….because they don’t get much more grim & all-around scoldy than former Amazins starter Bobby Ojeda, who over the past 6 years has presided over Mets postgame wraps with his own unique brand of tough love. Perhaps thinking Keith Hernandez has already filled the quota for ’86 Mets alumni willing to call out today’s players, SNY is waving bye bye to Bobby O after rejecting a raise request, and Metsradamus is not alone in bemoaning the departure of a commentator he calls “your cranky uncle”.
There aren’t a lot of baseball broadcasts I enjoy more than SNY’s from top to bottom, and I do peruse my share. Burkhardt’s and now Ojeda’s departure will hurt. But it will probably mean that I just won’t watch nearly as many post games as I used to. To be honest, it’s very rare that I will leave Dog Piss Live (which is what Post Game Live is called after tough losses) on for any reason other than “Is Bobby Ojeda going to finally smash the set with a baseball bat after a tough loss.” Sadly, this will never happen.Say what you want about Ojeda … he was honest. And he drew from his experience to make points about the current team. And good or bad, he had conviction. Hopefully the news that Nelson Figueroa is the front runner to replace Ojeda will prove true and pan out, because if his replacement comes from among the backups that usually roam 51st street when Ojeda is on vacation, I’m flipping the channel after the 27th out. And I sure as hell hope that Ojeda’s departure doesn’t open the door for the slanted, homer scourge that has seeped in pretty much everywhere else.