This Week In SNY: Part One, featuring the return of GKR, the first check-in with Kevin, and actress Emmy Rossum

This Week In SNY is back for the 2013 season! We hope you'll follow along with us as we (mostly) celebrate Gary, Keith, Ron, Ralph, Kevin, and all the rest at SNY. This is part one; check back tomorrow for part two.

Monday, April 1st

Here's the first shot of Gary, Keith, and Ron back on Opening Day during warmer, snow-free times:

This is the eighth season GKR has been together, and we are eternally grateful to whoever thought to put the trio in the booth.

Let's check in with Kevin! Kevin spoke with actress Emmy Rossum, who sang the national anthem before the game. You might know her from Showtime's Shameless, as well as movies like Mystic River and The Phantom of the Opera:

Both Kevin and Emmy were charming. Emmy shared her favorite part about attending a baseball game:

Kevin: What do you like about baseball?

Emmy: From here I have a nice view of the players' butts.

That had Kevin in stitches:

It wasn't the first time an interviewee had him chuckling, and it likely wasn't the last:

It's time for Nitpicking With TWISNY. Ike Davis hit 32 home runs in 2012, which tied for fifth-most in the National -- uh, make that "Naitonal" -- League:

SNY figured out how to spell Jon Niese's last name correctly by Opening Day but was still struggling with it as of his final spring-training start:

Checking in with Kevin and eagle-eyeing irrelevant misspellings, that's what TWISNY does.

The Verizon Fios replay of the Mets' Opening Day victory replaced the Mets and Citi Field with the Cubs and Wrigley Field, respectively:

Probably not SNY's fault but we'll go with it anyway (hat tip to Michael Donato).

This has been Nitpicking With TWISNY.

We've long been amused by Keith's use of the word "bulge" in various contexts. He went to it once again on Opening Day:

Keith: As an offensive unit, you always want to give your pitchers a little bit of a bulge.

Gary and Ron: [muffled laughter, followed by silence]

MetsBlog's Michael Baron has a history of photobombing SNY broadcasts from the photographer's box. That's him on the right from two seasons back:

He showed up again on Opening Day:

Speaking of MetsBlog, it's still presented by Verizon and long-time Mets blogger/friend of TWISNY Andrew Vazzano has been appearing on the site since recently starting work at SNY. We could be wrong, but we think MetsBlog's editing has improved since Vazzano started. Maybe it's just a coincidence. Either way, smart hire by SNY.

Wednesday, April 3rd

Let the cold weather fashion show begin! Here's Kevin in a ski hat:

GKR was looking dapper, as always:

There was some discussion about staying warm during these frigid April games:

Gary: Do you have any additional armor against the cold?

Keith: If I have to go buy some, I'm going to expense it. I used to have a Russian hat. I also had one like Hamid Karzai has. I don't know where they are now.

Ron: All of a sudden it'll be like a Pushkin novel up in Minnesota.

2013 Mets: Come for Matt Harvey, stay for Keith Hernandez talking about Hamid Karzai.

Friday, April 5th

The "Mets Viking" sat behind home plate, possibly in support of the viking-esque Lucas Duda. Here's a screenshot of them both:

Okay then.

Kevin shared his favorite exercise music:

Some artists just get me going at the gym. I can't go wrong w Linkin Park or Kid Rock. Who's on your workout playlist?

— Kevin Burkhardt (@KBurkhardtSNY) April 5, 2013

We'd bet that Kid Rock's hit "Bawitdaba" features prominently on Kevin's playlist. Here are the opening lyrics:

MY NAME IS KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEvin Burkhardt, and I'm once again speaking with big-time Mets fan John Leguizamo. So John, you've got a new one-man show on Broadway....

Finally, these fans made a sign in hopes of locating Keith's mustache, which disappeared last September:

Unfortunately for them, Keith confirmed that it would remain MIA:

Gary: Is it ever coming back?

Keith: I was told at a young age to never say never. But it's gonna stay off this year.

That's all for now, but stay tuned for part two tomorrow. Thank you to Rob Castellano, Chris McShane, and Steve Lepore of SB Nation for keeping their eyes peeled. Send any tips or suggestions to ThisWeekInSNY@gmail.com. You will be credited if we run the material.