Mets legend Keith Hernandez was oblivious to a foul ball narrowly missing him

Things did not go well for the New York Mets on the field Thursday, but it was almost worse in the Mets’ broadcast booth.

The Mets were swept in their doubleheader against the Baltimore Orioles Thursday at Camden Yards, and one of the franchise’s retired legends was inches away from joining a couple Mets on the injured list.

In the bottom of the seventh in game two of the doubleheader, O’s outfielder Cedric Mullins hit a foul ball straight back and toward the SportsNet New York (SNY) booth.

Play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen said the ball “went right past Keith [Hernandez]’s ear, and he never saw it.”

Cohen was not lying.

Hernandez is one of the greatest defensive first basemen of all time with 11 Gold Gloves. Naturally, the O’s broadcast team thought he had caught the ball. 

But SNY showed a replay from inside the booth, and while Cohen geared up to potentially catch it, Hernandez’s eyes were nowhere near the ball.

The replay showed Hernandez looking back down and only reacting to the noise of the ball hitting the wall behind him. And hilarity ensued in the booth.

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“We can laugh about it now. But if that ball had been just a few feet to the left, you could have been done for the season. Or maybe forever,” Cohen said.

The Mets led 1-0 entering the eighth inning of the first game, but the bullpen could not hold the lead. Baltimore won the second game, 7-3, despite a 2-0 deficit in the first inning.

New York is 8-17 in its last 25 games and has squandered a 5½-game lead in the NL East. The Mets trailed the Philadelphia Phillies by 1½ games entering play Friday.

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