin got information about Te’o and how long they worked on the story before releasing it. He also talks about being surprised by the reaction to the story, what he wanted to achieve with the story and what he would do differently.
Burke also discusses the recent embarrassment he found himself in after posting a joint video of Sean Hannity and Ron DeSantis, how he was the first person to post the uncensored video of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars, how can monitor so much. daytime stuff and more.
The podcast concludes with the weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment with Sal Licata, from WFAN and SNY in New York. This week, another round of streaming buzz continues, with the new NFL+ service taking aim. We also discuss the NBA vs. NFL battle now set for Christmas Day, the NFL’s decision to add a Black Friday game next season and much more.
You can listen to the podcast below or download it on Apple, Spotify and Google.
You can also watch SI Media Podcast on YouTube.
8. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: I got a few emails and tweets from people who really enjoyed the old CBS NFL Today entry I posted in this space yesterday. Here’s what the old NBC pregame show looked like in the early 1980s.
Make sure that catch up with past issues of Traina Thoughts and look Illustrated Sports Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina at Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy at I tweet, Instagram AND TIK Tok.