Michael Cole has been a key part of WWE’s broadcast team for the better part of 30 years. But even though Cole is obviously a fan of professional wrestling, it was not his first love in the sports entertainment world. That happens to be baseball.
On Monday, Cole appeared on the New York Mets’ official podcast, Meet at the Apple, hosted by Vito Calise, where he discussed how his fandom of the Mets, which stems from his father taking him to games on a regular basis growing up as a season ticket holder, came to be.
“My grandfather was a Yankees fan but my dad was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan. So, they butted heads obviously,” said Cole. “When the Dodgers moved out west, my dad didn’t have a National League team. When the Mets came along, he decided, ‘Okay, that’s my team.’ He couldn’t root for the Yankees. He fell in love with them in the ’60s, got season tickets and had them through about 1990. I grew up at Shea Stadium. Whether it was the Mets or the Jets, I was at about 50 to 60 games a year. It was a pretty great way to spend your childhood.”
Cole’s fandom of the Mets has never wavered. In fact, it has gotten even stronger. Cole would go on to explain how he watches every single Mets game. Even when they happen to coincide during a broadcast of Monday Night Raw, which will end up being the case this Monday night when the Mets take on the San Diego Padres.
“It’s such a wonderful sport,” said Cole about the game of baseball. “And what I like about it is you have to be a real fan to like baseball. Because you have to dedicate every single day, for six, seven, eight months. One of our directors in the company, Lee, is a huge Mets fan. Every single day of the year, it doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas Day or it’s the middle of the season, we are texting about this team. And we’re following the minor leagues and seeing how the kids are playing. And we’re b*tching and moaning like every single Mets fan does. And the next day, it’s, ‘Oh my god, Soto is the best deal we have ever made.’
“We’re along for the ride just like y’all are too. Baseball, I love it because you have to dedicate so much time to the sport to understand it. You can’t be a casual fan, I don’t believe, and enjoy baseball. You have to get into the numbers and the weeds to really enjoy it, which I think is so cool. I’m an NBA guy, I love the Knicks. But you don’t have to spend every day studying the Knicks. Football happens once a week for your team. Baseball is an investment. People think I’m nuts that I watch nine innings of baseball every single night. They think I’m crazy. Pat McAfee, a broadcast partner of mine obviously, thinks I’m insane that I watch every single inning of the Mets game, whether they are good or bad. And I do.
“Tonight, during Monday Night Raw, I’ll have my phone on the desk and I’ll have the game on with the sound down. And I’ll be glancing over and you will sometimes see me pumping my fist when Soto hits a home run or something. I’m doing that while I’m on the air. Baseball is my first love.”
Given the fact that Cole has never had a hot mic moment where he was seen or heard paying attention to the Mets during a Monday Night Raw broadcast, it’s safe to say that he has been able to multi-task quite well and focus on his role at WWE first and foremost.
