Josh Lewin flies to Citi Field after calling Chargers game in Baltimore
The Mets radio announcer Josh Lewin called the Steelers-Chargers game while the Mets played in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Dodgers. Credit: Handout
Josh Lewin still was wearing a golf shirt with a Chargers logo on it when he arrived in the radio booth at Citi Field at 6:40 p.m. Sunday for Game 5 of the World Series.
That was because he had not yet had time to change after a mad dash from Baltimore, where he called the Chargers' 29-26 loss to the Ravens on a field goal as time expired.
Lewin hired a small, private plane, paying for it himself, to make the trip to New York so he could fulfill his radio duties for both the Chargers and Mets.
"Gut punch of a loss; that was brutal," he said, still not quite over what he had witnessed earlier. "I guess if you've got to lose no overtime was a plus, but that was a terrible, terrible Chargers loss that stuck with me all the way here.
"Now I have to wash that off my body and hope that (the Mets) can salvage this for my day."
Lewin saw this potential conflict coming weeks ago and initially planned to rent a helicopter for the trip. He eventually opted for a plane, but he had to eschew the cheaper option of flying into Teterboro in New Jersey to land at LaGuardia, which is close to Citi Field.
It all went smoothly - at least the flying part.
"Easy flight," Lewin said. "Captain Dan was outstanding." How many other passengers were there? "Just me and the captain," he said. "Great shot of the city coming in. It was totally memorable. He had M&M's and water on the plane. I got work done. I wrote all my lineups down, got all my notes together."
The plane took off at 5:05 p.m. and landed at 6:02. That's when things got complicated.
"I should have stuck with my original plan and just honored the fact that I wore sneakers and ran, because the traffic was so brutal," Lewin said. "I finally hopped out about three quarters of a mile away, threw a 20 at the driver, said thanks, hopped over a couple of lanes of traffic and ran down the embankment.
"That was like the only hairy, scary part of the day . . . I'm glad I didn't do Teterboro, I know that."
All in all, it was an interesting, if costly, experience. "Other than we had 10 guys injured and can't beat the Ravens, I'm in a great mood," he said. "I hope we turn right around and go to Kansas City now (for Game 6). I'm wired."
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
