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SNY's Burkhardt goes from showroom to showtime

Neil Best

July 27, 2008

Four dozen teenagers were paying rapt attention, which itself is an accomplishment.

This obviously was a speaker accustomed to grabbing and holding an audience, to making his points quickly and clearly, and to displaying a casual likability.

It's a skill set that serves Kevin Burkhardt well as SNY's Mets reporter, and one that comes in handy in other lines of work, too.

Say, car salesman. Sure enough . . .

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"I wasn't the top salesman volumewise, but for customer ratings I was," Burkhardt said after his talk last week at the sports broadcasting camp conducted by Bruce Beck and Ian Eagle at the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, N.J.

That was in 2003, during an eight-month stint at Pine Belt Chevrolet in Eatontown, N.J., a crossroads in Burkhardt's career.

The notion that five years later he would address TV/radio hopefuls would have been far-fetched. It still would have been a stretch two years ago, when he was a WFAN jack-of-all-trades, star of none. ("I always call myself the Joe McEwing of the FAN," he said, referring to the former Mets utility player.)

But here he is. "It's still weird, still strange," he said. "I aspired to do something like this, but especially when I was selling cars, I didn't expect this."

Burkhardt had little reason to after eight years at WGHT in Pompton Lakes, N.J. ("You can hear it in the parking lot and the Quik Mart down the street," he said.)

But as he pondered giving up, he was given a shot when Eric Spitz, with whom he had worked at WCBS, brought him to WFAN, where Spitz now is the program director.

SNY, which gave him some TV work, eventually took notice, and Burkhardt got the Mets job for last season.

His role is pivotal to the network's approach, which emphasizes in-game reports. That's the opposite of YES, which believes in sticking to the action and largely limiting reporter Kim Jones' contributions to pre- and postgame shows.

Burkhardt, 34, said he would find YES' approach "boring . . . I love the way we do things."

Surely, there is a happy medium. YES should make greater use of Jones during games. But that doesn't necessarily mean matching some of Burkhardt's stunts.

Among his most memorable reports were one from a kayak in McCovey Cove in San Francisco and another from the bleachers at Wrigley Field. But Burkhardt said the SNY team, led by producer Greg Picker, won't force appearances "just to prove I exist."

"I have stuff ready, but if none of it works, and it's a great game, I won't go on," he said. "[Picker] is not afraid to take chances. I think I can be a serious reporter, but I don't take myself too seriously."

Burkhardt demonstrated his serious side June 17 shortly after the Mets' infamous late-night firing of Willie Randolph. He bluntly criticized the timing, an approach that might have prompted an angry phone call - or worse - if he covered the Yankees on YES or the Knicks on MSG.

"I thought I was fair, but it's a weird spot, don't get me wrong," he said. "I was thinking, 'I hope this doesn't get me in trouble.' But later, I thought, 'I'm here and I said what I felt.' As the day went on, I actually felt fine about it."

Burkhardt never did hear from SNY or the Mets. As much as he appreciated that leeway, he was less thrilled when the network barred him from accepting an offer to join Fox's play-by-play lineup for its regional game of the week.

SNY prefers its personalities - Ron Darling's TBS gig notwithstanding - to be exclusive, and that was that. Burkhardt admitted he thought the offer was "awesome" when he got it, but he declined to criticize his superiors.

"It's nice to be wanted, but by the same token, I feel like I'm treated well [but SNY]," he said. "I moved on pretty quickly. It's cool."

Burkhardt is signed through 2011 and has become one of SNY's showcase faces. "They've basically used me for everything the network wants to headline," he said.

And if the Mets ever decide to bring back bullpen cars, Burkhardt probably can get them a deal.