The 42-year-old Litner, who heads the New York Mets' new television network, was playing his old position as the Mets management faced sports writers in a traditional game at Shea Stadium, the team's home for four decades. As it turned out, Jeff Wilpon, whose family owns the Mets, was on the mound. Considering how well the Mets have done so far this season, it's almost a surprise that Litner and Wilpon didn't combine for a no-hitter.
The Mets have had a remarkable first half of the 2006 season. For years, the Mets languished as the second-tier team in New York. The Yankees have won four World Series titles since 1996 - or four more, that is, than the Mets. This year, Mets fans are sticking their chests out at their crosstown rivals. SNY spokesman Andrew Fegyveresi told me the Mets have edged out the Yankees in television ratings on some nights this year.
Heading into Tuesday night's All-Star Game in Pittsburgh, the Mets are the only team now boasting a double-digit division lead. And no squad will send more representatives (six) to the midsummer classic.
In a city of status symbols, the Mets, 20 years after the team's last world championship, are chic again. Jerry Seinfeld is a frequent visitor to Shea Stadium. He and Matthew Broderick have worked out with Met phenom David Wright.
Like Met manager Willie Randolph, SNY has pushed all the right buttons since its debut March 16, and has benefited mightily from the Mets' unexpected dominance. SNY has had an average of about 201,000 households for the season, up 80% from last year's full-season number when the games were shown on MSG Networks, Fegyveresi said.
The top-notch SNY team deserves a lot of credit. Play-by-play anchor Gary Cohen has made a seamless transition from the radio booth. Keith Hernandez, perhaps the greatest nonpitcher in Mets' history, is one of baseball's most incisive TV analysts (and, for what it's worth, my favorite one on any network).
Plus, former Met pitcher Ron Darling, another fan favorite during the team's golden era of the late 1980s, has emerged as a lively commentator. Chris Cotter's interviews during the games, particularly one with former President Jimmy Carter in Atlanta, are interesting, too.
It should be pointed out that New York baseball fans are doubly blessed. Ken Singleton and David Justice offer enjoyable observations on the Yankees' YES network. And for the record, through July 5 of this season, Yanks telecasts on YES have attracted an average of 315,000 households, up from 307,000 at the same point a season ago, said YES spokesman Eric Handler.
If nothing else, this may be an indication of how popular the Yankees have been - and how far the Mets and SNY still have to go before they can overtake the Bronx Bombers as the top attraction in New York baseball.
Strategy
SNY presents a steady diet of news and features about the New York sports scene. While YES piggybacks on the Yankees, SNY discusses the ups and downs of all of the city's teams.
"It's all about New York sports," Litner told me in his 29th floor office in Rockefeller Plaza. "We feel very good about resonating with New York audiences. The Mets are our flagship - obviously - but we're about everything."
When I asked Litner to discuss the natural SNY-YES rivalry, he dodged the comparison as artfully as a base runner avoiding a tag at home plate. "We're playing to win - just like the Mets are playing to win," he said. "Our goal is to be the pre-eminent regional sports network in the country."
The former chief operating officer of the National Hockey League is clearly the right person for the job. He is a genuine baseball fan who can appreciate the finer points of the game. "I'm a student of the game," he said.
Litner, who resembles Dwier Brown portraying Kevin Costner's father in "Field of Dreams," is demanding. "I'll never be content," he said. "I'm always thinking, are we telling the viewers something they didn't already know? We need to continue to take risks and show people something they've never seen before."
Litner certainly got his wish during a Met broadcast April 22 from San Diego. When the camera panned to the home team's dugout, it showed the extraordinary spectacle of a woman named Kelly Cabrese, a 33-year-old member of the Padres' training staff, standing among the players.
Hernandez, was outraged and he said animatedly on the SNY broadcast: "Who is the girl in the dugout, with the long hair? What's going on here? You have got to be kidding me. Only player personnel in the dugout." He added: "I won't say that women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout."
Hernandez soon found himself immersed in a media storm, but Litner didn't overreact. "His intentions didn't come across as what he meant," Litner told me. "I'm very supportive of Keith."
Like plenty of nervous but ecstatic Mets fans, Litner almost acts as if he secretly believes the excellent play of such stars as Wright, Jose Reyes, Tom Glavine, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado and the injured Pedro Martinez is just too good to be true.
