NEW YORK, NY — The life of a professional baseball player on and off the field is straining whether you are an established star in MLB or just making their way into the show.
When Brett Baty was selected by the Mets in the first round of the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft, the hopes were he would follow in the footsteps of the greatest third baseman in their history, David Wright. He certainly started his Mets career on an auspicious note when he hit a home run in his first at-bat in the majors. It occurred on August 17, 2022, against the Atlanta Braves. Baty became just the fifth Mets player to do that.
While it would be unfair to label Baty as a bust, he has struggled in Flushing. He was given the Mets third base job coming out of spring training in 2024. His hitting and defense were so poor that the Mets demoted him to their Syracuse Mets farm team where he spent most of the rest of the year.
To his credit, Baty has never been one to sulk. When I spoke to him Amazin’ Day at Citi Field in January. He was upbeat and even joked about his summer in Syracuse. “I got to visit the New York State Fair last August. It was impressive!” he said with a smile.
Baty enjoyed a terrific 2025 spring training. Not only did he hit well, but the Mets asked him to play a new position, second base, because incumbent Jeff McNeil endured an oblique strain which would make him miss the first month of the season. Just as a talented musician can master a new instrument, Baty was able to learn the nuances of the right side of the infield, and was an asset as opposed to being a liability.
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Baty had the misfortune of struggling at the plate for the first three weeks of the season, but he picked things up the last ten days. In fact, he was the Mets’ best hitter behind Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso during that period. It may have been a case of too little, too late. With Jeff McNeil coming off the injured list an infielder had to be demoted.
Luisangel Acuña gives the Mets speed on the base paths, even though his hitting and defense have been subpar. Mark Vientos was hitting for an even lower average than Baty, but Mets president of baseball operations, David Stearns, understandably is giving him a long leash given his fine 2024 season in which he slugged 27 home runs. It was not a surprise Brett Baty would be the odd man out when a decision had to be made.
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If Brett was despondent about being optioned, he did not show it on his return Friday night when he hit a long home run and a pair of doubles against the Worcester Red Sox. My feeling is that a productive Brett Baty will be back at Citi Field soon.
Congratulations to Howie Karpin for marking his 1,500th game as an official MLB scorer
A milestone occurred last Tuesday night at Cit Field when Howie Karpin marked his 1,500th game as an official Major League Baseball scorer. You need thick skin to do that job, because pitchers want hits to be scored as errors, and fielders and hitters want errors to be classified as hits to make their statistics look better. Howie has told me he has had to patiently explain to players and team public relations directors his rationale for the scoring decisions he made.
Besides being an MLB official scorer, Howie is a veteran sports author. His latest book, which was co-written with Scott Orgera, is “976-1313” (Press Pass Chronicles – Available Here). For sports fans of a certain age, that phone number will bring back fond memories. Before there was the Internet, or even ESPN, there was Sports Phone.
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I remember dropping many dimes into pay telephones during the baseball winter meetings to learn of the latest baseball trades and rumors. Invariably, I would hear the voices of either Howie Karpin or Andy Roth provide the details. They would always sign off with “Stay with us!” And many of us did.
“976-1313: How Sports Phone Launched Careers and Broke New Ground” out now!
The bulk of Sports Phone’s business was derived from callers wanting to know game scores. Gamblers were obviously loyal consumers, but so were radio and television sports directors, as well as newspaper sports editors. Most games were not televised out of the local sports teams’ markets in the 1970s, and Sports Phone reporters would not just give the scores but also provide game highlights when warranted.
Like the captain of a ship, Sports Phone reporters did not leave the office until the last game on their shift was completed. Howie Karpin was on duty at Sports Phone’s studios on the evening of July 4, 1985. Mets fans will remember that as the night the Amazin’s beat the Braves in Atlanta 16-13 in 19 innings. The game ended around 4AM, not just because of many extra innings, but also because it was stopped numerous times for rain delays. “I had to call my wife as soon as that game finished and tell her I was not cheating!!” Howie told me with a chuckle.
Image Credit: Press Pass Chronicles
The media careers Sports Phone launched reads like a “Who’s Who.” Among the Queens natives who provided reports were Steve Cangialosi, Gary Cohen, Linda Cohn, John Giannone, Howie Rose, and Andy Roth.
“976-1313″ is a brilliant oral history as authors Karpin and Orgera capture the memories of the many reporters who had a stint at Sports Phone, but they also get the recollections of boldfaced names in all occupations who dialed those seven numbers from time to time.
While baby boomers will clearly enjoy this book, sports fans of any age will enjoy this nostalgic look back at a time which now seems like the Stone Age.
“WWE: Unreal” coming in summer of 2025 to Netflix
While World Wrestling Entertainment has long admitted its match results are predetermined, it will truly peel back the curtain on what goes on behind the scenes with a ten-part Netflix documentary series titled “WWE: Unreal.”
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The series promises to take viewers into the writers’ room where those fun feud storylines get created. “WWE: Unreal” also promises to give glimpses into the real lives of wrestlers outside of the ring.
Peyton Manning and Vice Media’s “The NFL Playback”
One of the executive producers of “WWE: Unreal” is Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning. His current job as CEO of Omaha Productions is keeping him busy. Manning was in Manhattan last Wednesday to promote a new VICE Media sports series, “The NFL Playback,” which will debut in September.
Manning told the media the series will show highlights of a memorable NFL game and get the participants on both the winning and losing teams to provide their insights.
Image Credit: Vice TV
VICE Media has been commissioning numerous sports documentaries in the last year. They have positioned themselves as a worthy successor to the defunct cable offerings as ESPN Classic, HBO, and Showtime Sports.
You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.
