Ron Darling, baseball broadcaster on SNY and TBS, is taking a leave of absence due to a mass that was found in his chest. Darling shared during Saturday’s New York Mets broadcast that he’ll have surgery to remove the mass. Saturday was his last broadcast in the SNY booth prior to his operation. He plans to return in May.
“Doctors have told me if there are no complications I should be back on air talking baseball sometime next month,” Darling said during the broadcast.
Darling also contributes to MLB Network.
He shares the SNY booth with Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen. Darling and Hernandez were teammates on the Mets team that won the 1986 World Series. The trio has been calling Mets games since SNY launched in 2006.
A former pitcher, Darling played for the Mets 1983-1991.
Mets manager Mickey Callaway called Darling “a great Met” on MLB.com. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to him," he said. “He's part of the family, the Met family.”
Darling’s book 108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game came out earlier this month.
