Jul 9, 2022; New York City, New York, USA; Former New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez waves to the crowd at the ceremony to retire his jersey number at Citi Field. Photo Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Gary Cohen might keep Keith Hernandez in check during broadcasts, but on social media, the New York Mets Hall-of-Famer is untethered.

While Cohen is doing studio work for SNY and Ron Darling is calling the Yankees-Royals series alongside Bob Costas for TBS, Hernandez is enjoying some much-needed time off after a grueling season of color commentary. But one would be safe to assume Hernandez was at least locked in on the Mets as they looked to close out the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS, right?

The Mets were leading Philly 4-1 heading into the ninth inning during Game 4 of the NLDS shortly after 8pm Wednesday night. And Hernandez was simultaneously on social media claiming Democrats will “cheat” in swing states during next month’s presidential election.

Last year, Fox News agreed to pay a more than $787 million settlement to Dominion Voting Systems after the network promoted Donald Trump’s false 2020 election conspiracies. We already know Hernandez’s political beliefs lean to the right. He’ll occasionally tease those beliefs during Mets broadcasts, only to be quickly reeled back in by Cohen. Hernandez used the “Democrat Party” quip during his last broadcast of the season and made a gender-neutral joke earlier this year. But when he’s not in the SNY booth, Hernandez really has little intention of sticking to sports.

Away from SNY, Hernandez has appeared on Tucker Carlson’s podcast and publicly praised the polarizing conservative political commentator. He promoted Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s book The Real Anthony Fauci and has appeared on Fox News and Fox Business channels to express support for Trump.

It’s one thing for Hernandez to enter the political realm in the offseason, but this is October and the Mets are still alive! Further, they were three outs away from clinching a spot in the NLCS, and he was focused on spreading election fraud conspiracies. While others are calling for local MLB announcers to work during the postseason, Hernandez might not even be interested in watching the games from home.

[Keith Hernandez]

About Brandon Contes

Brandon Contes is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He previously helped carve the sports vertical for Mediaite and spent more than three years with Barrett Sports Media. Send tips/comments/complaints to bcontes@thecomeback.com