Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
By Sam Neumann on

Juan Soto crushed his first home run as a New York Met on Friday night — but Mets fans didn’t get to hear Gary Cohen call it. Or at least not in the way they’re used to.

We’ve already covered how die-hard Mets fans got a raw deal with their team being stuck on national broadcasts twice during Opening Weekend. But after the widespread streaming issues with MLB.tv and the MLB app — problems that also plagued SNY’s new direct-to-consumer (DTC) product — Apple TV+’s broadcast might have felt like a welcome change of pace.

And while Cohen wasn’t in the SNY booth, his voice still found a way onto the call, at least in some respect.

After all, Wayne Randazzo knows Cohen well.

Randazzo knows the Mets well, too. He was the team’s pre-and post-game host back when they aired on WOR. When Josh Lewin departed in 2019, Randazzo became Howie Rose’s radio partner. Now the TV voice of the Los Angeles Angels and Apple TV+’s Friday Night Baseball, he hasn’t forgotten his roots.

And while Mets fans would have preferred Cohen on the call for what should be the first of many Soto home runs over the next 15 years, Randazzo certainly did the 390-foot blast off the second deck at Daikin Park justice. If it wasn’t going to be Cohen, Randazzo — or perhaps Adam Amin — was about as good as fans could ask for.

“Well, he’s left-handed, and he hits that one with authority,” said Randazzo. “That one is outta here. Juan Soto’s first home run as New York Met — a laser. And so many more to come over the next 15 years.”

First things first, Dontrelle Willis had just pointed out how Soto hacked at a foul ball with so much authority that, for a moment, you’d swear he was right-handed. Randazzo seamlessly weaved that into his call. And if that wasn’t enough, he paid homage to the “maestro” of the No. 1 local announcing crew in MLB last season.

Soto’s blast may have been launched into the second deck, but Randazzo ensured Cohen’s signature “outta here” call wasn’t left behind.

It was a small but meaningful reminder of home for Mets fans stuck on yet another national broadcast.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann