The Athletics are 3-10, struggling to draw fans, and look like one of the worst teams in all of North American sports. And that's before their apparent issues with a pesky rodent.
In the run-up to the Mets’ 17-6 crushing of Oakland Friday night, a possum’s presence in the visitors’ television booth forced New York’s broadcast team into an abrupt relocation.
“I came here, and I went to the booth, and people grabbed me, they almost tackled me, and pushed me into this booth,” SNY color commentator Ron Darling said.
Play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen went on to explain, in gory detail, the precise reason for the alternate setup. The visitors’ television booth in Oakland, per Cohen, is the home of a possum that first made his presence known in the spring of 2022.
When the SNY crew went to set the booth up, Cohen told viewers, “They were immediately met by the stench of the possum having done his business in the booth. Apparently, the booth reeked so badly of possum leavings that an executive decision was made to move us to this booth.”
Last night, Gary and Ron shared the story of how they got moved out of the visiting television booth thanks to a possum 😂 pic.twitter.com/t3aK3siEzT
— SNY (@SNYtv) April 15, 2023
Darling, hearing the full outline of the story for the first time, laughed while Cohen lamented having his view obstructed by a pole.
“We had to choose between possum and pole,” Darling said. “I choose pole.”
MLB teams visiting the Oakland A's have been unable to use the visiting broadcast booth.
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 15, 2023
A possum is "living inside its walls", and has been since last season. pic.twitter.com/0x60DKf3Wc
