Photo Credit: Gary Dunaier 

This is very troubling news. The longest tenured Mets PA Announcer, Alex Anthony, the stadium voice of the Orange & Blue, has been “dismissed”, according to New York Post beat writer Mike Puma. Puma also indicates that the Mets are on the search for a new public address announcer. In the interim, the backup announcer, Rob Rush, (who has filled in since 2014) will call players up to the plate.

Considering they had Anthony reading promos for this season, and that he was the PA announcer during the Winter Classic, it’s obvious that this was a last minute un-expected change. Alex is also listed as the PA Announcer in the media guide.

I don’t want to speculate too much into what happened, as there are a lot of possibilities, some better than others, but clearly there is some bad blood. I honestly never thought Alex would leave. His voice was cemented into Citi Field, it was just so “Mets”, and somehow everyone realized that.

Hopefully we get some closure on this. Alex was the most iconic and longest tenured PA Announcer in Mets history, so fans definitely deserve an explanation, and we will be waiting for one.

This is a very sad story for the morning of Opening Day.

Everyone’s favorite Met, “Le Grand Orange”, Rusty Staub, has passed away.

Rusty was 73 when he made his transition early Thursday morning.

Stub’s legacy has always been prominent with the Mets fan base and will be immediately felt at Citi Field, where the Mets begin their 2018 campaign at 1:10pm, against the St.Louis Cardinals.

It was reported a few weeks ago that Rusty was in critical condition down in West Palm Beach, Florida, it was one of many health issues that Rusty faced late in his life.

Everyone wishes Rusty Staub’s family and friends their deepest sympathies.