Carroll’s Column: Howie Rose Receives “You Gotta Have Heart” Award

Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports

NEW YORK– People forget just how significant and meaningful the art of broadcasting is throughout the sport we all love and cherish. Our most memorable, favorite baseball moments have transpired with individuals applying their extraordinary skills on a microphone, so a worldwide audience can zone in on the action and picture themselves at the ballgame.

Many television & radio broadcasters are overlooked and unacknowledged for their dedicated efforts, and it’s a shame. By providing viewers/listeners with the call including authentic observations, and statistics, pitch by pitch, as if you were watching from the stadium bleachers, their impeccable talent and hard work in the booth deserves recognition. 

Bayside, Queens native, Cardozo High School alum, and New York Mets radio play-by-play voice, Howie Rose received the “You Gotta Have Heart Award” at the 2023 Baseball Writers Association of America dinner two weeks ago. In his acceptance speech, Rose revealed the reason he missed the last month of the 2021 season was because he was diagnosed with bladder cancer. 

In an interview with New York Post sports media columnist Andrew Marchand, Rose said his urologist, Dr. Reza Mehrazin, urged him to have the major surgery at Mt. Sinai Hospital in which the cancerous bladder was removed and replaced with an artificial device. He had an option to try radiation, but Dr. Mehrazin felt there was a high probability of a recurrence. 

Rose said he has been given a clean bill of health by Mt. Sinai, and has been told he has no restrictions on his activities. Last year he cut his workload by skipping some Mets road trips, and he plans on doing the same in 2023. That decision has nothing to do with health issues, per se, but rather by the fact he is in his upper 60s.

Howie Rose will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame on June 3rd prior to the game between the Mets and Toronto Blue Jays.

MCNEIL CONTRACT EXTENSION – PRESS CONFERENCE 

Mets second baseman Jeff McNeil met with the media last Tuesday to discuss the four-year contract he signed the previous week. McNeil was still a couple of years away from being a free agent. I asked him if seeing the travails his former teammate, Michael Conforto, endured during his 2021 walk year in which he struggled mightily at the plate, and then suffered a mysterious injury in early 2022 causing him to miss all of last season, motivated him to get a long-term deal as soon as possible. 

McNeil said the cautionary Conforto saga did not enter his mind, but I have a feeling he did not want to embarrass a friend based on the reasons he stated for wanting to reach a deal with the Mets. As the defending National League batting champion, he realizes his stock may be at its zenith. He admitted he was worried about injuries, and what his perceived value on the free agent market would be in two years when he would be 33, especially if his offensive productivity slipped. 

With the Mets middle infield seemingly set for the long-term with McNeil at second base and Francisco Lindor at shortstop, I asked Mets general manager Billy Eppler if it was dispiriting for the organization’s top minor league prospect, shortstop Ronny Mauricio (San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic). 

Not surprisingly, he danced around the question. Eppler chuckled when I said, “At least you don’t have the other guy to block third base for him,” referring to the Carlos Correa debacle. 

RECKER & MANOAH + STROMAN IN TWITTER FEUD 

Former Mets catcher Anthony Recker has carved out a nice broadcasting career as he has done work for SNY, Apple TV Plus, and currently, the MLB Network. Last Thursday, Recker was asked about Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah, and though Recker is generally positive, he suggested it would be a good idea for Manoah to hit the gym more frequently.

It did not take long for Manoah, and his good buddy, former Mets pitcher Marcus Stroman, to start insulting Recker on Twitter. Recker tried to defuse the situation by apologizing, and writing he was a big Manoah fan. That did not seem to assuage Manoah.

I cannot speak for Anthony Recker, but I know him to be a very good man who would not needlessly throw shade on someone to generate buzz. Manoah has a physique similar to that of former Yankees ace CC Sabathia when he was playing. He is 6’6″ and weighs around 260 pounds. Sabathia has frequently said he should have taken better care of himself when he was playing. 

Since retirement, he has shed so much weight he is almost unrecognizable. He says he has never felt better in his life. My guess is Recker was looking for a euphemistic way of telling Manoah to watch his diet and shed needless pounds in order to feel healthier, and hopefully live longer. 

FRANCESA & MAD DOG REUNION

The reunion of Mike Francesa and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo on ESPN’s “First Take,” last Wednesday lived up to billing. It is not hyperbolic to say the “Mike and the Mad Dog Show,” which ran for 19 years on WFAN (1989-2008) revolutionized the concept and viability of sports talk radio. 

As fate would have it, Tom Brady had just announced his retirement ‘for real’ from the NFL just before the show went on the air. Francesa made the astute observation that Peyton Manning was the best regular season quarterback of all-time, while Joe Montana was the greatest playoff QB ever. Nonetheless, Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback ever based on longevity and his stellar win-loss record. 

CBS’ CONCERNS ON ROMO? 

The aforementioned Andrew Marchand reported CBS Sports executives are unhappy with Tony Romo’s analytical work on NFL broadcasts. I believe Romo was overly praised during his first few years with CBS, and now I think he is being overly bashed for his work. 

CBS execs may be concerned that Romo’s counterpart at FOX Sports, Greg Olsen, is badly outshining him. Ironically, Olsen may find himself demoted through no fault of his own this fall now that Tom Brady has finished his playing career and is ready to join FOX Sports.    

TELEVISION & ENTERTAINMENT

Streaming services seem to have revived Natasha Lyonne’s career. Lyonne was a star in those late ‘90s “American Pie” movies. Like most of her fellow cast, she struggled for years after the film sequels ran their course. In 2019, Lyonne made a comeback starring in a Netflix series she helped create, “Russian Doll,” about an East Village game developer who keeps living the same day over and over a la “Groundhog Day.” 

Lyonne is back with a new series on Peacock titled “Poker Face,” in which she plays a Laughlin, Nevada, casino cocktail waitress named Charlie Cale, who is on the run after threatening to expose a murder committed by the two key executives at the fictional Frost Casino. Charlie seems to enjoy the powers of ESP and can tell when anyone is lying. “Poker Face” is a fun series which owes a huge debt to classic 1960s TV shows such as “The Fugitive” and “Route 66.” 

You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.