It’s been rumored for several weeks. Today, WFAN made it official–veteran sportscaster Josh Lewin is joining the Mets radio booth in 2012. Lewin will work alongside Howie Rose.

“It’s exciting to be part of the Mets’ broadcast team with Howie Rose, who is one of the best in the business,” Lewin said. “It’s a thrill to be able to come back to my roots in New York and call games for the team I rooted for as a kid on the pre-eminent sports talk radio station in the country.”

Lewin, 43, has 16 years of Major League Baseball experience, calling games for the Baltimore Orioles, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, and most recently, the Texas Rangers. He was the lead Rangers TV play-by-play announcer from 2002 to 2010.

He also has been a part of Fox’s Saturday baseball coverage since 1996.

Read more

Looking to fill the void left from the departing Wayne Hagin, WFAN has been in search of the Mets radio replacement to join veteran Howie Rose.

Newsday reports the top candidate on WFAN’s wish list is Josh Lewin. Lewin is the play-by-play voice of the San Diego Chargers. He also hosts a sports talk show on a radio station in Dallas. In addition, he is part of Fox’s Saturday baseball coverage. The longtime sportscaster called games for the Texas Rangers on Fox Sports Southwest from 2002 to 2010, and was at the mic for Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs games.

However, Mark Chernoff, WFAN operations manager, disputes the report.

“We have a number of candidates, but there is no front-runner.”

Hagin’s contract was not renewed after last season. Hagin, who previously announced games for the St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies, spent four years in Flushing.

All of you Islanders fans are in for a treat tomorrow night! Former longtime broadcasters Jiggs McDonald and Ed Westfall will reunite during the second period of the Bruins/Islanders game on MSG Plus. 

The reunion will be part of “Ed Westfall Night” as the Islanders honor their original captain and induct him into the franchise’s Hall of Fame.

“Jiggs and Eddie” shared the booth for 15 years starting with the 1980-81 season, the second of the Islanders’ four consecutive Stanley Cup-winning runs. Westfall retired from broadcasting in 1998, while McDonald is an occasional fill-in for Islanders’ current play-by-play man Howie Rose, including approximately 10 games this season.

Read more

Afternoon host Mike Francesa is heading to Citi Field for tomorrow’s final game of the Mets season. Francesa will join Howie Rose and Wayne Hagin in the WFAN broadcast booth starting in the fifth inning. First pitch between the Mets and Reds is at 1:10 p.m.

The experience will be interactive, as listeners can tweet questions to Francesa, Rose, and Hagin at @MetsWFAN or via email at wfan660@hotmail.com.

Following the game, Francesa will do his program from the ballpark until 7 p.m. His guests will include Mets manager Terry Collins and other top level team executives.

MSG Network received a whopping 60 nominations Thursday for the 54th Annual New York Emmy Awards.

Among the other regional sports networks, the YES Network notched 46 nominations, while MSG Varsity picked up 32 nods.

SNY was recognized 23 times.

Breaking it down further, in the category Sports Coverage: Series, MSG was bookended by News 12 Westchester (twice), News 12 New Jersey, and News 12 Connecticut.  

The odds may be against MSG in that category, but not so for Sports Programming: Regularly Scheduled Program. MSG took five nominations (MLB Productions for the YES Network with the other – Yankeeography: George Steinbrenner ).  

YES’ other signature original program CenterStage, hosted by Michael Kay, is nominated for Best Interview/Discussion for the edition with Mike Tyson.

The show goes against two WNBC/NYNonstop shows–The Debrief with David Ushery and Talk Stoop with Cat Greenleaf.

Read more

The New York Islanders have been the NHL radio broadcast nomads. In fact, last season the team blew out their radio booth entirely, opting instead for a simulcast of their TV coverage with MSG Network announcers Howie Rose and Billy Jaffe (Jaffe’s contract wasn’t renewed after last season.)

For the past two years, the Isles were heard on Long Island stations WMJC-FM (94.3) and WHLI (1100).

Now, the team may get their own radio voices again—on Hofstra University’s 88.7 FM (WHRU). It would actually be the strongest signal for the Islanders in five years.

The deal, first reported by Chris Botta, the Islanders’ former media relations VP, on his blog–islanderspointblank.com–would likely have veteran Islander voice Chris King as the play-by-play man. The broadcast, though, would be assisted by students.

Read more