NEW YORK, NY – Tonight, NBC TV will televise the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live. Lots of the alumni will appear but the one name that stood out for me was Garrett Morris. Not only was he one of the original cast members, Mr. Morris was also known as Chico Escuela, the retired New York Mets player. Escuela’s command for the English language was limited – a total
of six words – which didn’t stop him from being interviewed without a translator. His constant
response to every question was the legendary phrase: “Baseball ben berry, berry good to me.”
His character was a throwback pioneer. For that alone, Mets owner Steve Cohen needs to be invited on this Sunday’s live show to make the following announcement: “Chico Escuela’s number 5 will be retired along with David Wright’s number 5 on July 19, 2025.” Hey, the Yankees did it with the number 8 for Yogi Berra and Bill Dickey, and this is Cohen’s chance to make baseball fun again.
With the okay from SNL creator Lorne Michaels, Cohen will win every baseball fan’s
heart by making this announcement. He’ll also show that he’s the current showman among the
oldschoolers of Bill Veeck, Charlie Finley, and George Steinbrenner.
Everybody wins here, as this once great sport has turned dry. The 88-year-old Morris gets
rejuvenated, Cohen will be the darling of New York, and Nike will make a killing by producing Escuela jerseys. Mr. Michaels and Mr. Cohen need to just do it
