It seems that nearly all Mets fans are down on Wayne Hagin. I can understand why. As I wrote at Metsblog:
… there's just something about his game-calling that doesn't do it for me. He strikes me as a guy who bought into every sentence in the book: "Announcing Major League Baseball Games for Dummies". He seems to lack genuineness, if that's a word.
So, yeah, I'm not over the moon with Hagin so far, but as I've said before he needs time to settle in and to see if he and Howie can develop the right 'chemistry' (if that's the word) in the booth.
In Wayne's favor: he tells it as he sees it, which I like. So many announcers shy away from criticizing the home team (or any team), but Wayne's not so shy. Last night in the bottom of the 2nd he and Howie had different perspectives on what went wrong on Teixeira's infield hit that led to the Braves' first run.
Howie maintained that Castillo's throw, from one knee, was too weak and that he might have had a play at first. Wayne, however, argued that Schneider was not in position to receive the throw home. It was a good clear discussion that helped me to fully understand how a runner can score from second on an infield hit. {Did not make me any less annoyed, I'll admit.}
Anyway, the two discussed it for a while, each stating his position on what went wrong. Wayne's style doesn't always suit me, but that was a good example of the two announcers working well together. Wayne can be frustratingly cliché at times, but he does seem to know the game well. I hope the more he relaxes the more he feels like he can just be himself and less forced.
UPDATE:Okay, I saw the play with Castillo from last night's game. Now I have to row back a bit on Wayne. What was he talking about? Sure Schneider was a bit out of position, but he was probably just as stunned as Howie was that Castillo thought he could throw home from his knees. Castillo made a bad decision there.
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