KFC Radio - Quickie: Keith Hernandez

Episode Date: May 18, 2018

KFC sprints to catch a ride with Keith Hernandez uptown and talks with him about the Mets past, present, and futureYou can find every episode of this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube. Prime Members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. For more, visit barstool.link/kfcr

Hey, KFC Radio listeners, you can find every episode of KFC Radio on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. It's a KFC Radio Friday Quickie featuring the most important guests I've ever had on this program. Keith Hernandez. Mex is on the show today. I'm Keith Hernandez. This is the biggest moment of my Barstool career. It's bigger than the whole run derby with Big Papi.

It's bigger than selling out the Wilbur two nights. It's bigger than being on Comedy Central Super Bowl week. Getting to talk to Keith Hernandez is a bucket list item that, you know, maybe I'll just kill myself now because I just peaked. Keith Hernandez for a Mets fan is is he's like family at this point. I mean, I grew up, you know, my mom was cheering for him. She got to watch him play. I grew up watching highlights and hearing stories and, you know, learning to love the 86 Mets.

And he was at the center of it all. And then as an adult, I watch him every single night for half the year on SNY. I mean, he is the most important person on television to me. He's the most important person on that broadcast, and I watch Mets games more than I watch anything. He's the most important person in my life, Keith Hernandez. And so he was doing a promotional tour for his book.

That was a tour de force. I mean, no one has ever promote harder than Keith Hernandez. He was on every single program under the sun. And turns out that that Keith, you know, being the old school fellow that he is, maybe it's not exactly aware of of Barstool and the power we have because we got big-timed. He said, you're supposed to come to the office. And he called us up and said, can't do it anymore. I'm too busy.

But what I will let you do is you can talk to me in my car driving from CBS to Sports Illustrated, two old-school outlets, Keith actually respects. And so, you know, at first I was like, wow, boy, we're just getting big time here. And if it wasn't for Keith Hernandez, you know, if it wasn't Keith, I would probably say, you know, thanks, but no thanks. You don't have the time to come to us. We're all set. However, however, at the end of the day, we are now doing this vlog, the out of office video series on YouTube.

And so the thought of the visual of me and Keith sitting in the back of his car together was actually awesome. I think that's actually much better than sitting in a studio behind the mics, as you've seen a million times before. So I thought to myself, this is actually going to be great for video. And I don't know how the interview is going to go. And I don't know how the audio is going to turn out. But the thought of me and Keith crammed together in the car is going to look so good. And I get to talk to a legend. I can't pass. Well, it turned out that not only was it an awesome visual, Keith Hernandez sitting right next to me, eating a little turkey sandwich on a baguette, drinking chocolate milk out of a juice box. Okay. Literally, that's what was happening because he was so hungry in between interviews.

Not only did it look cool, but the interview actually came out awesome. And you know, maybe that Seinfeld fellow was onto something with this comedians and cars getting coffee, maybe podcasters in cars talking to ballplayers is, is, is the next thing because it created an atmosphere that was so much better than just sit in the studios. And we've seen it with van talk and the casting couch on the RV before. But, but I mean, it makes me, bro, maybe we just do this all the time. I don't know. I feel like it was just so much,

such a different dynamic where it was just like you're riding with your buddy shooting the ship before you get to the bar or something like that. It was 25 minutes of us just like actually kicking it and having a good conversation where it wasn't question and answer. And it wasn't just like structured and segmented. It was like, Oh, how about this? And how about that? As we just cruise around Manhattan together. And, and despite the fact that he was doing so much promo, he was still like engaged. So still very genuine, still very cool. And so for me, my mom, my family, getting to kick it with Keith Hernandez was a pretty big deal. So let's get into it. If you want to catch the video, we have a full video of

it up on the out of office vlog. You go to the Barstool Sports YouTube. Best way is just go to YouTube and search Barstool Sports and you'll see that up. We also got the interview with Francis. We've got our regular out of office vlog that chronicles me actually almost missing this interview. I cut it close with time. I just poorly managed my time leading up to the interview. And then I fucked up the subway. And then we got downtown and I was lost in the 9-11 memorial. And I literally had to sprint to make sure I got to Keith

before he left for his next interview. So if you want to see me literally sprinting all over Manhattan, running all over town, completely winded and out of gas, sweating as I tried to make it to the Keith interview, check out the vlog, like I said, that's on the Barstool Sports YouTube. But right now, let's get into the Keith Hernandez Quickie on KFC Radio. Meet the Mets. Meet the Mets.

Step right up. What do we got here? What are we doing for a snack? What am I doing? I got to lose 10 pounds. You look turkey. Turkey, turkey. You're looking pretty good, pal.

I got to lose 10. I had a partial knee replacement surgery last June, and I put on 20 pounds. I've lost 10 back. I got another 10 to go. You can't tell on camera if it's any consolation. Always go way to your mind. So the book is out. I'm Keith Hernandez.

Very appropriately named. I feel like that really became. Uh, I'm Keith Hernandez. Very appropriately named. I feel like that, that really became a, uh, your mantra, I'd say. You can eat while we do it. We're pretty lax, so don't worry about it. Um, you know, I mean, obviously the, the Seinfeld, um, appearance. Yes. Has more legs than I think any, any, you know, small cameo type of appearance in television history. Yes. To the point that, you know that we now have the book being titled that.

So it's got to be a very strange wrinkle in your life, I'd imagine. Oh, sure. I mean, it did. It just was an iconic episode, iconic show. I had no idea. I don't watch primetime to this day. And for baseball, I used to play night games. I was a year and a half in retirement, and I got the call, ironically, from my agent, Scott Boras,

who I didn't need anymore. I hadn't talked to in a year and a half. I was retired. See you later, Scott. I'm done. And he said, you know, this episode, this show, Seinfeld, they want you to come and do something for them. And I said, well, I never heard of it. And he goes, well.

Wait a minute. I mean, it was early on, but you had never heard of Seinfeld. I'd never, I don't watch any primetime. And, um, uh, at that point the show was going into its third year, I think, and it hadn't really taken off. And Scott said, he'll give you $15,000. I'll fly you out first class. And they're weak in LA because you can't beat that. And I said, okay, I'll do it. The FedEx to me overnight for Saturday delivery had to be in the studio for rehearsal on Monday. The FedEx for Saturday, I got it Saturday, the script. And I'm going through the script and I'm like, oh, my God, I got a lot of lines.

It's not just a big role, yeah. So Marsha Mason is an old friend of mine from New York, and a terrific actress. I called her. She was living in Taos, or Santa Fe, I forget. And I called her Marsha. I'm in over my head here. I never acted, and I never had any desire to act. And she says, well, just do line one, then do line one, line two, then line one,

line two, line three, and make sure before you go to bed, you know, you do it over again so you go, it'll linger in your mind and in your sleep, then get up in the morning and do it again, then go. So I was petrified the whole week doing that show, but it was a great experience, and I guess I passed the bar. I was just playing myself. Yeah, well, that's the thing. I mean, it's not necessarily acting when you're just being yourself, taking girls out on dates and walking around with shit-talked swagger.

Well, Lane, not just girls. Yeah, the girl. Oh, yeah. It's a big difference. And really, no matter how many lines you had to memorize, there's one that matters, and that's how I'm keeping it. I mean, that stuck, right? That was, we were in studio, on the set,

and we were doing the car scene, the kissing scene. And I was just sitting in the car, passenger side, driver's side. And Larry David had a boom over our head. And Larry said, let's just do the I'm Keith Hernandez line. Because it's going to be a voiceover. And let's just do it now before we do the scene. So I went to Larry and I'm like,

well, how do you want me to say it? I go, I don't know how to say it. I go, can you just, can you tell me how you want to do it? That can be delivered. Have the tape rolling and I'll mimic you so Larry said I'm Keith Hernandez so I just did it real quick

it was one take one and done it went on to the kissing scene which is where I wanted to go have you ever had a real life I'm Keith Hernandez moment on a date strangely nervous not sure what's going on and you actually had that thought in your mind?

Or in any walk of life? No, I never have. When I was younger, before, I was always a little shy of girls in my early 20s. It took me until around 20, uh-oh, it took me until around, oh, 25, 26, to finally get over a little bit of shyness. Yeah, I was. At what point in your career are you at 25, 26? Yeah, I was going to say. That must be my Adam Keith Hernandez moment.

Yeah, I mean, I would imagine once you win the MVP, the nerves of talking to girls goes away, huh? Well, that was the case. I think it was all part of the growing process, too. Yeah. But that's when I became a different person after. I'm not the same person I was when I was 20 and 25. I became an entirely different person.

I got rid of all that teenage growing up pains. I feel like you probably have many different kind of eras of your life. I mean, with becoming a ballplayer, becoming an MVP, the Cardinals era, and then into the New York era, and now eventually much later down the road, this broadcasting time. So I feel like there's just many different Keith Hernandez's what would you say would be your favorite era of Keith? Oh I wouldn't want to be in my 20's ever again that's for sure. Really?

A lot of anxiety. I mean that's the bulk of your ball career though no? I played in the off 37. Yeah but I mean your 20's just your prime it's when you're winning MVPs it's. It was a lot of I didn't really burst on the scene I had a lot of struggles early didn't really burst on the scene. I had a lot of struggles early in my, I was in the big leagues when I was 20.

Yeah. So I was two and a half years out of high school. And those were difficult times. And like I said, I was a different person then. I would never want to go. My 30s, I loved my 30s. I loved my 40s. Those were my prime years.

And then when I got in my 50s, it was fine, but I just had a lot of aches and pains from playing. And 60s, daunting. I'll be 65 in October. And if you think about it, in 15 years, I'm going to be 80. That's daunting. It's a big number.

It is. You don't look a day past, like, 50, pal. I mean, you're looking great. Well. You know, that's what matters. Who cares what the number or ID says? It's about how you look, right? Well, I try to stay in shape.

I didn't become a couch potato. I've had back surgery. I've had knee replacement on my right knee. I'm going to have to get hip. These are all baseball-related. They're had back surgery. I've had knee replacement on my right knee. I'm going to have to get hip. These are all baseball related. Wear and tear. So there isn't a day that I don't have discomfort, but

I just refuse to become sedentary and sit. That's the worst thing you can do. I can't run anymore. I can attest. I used to run. I love to run. I miss running. I can't do that anymore. I get in the elliptical. I do a lot of cardio. You get the heart pumping and just try to stay positive and youthful. Is that what you think played a big part in your career, being good on the diamonds?

By the way, before we forget, my mother has demanded that I tell you that she read If At First. She just wanted me. She was like, if you don't tell Keith that I read his his book i'm gonna kill you she's a maniac oh she also wanted to tell you that she popped a blood vessel in her chest screaming uh game six and oh my god it's not worth it screaming so loud my father my son my family it's weird my mom is like the real diehard mets fan my dad's not as much of a sports fan he's more of mechanics and science and that kind of guy shit. But my mom is the maniac baseball fan. And so she was watching the game and my dad came running into the room thinking that like, you know, someone had broken in and was trying to murder her. And

he's like, nope, it was just Bill Buckner. Oh, the ball went through his leg on that one? That's when she lost control. Yep. Okay. So it was a euphoric moment. Yes. Well, that means she's forgiven. And that was, I was one. I was born in 85. And so my great fear, my great fear is that this was, that that is going to be the Mets World Series in my lifetime. Because technically it occurred during my life, you know, so I won't even,

I can't even say, well, they've never won during my lifetime so I'm due. They got back twice. Yep, they got back twice and never, and they lost in, you know, heartbreaking fashion. One being to the Yankees and the other being with the Royals where they led for like 90% of the series and somehow still losing five games. So even those trips back to me were heartbreaking in a way. So that's my great fear is being a Mets fan.

I'm never going to get it again. Okay, well, it might happen. It's going to happen. You think? Maybe not in my lifetime. Well, right now it's kind of an awkward situation. I mean, what would you say? You've been a part of many teams, and unfortunately with the Mets, there's a lot of heartbreak, disappointment,

let's say not living up to potential. And, I mean, obviously the 80s, the 86 team won, but I think everybody on that team says they probably should have won more, that they were primed to go back and potentially win multiple. Then you had the Generation K bust, and now you have this with the so-called five aces that's kind of seemingly not panning out. As a baseball guy, as a Mets guy, what would you say is kind of what kind of hits you the hardest?

What kind of hits me presently? Well, or were those 80s teams? 87 is the year that bothers me the most. Because in 84, we had a magical year. Went from last place, perennial last place. We won 90 games. And in my first full season there. And we lose to the Cubs.

They were a better team. We were young. We didn't have Gary Carter then, the final piece. And everybody, all the young players that became stars were just learning. It was a great baptism for them as far as a stretch run. And then 85, we won 98

games. We're going to go home. Cardinals won 102. Nothing wrong with that season. And then 86, we had the blowout here. We did it all. And then 87, we know we're going to battle the Cardinals again. And Doc goes into the rehab. We don't have him for the first month. He misses five starts.

Roger McDowell comes down with appendicitis and has to get emergency surgery a week before we break camp. We don't have Roger the first month of the season. At every point in the year, we lost one of our starting five. Sid, Ojeda, and of course, Doc. Darling was our best pitcher, Ron, down the stretch. The best I've ever seen him pitch. He's pitching the big game, the second game of the series against the Cardinals in early September. We win the first game. And we win this game. We go into first place by a half. Ron's winning 4-0 in the sixth or something like that.

Goes down the bend over to pick up a bunt by Vince Coleman and tears a leg in his throwing thumb. We lose him for the rest of the year. That would have been without those. Cardinals had their share of injuries too. But we had those guys. We would have won 100 games that year. We would have won our division. I don't know what would have happened after.

And then in 88, we won 100 games, won our division, and we lose to the Dodgers. So it would have been three years in a row where we were in the playoffs, whether we had won the World Series or not. Who knows, right? And no one would be talking about this. So 87 just sticks in my craw. It just – I don't even like to talk about it.

It just eats at you. Yeah. Well, I'm sorry to bring up that. No, no, it's all right. I mean, as a fan, I know, you know, I mean, you're snakebitten by injuries and a couple guys don't meet their potential and all of a sudden, you know, the window seemed wide open and then it's slammed shut. It's a very Mets feeling, open and then it's slammed shut. It's a

very Mets feeling, unfortunately, for many of the fans. I have a great appreciation for Mets fans now. I didn't realize when I played because we were so good. It really was the greatest era of Mets baseball. We dominated.

We had always in the home. But when I went in the booth, a lot of down years. I'm talking with my mouth full. No, don't

worry about it. We're pretty well laid back. The Mets have had a lot of frustration. Met fans. And I can

understand their neurosis. Oh, man. The let's go Mets. But they are diehards out there.

That's the thing. And I don't think any other fans really understand it because like you said we have been back to the World Series and you know it's not like it's totally bleak but with the Yankees across town and some of the disappointment we've seen it's a tough life as a Mets

fan and we do keep coming back for more sometimes I wonder why it's pretty sick but it's funny that you didn't realize that until you were in the booth. I guess like you said, when you're good, times, you know, everything's good. It's gravy.

The Atsa took them to the World Series and they get beat badly by the Yankees. And then... Even that 06 year is what haunts me. The way you talk about 087, as if I'm on the team here, but 2006 to me was... 06, well, they had a good team.

They were the better team than anybody left in the playoffs. In the 07, it was, oh my God. That to me is worse. That was disgusting. At least they got the postseason in 06. I firmly believe had they won that, had they just even squeaked into the playoffs, I think David Wright gets the MVP instead of Jimmy Rollins.

I think they make some noise in the playoffs, and I think the trajectory of the franchise is totally different. I think everything would have been wildly different had that happened. If the season was 161 instead of 162 and they made the playoffs, the whole history I think would be different. I feel like I'm your psychiatrist. You are. You are, right? Thank you, Keith. I appreciate that.

The 80s teams, though, that you mentioned were, I mean, forget about just one of the best eras of Mets baseball. This is one of the best eras of sports history, period, I feel like. I don't think there's ever a team that had, let's call it the character and the... We had the New York grit. Yeah. We set the tone with Mookie, Lenny, and Wally at the top of the order. It kind of set the gritty New York tone. I think that's why

I think the Mets fans and New Yorkers loved our team. We played hard. We got dirty. It represented New York. It really did. What do you think of the moniker, the title of the book of the bad guys won? I'm not in that book.

When I heard about the title, I said, I know what he's going to write about in this book, and I'm not going to be a part of it. They don't have one quote from me in that book. So you don't like to kind of glorify some of the stories? No, I don't like the bad guys. We weren't the bad guys. Right. I know what they're saying. I feel like it's in an endearing way.

You thought it was more critical? In New York, everything gets amplified and magnified. I played for 17 teams and 8 Cardinal teams. No team was any different. Just talking to Ray Knight

the other day, not the other day, when we were in Washington in April, and I said, you know, I get tired of all this talk. And Daryl opened his mouth again and said, you know, bragging about how everybody partied. And not everybody partied. And that team was no different than any other team I played on. You've got night games, you've got 25 players on the road.

Going out after a night game, go home, what are you gonna do? Go back to the hotel room, you're still geared up for the game, you gotta loosen up somewhere, go to the hotel bar, you meet the congregate, things happen. So I'm getting a little tired of that. So I just want to make that point. Yeah, no, I mean, I feel like it probably was not all that different. But more importantly, even if it was, there's no reason to keep talking about it. Well, it's all right. It's okay. It's kind of like what happens behind closed doors. After the team stays in the team, I feel like it's kind of violating the code of it all,

especially when it's done in such a – I feel like Lenny had some moments as well with his books where it's. Oh, well, Lenny. Lenny was a good player, boy. Good postseason player, too. It nails, man. But, you know, it's all, it is a cast of characters, I'll say that. We were a cast of characters.

We had fun in that 86 season. We won 54 games at home and 54 games on the road. That's pretty remarkable. Identical records all the way. and 54 games in the road that's pretty remarkable yeah wow identical records all the way uh we played good on the road we played well we went 108 games you're you're good everywhere yeah jesus i can't even imagine team that's wild uh what would you say though is the better team you've ever been a part of 108 win mets more of the gary keys ron tandem in the booth because let me tell you something my, that is a hell of a broadcast team. Well, Gary's the all-star in the booth.

I think he makes Ron and I shine. He's the professional. Ron and I are ex-players, and we have no training. We're the analysts, and it's Gary's job to weave us in and out of the broadcast and he's like

the maestro. You're selling yourself short though because there are plenty of ex-athletes who try to do what you do whether it's in the booth

or just analysts behind the table and they're not good at it. There's plenty of guys who think they can just skate by on having been players. You guys are very good at what you do. i appreciate that we try to do our best we know

the game i think what makes it good is the fact that um ronnie's a pitcher and i'm a hitter so we have we have two people with expertise on both aspects of the game and i think the way you guys kind of approach the game is a little different i feel like you're kind of much more the feel of it and just the game. And Keith is much more, I think, you know, stats and analytical in a way. I think it's just the perfect, you know, yin and yang that kind of goes together. That's what baseball is. It's hard to put a group of three guys in the booth and make them work. It's difficult.

It takes a good play-by-play guy to do it number one and um you know like i say it's just all i'm doing is observing yeah but you know what it's the honesty to it you do a broadcast where you know there are times especially like some of those down years where mets fans are sitting there rubbing their head going what the fuck are they doing and you kind of convey that you know and whether it's a sloppy play in the field or whatever it may be. You know, you're a straight shooter. You tell it like it is, and I think a lot of broadcasts lack that. Well, we have the fortunate, we have ownership that from day one

when we started up on SNY, back in 06, I believe, Fred Wilpon came to us and said, we don't want a Homer broadcast, we want an honest broadcast and we have never been censored in that booth by ownership so all the years, we're in the 13th year now so a lot of it has to

credit has to be with the Wolpons, I know over there in Yankee land they they are watched over, and they kind of have to toe the line a little bit, the company line. We don't have that, but I think that we're very measured. I don't think we beat up on anybody. As long as someone's trying, people are going to make mistakes. Not every player is a Willie Mays.

Not every player, every pitcher is a Clayton Kershaw. There's a lot of players that are average players and they're limited in their capabilities and you just got to keep that in mind as long as they're giving it 100%. And don't make mental errors where they fall asleep like forget the count

or forget how many outs there are. There's a good bit of that sometimes with some of these lessons and I feel like you tackle it well. You really represent the fan well in a way, which I think is much appreciated in the booth. Is there ever any competition? Like, do you ever think of the Yankee broadcast or another broadcast team and, you know, treat it the way you would sports, or is it just?

Well, we don't see the broadcast. I mean, I don't. When the Yankees are playing, usually at the same time we are. Right, right. The broadcast in Chicago, the Cubs, is excellent. Kruko and Kuyper and the Giants, it's excellent. I don't feel that we're in a competition where we're buying for number one. We're buying for the gold medal.

Well, that's because you've got number one locked down and everyone's buying for gold medal. Well, that's because you got number one locked down and everyone's vying for second place. I'm sure there'll be a lot of people that would disagree with that in Chicago and San Francisco, but it doesn't matter. We just do what we do, and that's most important. Try to bring the best podcast we can to our New York Met fan base and the New York audience.

And I think what you were saying about the Mets fan is, you know, we feel like strangely root for the broadcast. Like we're very passionate and loyal to like the Gary Keats run. Maybe it's because there hasn't always been as good of a product on the field as we would like, so we got to rep the booth. But you'll find Mets fans in a bar arguing, you know, who's better, Michael Kay or Gary Cohn?

Like the same way they talk about sports. It's a very, I mean, sometimes we don't get made fun of for it. It's like, why do you guys care so much about the booth? That's that Yankee-Met thing, and that's a New York thing. Yeah. So I've never seen a town be so polarized when it comes to their baseball team. Did you not, like, I mean, especially I, in the 80s, there really was no. No, we were aware of it.

We were aware. Yankees were a good team in the 80s with Matt Mattingly and Winfield. They just never got there. But did you as a player ever feel, did you ever. Did we relish that we took them off the back page? Sure. But we also were there to win. That was the number one thing.

And it would have been great if they were winning right if they had won 108 games with us i would have loved it at a subway oh my god i can't imagine i mean the subway series in 2000 was just as good as that mess team was they were just overmatched there was really no other another outcome possible there but i if the mets would ever win a subway series keith i mean that would be it for be it for me. I would go out right then and there. It doesn't get any better. That would be peaking for me. No, I can't help you anymore.

I'm too old. Unfortunately. Sometimes I really think you could. I'm like, give Keith a bat. Let him get in there. Sometimes when I see, you know, do you feel like the old school versus new school way of, I feel like you hear it in the broadcast all the time, you know, especially with the shift and the way people are hitting now.

I feel like there's a part of you that's like, oh, my God, if these guys could just go the other way or lay down a bunt properly or manage to handle the bat a little bit better, do you feel you get frustrated with the new school way? There's been some changes in the game. There's some things I like in the new game, and there's some things that are missing that I that I were around in our day that I think add to the excitement of the game and I missed that you know

I miss a guy throwing nine innings can even complete game I missed they didn't run which is a lost art there's not enough there's not enough speed as there was in our day. There was more speed, more stolen bases. The closers would go sometimes two, three innings. They'd come in with men on base, Gossage and Bruce Suter, Raleigh Fingers. They would come in in the eighth inning with bases loaded and one out. Now they start inning, and I understand that because it's a lot of it's coming in in full effort after you're just warmed up.

You can't make a mistake. You've got to come out with guns blazing on the first pitch when the game's on the line and men on base. It's much easier to have a save with one clean inning than on base. It doesn't have the same significance. Yeah, I mean, that's not

when you need them. It's like you need somebody when you're in a jam late in the game. That's when you'd like to see one of your best step up, but it's just not the way they seem to manage the game anymore. But there's some good things in the game. What do you like about the New Age game? Oh, what would I say?

What answer can I come up with here? Oh, well, I don't like all the home runs that much. There's so much emphasis on home runs. I do think that the game is kind of dependent on swinging back a little bit. I like the way the Mets have played this year. I like the way they take the extra base. Last year was so boring. We struck out a lot.

We tied the league in home runs. Feeds their fam. And we were one base at a time. We didn't have a lot of speed. This team doesn't have a lot of speed now. But to me, speed is something that puts pressure on the defense. I think we've gotten away from that a little bit in the game. Too much the old American League way of ball in the 50s and 60s

was like Earl Weaver, you know, get a couple men on base, wait for the three-run home run. To me, strikeouts, walks, and a home run are the three boringest things in baseball. No action. I feel that. I got you. Do you think, do you follow baseball or the Mets? Like,

what would you say you? Do I follow baseball? Yeah, you know, like, a better question would be would I follow baseball if I wasn't in the boot?

Yeah. I wouldn't. You'd just be done with it. When I'm done doing this, I won't watch baseball here again. Really? I'll be out.

Just sick of it? Not sick of it. I'm not going to sit down for over three hours and watch a ball game. I have better things to do. Like go out to dinner. There you go.

With the regular people, which is usually around the first, second, or third inning. We're in the booth. People are having dinner. I like having, on my off days days having dinner at a normal hour. You know, my work, I've got to have dinner at 2 o'clock. That's my dinner.

That's the night games. That's the way it was when I played, too. Yeah, you've been doing this a long time, pal. You've been living that weird off hours. You ever just walk in the booth and you see Ron's face for like the billionth time and you're just like, God damn it, Ron, I'm sick of seeing you. No.

I mean, you guys have been doing this together a long, long time. We have six months off. We get away from each other. Yeah, that's true. So we're actually, it's funny that when we come back and we do our first game

and Greg Ticker's our producer and we'll do our first spring training game with three in the booth, which is always the first game and Greg Dicker is our producer and we'll do our first spring training game with three in the booth which is always the first game. We haven't seen each other, we never rehearse. The game has its own, writes its own script, every game is different and Greg will come in after the game and goes, it's like you guys never left the booth. So we just, we have meshed so well, and we meshed so quickly. You know, Gary had never done any TV. Right. I don't think, you know, baseball TV, I don't know that. And he was a radio guy. Right. So there was a new field for him. Ron had just done

one year in Washington. All the games in Washington, only one year under his belt. I don't think I realized that. And I was really the one with the most experience in the booth, and I was only doing MSG. I was doing like 30, 40, 50 games a year, not much. But we all, when we got the nerves off and we got used to each other, there's no, like Gary always said, there's no egos in the booth. No one wants to hog the mic. We all give each other space.

We all realize that we need each other. Every little component of our broadcast makes the broadcast what it is. Ronnie's in, but my input carries. The truck, the guys in the truck that are with the videotape, the producers and the directors. Stevie Gelbs. With Gelbsy down there, that's true. We had Kevin for such a long time. Where he went.

Yeah. His career took off. And, you know, we've got Gelbs now, and he fit right in. And now, let me tell you, there is one ego, there's one superstar these days, and that's Haji. Haji. Haji is, he has taken on a life of its of its own i mean the seven line with the big cutout you're tweeting about him i feel like he's almost our our good luck charm hopefully maybe in a way if we can get well that's how well yeah uh he's been with me he's 15 years old i've had him for

a very long time and uh so haji's been with me for 15 years. I can't have a dog. I travel too much. I'm not married. And so, I grew up with cats and dogs. So, Haji's my best buddy. And, you know, I didn't know that you could videotape when I started tweeting. And someone told me, you know, you can do videos.

So, I did that video. I decided my first video was the video that went viral with getting the paper in the morning. And that was, we came back from San Diego and bought that road trip. And I didn't get home till 4.30 in the morning. We landed around 2.30. And I didn't get to bed till about 4.30.

And I woke up at 11.30 and I was taken off with me most of the time for the paper just to get a little air. He likes to look around. And so I decided to do the video and had no idea what was going to happen. Yep. So that took my Twitter up to where I'm at now, over 70,000 followers. And I enjoy it. I like to write. I like Twitter better than Instagram.

Yeah, me too. Everybody's gone to Instagram. You know what it is? People who are clever and have something to say and got something to write, they want to go to Twitter. Guys like me and you, Instagram is easy. Just put up a picture, whatever. People like the pictures.

But I've always liked it. I took typing in high school for one year. And that's, I can type. And so it's, I've always liked to write. So I prefer Twitter. And I like engaging with the fans. Yeah, I mean, it's very fun. And I mean, you are, when I heard you were on Twitter,

I was like, oh my God, here we go. Because there's one guy out there who we want more access to your thoughts and whatnot. It's you. So we're almost pulling up here. So I want to make sure we, the book is out on Keith Hernandez. You got it. It's in second printing now, after the first day. We went to second print.

So I'm excited about that. Very cool. That's a cool accomplishment to have under the belt. Amongst everything else you've got. MVPs, World Series titles, about a billion gold gloves. And, you know, if you guys won Emmys, you probably won Emmys too, right? I have three. Yeah, so I mean.

I can't believe that. Just keep racking up the hardware. We really appreciate the time and good luck with the rest of the promo. Well, we've got to say let's go Mets. Let's go Mets. And you've got to be loyal to the orange and blue. You've got to believe. You've got to believe, sir.

Really, thank you very much, Keith. Appreciate it. All right. Have a good one. All right, guys.