Why has Mets’ color commentator Keith Hernandez requested not to call Phillies games?
The veteran commentator had some choice words for the Phillies, who are set to face his team in a three-game series, but the question is ‘why?’
The longtime Mets announcer made some less than complimentary statements when speaking about the Phillies, essentially making it clear why he opted out of commentating their games.
Why doesn’t Keith Hernandez like the Phillies?
Though you might not know it if you buy into Keith Hernandez’s view, the Phillies are on the up at the moment. In the middle of a five-game winning streak, Philadelphia’s finest have a record of 38-19 since Rob Thomson took over managerial duties back in June. That, however, doesn’t seem to hold any importance for veteran New York Mets color commentator and longtime player Keith Hernandez. During Tuesday night’s broadcast of the Mets game against the Cincinnati Reds, Hernandez seemed to depart from the script as he proceeded to explain just how much he can’t stand watching the Phillies. Further to that, Hernandez also disclosed that he asked SNY’s management to not have him work when the Mets face the Phillies.
“I’ve expressed to the front office — not the Mets front office, our front office at SNY - that I hate doing Philly games, so I guess they gave me the series off. ...They’re hot right now, I would like to see them, but as far as fundamentally and defensively the Phillies have always been just not up to it.” The commentator then concluded his strange tangent by saying he’d “watch on TV.” It didn’t take long of course before there was a response to Hernandez’s comments. Phillies commentators Tom McCarthy and John Kruk reacted on air during the Phillies’ showdown with the Miami Marlins with Kruk simply saying, “I think we’re playing a pretty exciting brand of baseball right now.”
No love lost between the Mets and Phillies
Passive aggressive tirades aside, the reality is the Mets and Phillies have a rivalry that goes way back and has witnessed a great deal of drama. With that in mind, we should probably take a Hernandez’s comments for what they likely are, a bit of trash talk. On the other hand, if Hernandez was in fact being serious then it begs the question as to just how the commentator is watching the sport. The Phillies are on track to make a playoff appearance for the first time since 2011 and while they may be 10 games behind the Mets, they are - mentioned before - on the up. Whatever the case, Hernandez can look forward to watching - on TV - three straight games of the Mets vs Phillies when the teams kick off a series on Friday night in New York.