Empire Writes Back
Fansided

New York Baseball: Ranking the City’s Best Broadcasters

By Steve Contursi

Sep 8, 2014; New York, NY, USA; A fan watches from the second-to-last row of the stadium during the first inning of a game between the New York Mets and the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 8, 2014; New York, NY, USA; A fan watches from the second-to-last row of the stadium during the first inning of a game between the New York Mets and the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 6
Next

#4  David Cone And Paul O’Neill 

I put these two baseball broadcasters together because they belong together. As a team, they compliment each other beautifully. The trouble is that the YES network has so many announcers that these two aren’t teamed together as often as they should be.

With Cone and O’Neill, you get the bare bones of baseball. They’re simple and direct. They (quietly) don’t buy into the “YES Mentality” which says that everything about the Yankees is sacred. Even their personalities compliment each other. O’Neill enjoys coming off as the folksy country boy from Ohio while Cone struggles to hide his ongoing love affair with the fast pace of New York City life.

According to Bob Raissman who covers the media for the New York Dairy News, both Cone and O’Neill “deserve a promotion” for their work together on YES. Couldn’t agree more.

Obviously, both men have baseball in their blood and it’s Yankees blood to boot. They’re also of the same baseball generation which helps because they played against the same competition. So while Cone can dissect a hitter from the standpoint of a pitcher, O’Neill can take the same hitter and talk about what he’s thinking about as he faces a particular pitcher. It makes for fascinating conversation.

Regretfully though, it’s a three-man booth and the presence of Michael Kay often inhibits their dialogue with each other. That’s not to say that Kay does anything intentionally to thwart them. Instead, it’s just that he has a job to do too and the booth gets a bit “crowded” at times.

As we were when they were playing ball,  we’re lucky to have the two professional baseball broadcasters working together again.

Next: 4. Ken Singleton

Home/New York Mets