Watchdog

I don't think Steve Zabriskie is gonna win this contest. Nor Fran Healy.
I'll take McCarver and Murphy. I don't think that list is complete. The new guy on radio isn't there for one.

Neither is Lorne Brown.

HUH..ho....gotta be Bob Murphy.
No one uttered the words "Buhdee Harrelson" quite like him.
And he sold more "RHEINgold Beer" than any Queens Irish pub owner in a lifetime of St. Paddy's days.

HUH ho...yessir...BOB Murpheeee.

My bad, Steve Albert neither.

No love for Todd Kalas?

The list begins with the great Bob Murphy
and ends with the 'Evan "Screech" Roberts'
of Mets' broadcasters: the one and only,
the execrable Fran Healy!!!!!!!!!!!

Gotta go with Murph

It begins and ends with Murph.

He had a way of setting the stage for games.

"A beautiful day for baseball, azure blue skies...."

"The Mets Win!! They win the damn game!!!"
I love how you can only pick one and Sandy picked two.
I have to say, I love when the tv announcers are critical of todays players. I think they are the best team. But Murph is #1 forever.

Murphy
Nelson
Kiner
Rose
Thorne
Cohen ...
and yes, way down at the bottom for only one day ...
Russo
Francesa
... even below Lorn Brown and Schteve Albert ....

Sorry, you said to only pick one.
I'll go with the dulcet Oklahoman tones of Bob Murphy.
"Bowling for Dollars" or not!

Mine is a tie :) 1/2 vote each please. If strung by my whatevers I'll take Murphy.

Have to go with Murphy and McCarver.

As a Mets hater, I'm so sick of Gary Cohen. He's a good announcer, but he's such a Mets homer, it's annoying.

I rememeber he said live when the Phillies were coming in saying that the "2007 NL East Championship Phillies will be coming to town and if that doesn't make you sick, nothing will."

Hey, Gary, keep those thoughts to yourself, thanks!

What, Wayne Hagin doesn't make the list?

I'm not a Mets fan, but I have to go with Murphy as the best Mets announcer.

lindsey nelson

As a long time Mets fan, I am not sure that you can actually pick just one. Being a NY team has allowed them to have their share of great to very good announcers. Nelson & Murphy were all timers, and even after Kiner looked like he lost his fastball during the Lorne Brown days, when he got paired up with quality guys he went right back to the top of his game. I loved the dynamic the he and Seaver brought when they worked togther which is part of the same chemistry that Darling and Hernandez have. I loved Gary Thorne, and I was a huge fan of the radio pairing of Howie Rose & Gary Cohen. Top announcers who grew up Mets' fans. but are not homers and don't insult our intelligence by pretending to be, not to mention their recall of Mets history to fit the right moment, is second to none.

Of course, on the other end there was the aforementioned Brown, and the worst announcer in Mets' history, Fran Healy.

I think Cohen is a terrible announcer. Darling & hernandez are outstanding, but Cohen really brings them down. Jimmy is right, he is one of the worst homer announcers on TV. ( ihave the package, and watch leaguewide) There are only a few worse than Cohen.

Exhibit A: His HR call. It is exactly the same for both Mets and opponents, but his voice and enthusiasm could not be more different. When a met hits a homer, he sounds like they just won the World Series. When an opponent hits a HR, he sounds like he's going to cry.

As for the best ever, I'll have to go with Keith Hernandez. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but I've always thought Tim McCarver was vastly overrated. Ralph Kiner is great to listen to. The man can spin a yarn. But it seemed he was never big on doing his homework. He didn't know some of the Mets names, let alone the guys on the other team. Just for the record, I'm talking about his announcing during his heyday of the 1980's, not his occassional pop ins of today, which I enjoy very much. I didn't listen to the Mets on radio much when it was Murph's booth, so I can't say much about him, good or bad. I do listen now occassionally, and I find Howie Rose to be as bad as Gary Cohen. I could see why people might like them, though. People who like cheerleaders, announcers who see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.

I'm a bit surprised about the attacks of homer-ism on Cohen and Rose. They aren't afraid to criticize the organization when needed. Didn't Rose even lose his job as host of Mets Extra back in the 80s or 90s for being too critical? And the difference in Cohen's voice for opponents' HRs is no different than the difference in Michael Kay's "see-ya's." If you want to listen to a real homer, either tune into WCBS for Sterling/Waldman or move out of NY. At least no NY announcer (including Sterling/Waldman, I think) refers to the Mets/Yankees as "we." The Pirates announcers did that all the time when I was at college in Pittsburgh, and Skip Caray was ridiculous when TBS carried the Braves.
Anyways, I'm too young to have heard Kiner and Murph in their prime, so I think I will go with McCarver. He and Ralph were the voices I grew up listening to. And back then, he wasn't just a color guy. He did play-by-play too. I remember one game towards the end of WWOR's run when Ralph had trouble speaking due to Bell's Palsey and Gary Thorne had an ESPN hockey assignment, he worked a game by himself. I always thought that was pretty cool...at the time, I didn't realize Vin Scully does that everyday.

I'll go with Murph, Cohen, Thorne and Kiner in that order.

I would definitely say at the very bottom of the list, for me, would be Rusty Staub. In 1990, I was a teenager, and I went to Montreal to see the Mets play.

We were staying at the same hotel.

Here's what Rusty said when I asked him for an autograph (which everyone else, other than Kevin McReynolds, signed).

"I won't sign an autograph, but I'll proudly say hello."

Boy that hello has stuck with me over the years -- as has his terrible announcing.

And before I get crucified, I never liked Rusty's announcing -- even before he refused to sign an autograph.

Rusty Staub was the luckiest lefthanded hitter I have ever seen.

He had a terrible swing...I can't imagine his call of a game would be much better.
You lost nothing in not getting his auto.

Just my opinion....from two time zones away.

Luckiest lefthanded hitter ever? Please go have a look at his lifetime stats. Arnold Palmer had a terrible swing. Was he lucky also?

Hank, you have the MLB package and you think Cohen is terrible and a homer??? Your kidding right? Do you watch many Cubs or White Sox games? I have heard a bunch of different announcers in baseball, and they all get excited for their teams, that is only natural, the difference is will they be critical of their teams when the occassion calls for it. The TBS Braves announcers were as bad as it got. Just what are you watching?

Ralph Kiner

He always had an interesting story.

I like Cohen better on radio but the haters need to LEAVE NOW! Have you ever watch MLB Extra Innings? Those announcers, primarily for the Florida Marlins are GOD AWFUL! Mets homer? On his HR calls there is no difference. 9th inning yesterday he lauded the Ojeda dive as a game-saver. He gets on players and goes through a lot of scenarios. He can be stubborn sometimes and his judgment on how far a ball is hit leaves a bit to be desired. My only qualms really.

Ralph Kiner:
Great stories, great hall of famer, but could relate to the current players as shown by his Kiner's Corner interviews. It was worth watching the game through to the end just to see Kiner's Corner. And if the Mets won- talking to Tom Terrific, Kooz, Keith or whoever was the star of the game. He should win just for that show!