Ronald Maurice Darling, Jr. (born August 19, 1960) is an American former right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Mets, Oakland Athletics and Montreal Expos. Darling currently works as a color commentator for national baseball coverage on TBS as well as for the Mets on both SNY and WPIX.

During his 13-year career, Darling amassed a 136–116 won-loss record, with 13 shutouts. He threw 1,590 strikeouts and had a 3.87 ERA. In 1985, he was picked for the All-Star team.

Darling's weak point was control; he finished seasons in the top four in base on balls three times. He was considered one of the better fielding pitchers of the time, and won a Gold Glove Award in 1989. Darling had one of the best pickoff moves among right-handers. An above-average athlete, he was sometimes used as a pinch runner. In 1989, he hit home runs in two consecutive starts.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Hawaiian-Chinese mother and French-Canadian father, Darling speaks fluent Chinese and French. After growing up in Millbury, Massachusetts, he attended St. John's High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts.

David Allen Johnson (born January 30, 1943) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player and current manager of the Washington Nationals. He was the starting second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles when they won four American League (AL) pennants and two World Series championships between 1965 and 1972. He made four All-Star Game appearances and received the Rawlings Gold Glove Award three times. He also played for the Atlanta Braves (1973–1975), Yomiuri Giants (1975–1976), Philadelphia Phillies (1977–1978) and Chicago Cubs (1978).

His biggest success as a manager was when he led the New York Mets to the 1986 World Series title. The ball club captured the National League (NL) East under his watch in 1988. The teams he piloted in the three years from 1995 to 1997 all made it to their respective League Championship Series – the Cincinnati Reds in 1995 and the Orioles in both 1996 and 1997. Johnson won the American League's Manager of the Year Award in 1997 when he led the Baltimore Orioles wire-to-wire to the American League East Division Championship. He would later manage the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Robert Quinlan Costas (born March 22, 1952) is an American sportscaster, on the air for NBC Sports television since the early 1980s.

Bob Costas was born in Queens, New York as a son of Jayne (née Quinlan), of Irish descent, and John George Costas, of Greek descent and an electrical engineer. In Ken Burns' Baseball, Costas indicated that he had a very poor relationship with his father, but did not go into specifics. He grew up in Commack, New York, graduating from Commack High School South. Following high school, he majored in Communications & Rhetorical Studies at Syracuse University where he dropped out of school. Later, he received an honorary degree from S. I. Newhouse School of Communications.

His sportscasting career started while attending Syracuse University, as an announcer for the Syracuse Blazers minor-league hockey team playing in the Eastern Hockey League and North American Hockey League.

Costas' career as a professional began at KMOX radio in St. Louis, where he served as a play-by-play announcer for the Spirits of St. Louis of the American Basketball Association. He also called Missouri Tigers basketball for KMOX, and co-hosted the station's Open Line call-in program.

Walter Wayne Backman (born September 22, 1959) is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. He is best known for his time with the New York Mets from 1980-1988 and was a member of their 1986 World Series-winning team. Backman currently is the Manager for the Buffalo Bisons, the New York Mets AAA minor league Team.

Backman was the Mets' first round pick in the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft (sixteenth overall). He was assigned to the New York-Penn League's Little Falls Mets upon signing, and batted .325 with six home runs in his first professional season. After batting .293 for the triple A Tidewater Tides in 1980, Backman received a September call up to the Mets. Making his major league debut starting at second base against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on September 2, Backman got a single in his first at-bat, driving in Claudell Washington for his first major league run batted in.

After battling for three seasons to earn a starting job, Backman finally emerged as the Mets' starting second baseman in 1984. He batted .280, and finished second on the club to Mookie Wilson (46) with 32 stolen bases.

Gary Cohen (born April 29, 1958 in Queens, New York) is an American sportscaster, best known as a radio and television play-by-play announcer for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball.

Cohen joined the Mets' broadcast team in 1989, after stints as the voice of the minor league Durham Bulls and Pawtucket Red Sox. He also called ice hockey and basketball games for Providence College, and football for Brown University. Along with his work with the Mets, Cohen has also called postseason MLB games for ESPN Radio and CBS Radio.

In addition to his baseball duties Cohen has called men's college basketball games for many years, starting with his duties with St. John's on WFAN and, following WFAN's loss of the radio rights to St. John's games, Seton Hall on WABC which he continues to do to this day. He also served as a backup announcer on New York Rangers radio broadcasts as well as calling Olympic hockey and NCAA tournament games for Westwood One on multiple occasions. Cohen graduated with a political science degree from Columbia University, where he began his broadcasting career with WKCR Sports. While at Columbia, he announced soccer games with future presidential adviser and Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos.