And we're back! This Week In SNY has been on hiatus for over four months, mainly because non-blogging life has gotten in the way. It's tough to find the time to watch more than one or two Mets games a week these days, and it's even tougher to find the time to write. We've been keeping track of SNY shenanigans all season though, and have enough material for a four-part edition of TWISNY. Check back every day the rest of this week for a TWISNY post. We'll start off way back in April, when John Buck was hitting dingers and the temperature was frigid.
Monday, April 15th
An early-morning fire damaged Citi Field administrative offices and, luckily, no one was injured. The Daily News reported on the fire:
"Sprinkler systems contained the fire before FDNY extinguished it," The Mets said in a statement.
"There was no damage to any areas accessed by fans at Citi Field."
It took one firefighter about 45 minutes to bring the fire under control. There were no injuries.
The Mets also released a picture of the valiant firefighter who did the job all by himself:
Here is Citi Field's Bravest posing with the generous bonus the Mets gave him for his work:
Tuesday, April 16th
Mr. Met::Dinger (the Rockies mascot)::::Citizen Kane::The Lone Ranger
Keith Hernandez had little patience for a young attention-seeker in the frigid Coors Field grandstand:
Keith Hernandez: There's some guy behind the Mets dugout who took his shirt off. He's out of his mind.
Gary Cohen: I believe he's looking for attention, Keith.
Keith Hernandez: Out of his mind, geeze!
Ice to meet you, Rockies fan!
Wednesday, April 24th
Remember Jordany Valdespin? Back in April, he hit a game-winning grand slam to beat the Dodgers. It was probably the high point of his season, and possibly of his career. Kevin Burkhardt interviewed him after the game and asked "Do you feel like the man right now?", referencing Valdespin's infamous line "I'm the man right now" that he first used after taking Jonathan Papelbon deep in May 2012. Watch the video:
(hat tip Rich MacLeod)
Happier times for Valdespin. He'll always have that night.
It's time for Nitpicking With TWISNY! The Valdespin grand slam game was long (3 hours, 37 minutes), but not as long as SNY's graphics department would have you believe (4 hours, 50 minutes):
Gary Cohen: It might have felt like 4:50 but after Valdespin's grand slam it felt like a walk in the park.
Phillies second baseman "Chase Ucley" has had a nice little career, matching Chase Utley homer-for-homer:
Remember, it's spelled Zack, not Zach, Wheeler. Spell it with a "k" because he's a pitcher who racks up K's:
Thursday, April 25th
Ron Darling gets heated once in a while. Last season, he gave us the memorable "There is no book!" rant about Stephen Strasburg's innings limit. This season, he went off on NFL Draft analysts for some reason:
Ron Darling: The draft is just nonsense. The jabronis who do that draft -- all you have to do is say two names: Joe Montana was picked in the third round, Tom Brady was picked in the sixth round. That's all you need to know. You don't even need the draft, waste of time.
Gary Cohen: What was that word you just used, by the way?
Ron Darling: Jabronis!
Okay, Darling wasn't that heated, but it was just fun to hear the word "jabroni" on-air.
(hat tip Steve Lepore)
Friday, April 26th
SNY's new "Spiderman" camera lens filter is probably not a keeper:
Saturday, April 27th
Let's check in with Kevin! Kevin once again teamed up with Tom Verducci to call a Mets game on Fox. Last season, the two were caught up in each other's gaze:
They fell into old habits in 2013:
We are fond of the Burkhardt/Verducci tandem. They don't talk excessively, and when they do talk it's not nonsense. Kevin brings local knowledge to the national broadcast, while Verducci is a better color man than he is theorizer on pitcher innings limits. They are pretty darn good for a national broadcasting team.
It's been a rough couple of years on the baseball diamond for Jason Bay. So with his playing time in New York (and later, Seattle) dwindling, he started a new career acting in commercials. Here he is as a Dick's Sporting Goods kayak salesman:
He then showed up in a Dunkin' Donuts ad:
His latest appearance was in KFC's infamous "I ate the bones!" campaign:
Keep pluckin' that chicken, Jason Bay, and even though you've had some success in commercials, don't forget your dreams of becoming a weatherman:
That's all for now. Check back tomorrow for part two. Send any tips or suggestions to ThisWeekInSNY@gmail.com. You will be credited if we run the material.