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New York Mets Play-by-play advertisement Gary Cohen criticized Chicago Cub’s third Baseman Matt Shaw to skip a game Sunday to join Charlie Kirk’s memorial in Arizona, and New York Sports Radio hosts torn into him on Wednesday morning.
Wfans Gregg Giannotti, co-host for “Boomer and Gio”, blasted Cohen, who exempted Shaw, who participated in the memorial. Kirk’s wife, Erika, reached out to Shaw personally to participate in considering their friendship. Cubs, in the middle of a pennant race, lost Sunday’s match 1-0 to Cincinnati Reds.
“I, frankly, didn’t like his comment, and I don’t want to like Gary Cohen over it now. He’s a big TV company, he’s been a part of my life for a long time. I thought it was completely unnecessary,” Giannotti said over the air waves.
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New York Mets TV advertisement Gary Cohen keeps his acceptance talking into Mets Hall of Fame ahead of Major League Baseball Game between Toronto Blue Jay Jays and New York Mets on June 3, 2023 at Citi Field in Flushing, New York. (Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“Gary Cohen’s whole life has been baseball, and baseball is a very serious thing for him. But Matt Shaw saw his friend was shot and killed – was shot in the neck in front of his family and his wife requested him to be there.
Cohen said he would not talk “about any of the politics of it,” but Giannotti and his co-host, former NFL-Quarterback Boomer Esiason, believe the other thing that was brought up in his statement did politically.
“You get into politics by saying that,” Esiason said.
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Cohen also mentioned Shaw’s absence did not fall into MLB’s grief policy.
“Who gives a crap? If he wants to go to it, he can go to it,” opposite Giannotti. “And don’t be mad at him. Why you are mad, why don’t you care, I have no idea. But be angry with the kids that gave him the ability to go.”
Esiason added: “I saw the interview with [Shaw] And he talked about how he was kind to Charlie Kirk because they lived in the same area. There are a few pictures of him and Charlie Kirk together, and if Erika Kirk reaches out to him, what are you going to do? “
Then Giannotti asked a question to Cohen.
Drew Barrymore Show movie Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at Bellagio for Super Bowl Lviii. (Gail Schulman/CBS via Getty Images)
“Let’s say we didn’t know who Charlie Kirk was and Matt Shaw was friends with someone who was shot in the neck and killed in front of his family. Would Gary Cohen have a problem with it because he didn’t know the person who was shot and killed in front of his family? over there? “
Cohen’s comments came late in the game between Mets and Cubs Tuesday night, while Shaw was up to bats.
“The idea of leaving your team in the middle of a race for a different reason than a family emergency really strikes me as weird,” Cohen said.
Mets -ads criticize Cubs -player Matt Shaw for having left the team to join Charlie Kirk’s funeral
His TV partner, former Big Leaguer Todd Zeile, added to Cohen’s mood.
“It’s unusual, I think it’s unprecedented, at least from my experience as a player, and I think it made it a little more unusual that it wasn’t revealed until after it came out because he was thought to be in dugout and maybe available, and it wasn’t, and that’s how it was revealed,” Zeile said.
Shaw told media members on Tuesday night why he made it a point to join the memorial despite his team’s schedule.
“My connection with Charlie was through our [Christian] Believe, “Shaw said, before the kids opened a new series of New York Mets Tuesday, per Chicago Sun-Times.” And it’s something that drives me every day, the reason I am able to do what I do every day and that is something I am extremely grateful for.
“I know without my faith and without the many blessings I have received in my life that I would not be here, be able to talk to you, be able to help this team eventually go and win championships.
Chicago Cub’s third Baseman Matt Shaw looks at the DUGOUT before the MLB game between Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Angels on August 22, 2025 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. (Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
“It’s something I really feel, really blessed, so regardless of setback it comes ok. I feel strong over my faith and that what was meant to have happened.”
Kirk, a resident of Arlington Heights, a northern suburb of Chicago, was “one of the biggest Cubs fans I’ve ever met,” according to Shaw. After a conversation with manager Craig Counsell and some teammates, Shaw felt that his decision to take part in the memorial was accepted.
“The reason Charlie and I connected so close was because of our faith,” Shaw added. “It’s something that drives me every single day, something that I think of all the time. So if people wonder who I am and what I stand for, I would say that my faith and the many blessings I have been given are why I am able to be here and I just want to make sure I can give it back to people that I can support people around me that I can love people in the same way.”
