Jiggs Recalled on an Emergency Basis

Howie Rose will be on NY Mets duty this week and Islanders fans will have the pleasure of (Hockey Hall of Famer and all around great guy) Jiggs McDonald partnering up with Billy Jaffe in the TV booth for the next three games.

The original plan was to have Howie call the Mets' season opener in Cincinnati today for WFAN 660 AM and then have him fly to Carolina on Tuesday for the Islanders game on MSG-Plus (it's an off-day in the Mets-Reds series). He was then supposed to fly back to Cincinnati for the remainder of the series. Jiggs was prevously scheduled to call the games for MSG at Pittsburgh and home versus Philadelphia. Howie would then rejoin the telecast for the season finale.

However, heavy rain in the forecast puts today's Mets-Reds game in doubt. If and when the game gets rained out, Howie would have to stay in Cincinnati to call the make-up game tomorrow. Instead of playing it by ear, MSG made the call yesterday to let Howie stay in Cincinnati regardless tomorrow and fly Jiggs in a game early.

Howie will rejoin Billy in booth on Sunday versus Boston.

Discuss this post at IslanderMania.com

Getting Jiggy with it Tonight

With Howie Rose on Mets duty tonight, Hall of famer Jiggs McDonald will be calling the action on MSG Plus. Howie Rose will rejoin the team for the final two games versus the New York Rangers later this week.

TV: The Jiggs-ernaught Returns Again

You might have caught this at the end of the Rangers-Devils telecast on MSG, but if you didn’t here it is… Howie Rose will not be with the Islanders tomorrow night in Pittsburgh or Friday night in New Jersey due to a death in the family. The condolences of the entire Islanders family are with Howie, his wife Barbara, their children and the entire Rose family.

Replacing Howie in the broadcast booth will be Hall of Famer Jiggs McDonald. Jiggsy met the team in Pittsburgh this afternoon from his summer home in Florida

BABY WATCH: More news from the broadcast booth of FSN NY… Billy Jaffe and his wife Victoria are expecting their first child at anytime. Don’t be surprised if one day soon you see Butch Goring filling in as the color analyst. Butch has done a great job as an intermission analyst for FSN’s Islanders telecasts so far this season

BLOG: Jiggs' Magic Number is Still 4

As a Mets fan, it hurts me to write this...

Last year for a handful of games, Islanders fans got a special treat when Hall of Fame broadcaster Jiggs McDonald came out of retirement to fill-in for Howie Rose with the New York Mets in the MLB Playoffs. And for a long time, it looked like that was going to happen again this season. Or so we thought.

As another Orange and Blue team from New York is on the edge of one of baseballs biggest collapses of all-time, we Islanders need to support them. Even if you’re a Yankee fan, you want the Mets to win just so Jiggs to have another turn as an Islanders broadcaster.

Hopefully this becomes an annual thing with Jiggsy coming back. But right now, Jiggs and the Mets need your support to get in the playoffs.

And if case you don’t know, the Mets only have a one game lead in the NL East and their “magic number” is four. Meaning they need to win four games or get four losses by Philly or any combination of that adding up to four to make the playoffs. Both the Mets and Philly have four games remaining.

So… Lets Go Mets!!!

NEWS: LI Native Gets TV Call

Minor news, but anytime a fellow Long Islander does something in hockey, I feel its worth mentioning.

The Florida Panthers have named Brooklyn-native Steve Goldstein as their play-by-play man for FSN Florida. Goldstein previously called the action for the Panthers' radio affiliate.

If the name sounds familiar, Goldstein used to work for WFAN and CBS Radio Network up here. Goldstein replaced Jiggs McDonald when he retired from full-time duty.

NEWS: Jiggs to Return, Again

Our good friend and legendary broadcaster Jiggs McDonald has informed us the MSG has asked him to fill in for Howie Rose on the TV side to start the season if the New York Mets make the post-season. Like last year, Howie will be with the Mets during their playoff run and will re-join the Isles once the Mets wrap up their post-season play (and hopefully a World Series Championship). If the Mets miss the playoffs, you can expect Howie to join Billy Jaffe from the begining.

Last year when Jiggs filled in for the first handful of games, it was a great experience for him, us and the fans. We're sure it'll be another great experience this time around.

Jiggs: We look forward to hearing you call the Orange and Blue again.