Kiner's Time

It was announced that quite a few Mets broadcasters are eligible for the Ford C. Frick award, which "is presented annually to a broadcaster who has made major contributions to baseball. It is named after the co-founder of the Hall of Fame, former Commissioner of baseball (1951-1965), National League president (1934-1951), sportswriter and announcer who helped foster the relationship between radio and baseball."

This years' Mets nominees are:

1. Ralph Kiner - who was an original Met announcer along with Frick Award winners, the late Lindsay Nelson and the late Bob Murphy.


2. Gary Cohen - who joined the Mets radio broadcast team in 1988. In 2006, Cohen moved to the newly created Mets TV station, SNY, to head up the TV crew of Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez.


3. Tim McCarver - who did TV broadcasts for the Mets from 1983 - 1998. McCarver has won three Emmy awards while with Fox: 2000, 2001, 2002.


4. Tom Seaver - who pitched for the Mets from 1967 - 1977, and again in 1983. Seaver is the lone Met player with his uniform number (41) retired. Seaver was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. He served as a Met broadcaster 19999 - 2005.


5. Rusty Staub - played for the Mets from 1972 - 1975, 1981 - 1985, and provided color commentary for Mets with Ralph Kiner and Tim McCarver.


6. Fran Healy - one of the most nauseating kiss-ups to ever enter the broadcast booth, and offered less insight to the game than my five year old daughter.


7. Juan Alicea - "has been in the business for 27 years, all with the Mets, serving as a broadcaster and production coordinator. He was a member of the broadcasting team for the International Spanish Network, which carried the Mets' 1986 and 1988 postseason play throughout the U.S. and Latin America. He has been associated with the club since 1969, serving in a variety of scouting, community relations and broadcasting positions."


8. Billy Berroa - "had resumed broadcasting Mets games in 1997 as a radio announcer on WADO and a TV announcer on FOX SportsNet. He had done Spanish broadcasts from 1987-1993 and in the 1960s and 1970s as well, and Winter League broadcasts in the Dominican Republic for 50 years. He also was one of the Spanish voices of Major League Baseball postseason and All-Star competition from 1987 to 2004. Berroa covered the Caribbean Baseball Series and the Olympics, as well as professional boxing." Berroa died in 2007

You can vote for any of these candidates by going to http://www.baseballhalloffame.org/

For more on Ford C. Frick candidates, please read Mets have worthy Frick nominees