I was watching the Mets broadcast yesterday, because one of the channels had it on. Where I love, YES is blacked out, but apparently they give you a Mets game on occasion. Kind of a blessing that we didn't get to see a third consecutive Yankee collapse. But yeah, the Mets were on in their purple-grey City Connect uniforms, and they were completely suitable. Lindor hit a homer then made an error, Frankie Montas has been cooked since 2021 yet still keeps getting jobs, the Giants sold and were somehow the better team.
I only watch Mets games on a couple occasions, and most of the time they involve my cousins from Staten Island. Predominantly Mets fans, a few Yankee loyalists peppered in. If I watch a Met game, it's usually with them. I actually do kinda like the broadcasts, Darling and Hernandez are really good to have on there. This year, however, the Mets' SNY broadcast has been receiving more publicity due to its new direction, and I mean that in a literal sense. The guy who's in charge of directing the broadcast is an out-and-out cinephile, and has been framing shots as if he's Martin Scorsese. There have been split diopter shots, insane wide angles from odd areas of the stadium, well-blocked close-ups. It is one of the best looking broadcasts in the bigs because it feels grander and more important than just a baseball game.
I was thinking about this because you're hearing all about Rob Manfred trying to sell baseball as a product rather than a game, and commoditizing every aspect until the fun's been taken out. The Bristol game also happened this weekend, and a very interesting spectacle happened...at the expense of the miserable players. It is not a coincidence that the MVP of the game was a backup outfielder who'd had a 2-homer day. It rained on and off to the point where they had to pick it up Sunday, the two Tennessee-based starters who the game was centered around pitched an inning between them and one of them, Spencer Strider, didn't even go out to pitch at all, leaving the game to be won by a guy who was sitting around at Gwinnett. And you go 'well I'm sure it was cool for the people there', but apparently concessions, housing and hospitality were all godawful, leading to a lot of Fyre Festival comparisons. Because none of the people who suffered are rich, I reckon Manfred's not gonna learn his lesson.
The Mets broadcast is a product in a way that Manfred's idea of the MLB isn't. It's cinematic, it's exciting, and that makes baseball worth watching more than whatever the hell Manfred's doing will. At one point during the game on Sunday, there was a cross-dissolve marked by a shadowy passerby in the concourse, a transition the director admits was inspired by the works of Edgar Wright. That is awesome. Baseball doesn't need a salary cap, it needs more of that.
If anything, this director should be rewarded for making a relatively inauspicious team like the Mets look even better. Right now the Mets are...fine. They're not bottoming out like they were in late June, but they got lapped by the Phils for the division lead again. David Peterson is manning the rotation, and he's having his best season to date, with a 7-4 record, a 2.83 ERA and 105 Ks. Peterson's been around this roster forever and has been waiting for that opportunity to pitch everyday and be GOOD. And it's finally happened. The issue is more with guys like Montas, but at least Holmes, Manaea and Senga have been on the right track.
The Mets are gonna be right in it til the end I think, and they'll likely have a nice stretch this month to make the division race interesting. And we at least know it'll look great.
Coming Tomorrow- A pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians who still has a job.
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