As the New York Mets opened the 2024 regular season on Friday afternoon, Spike Eskin and Evan Roberts engaged in a contentious back and forth on the air. Eskin, who currently serves as the vice president of programming for WFAN and CBS Sports Radio, questioned Roberts as to why he was not in the studio hosting the afternoon program alongside Tiki Barber.
Roberts replied that Opening Day was a holiday, adding that he knew Eskin was new to the station. While Eskin was aware that Roberts was not going to be at work on Thursday, he expressed that he did not know about his absence on Friday. The Mets were supposed to open the season on Thursday afternoon; however, the regularly-scheduled game was postponed due to rain.
After Eskin finished explaining his perspective, Roberts proceeded to ask him if he still even works at WFAN since he is set to return to SportsRadio 94WIP in Philadelphia, Pa. to host a new afternoon drive show. As the encounter grew more combative and indignant in tone, Roberts proceeded to refer to Eskin as a “dildo head” and told him that he no longer accepted his opinions.
WFAN and CBS Sports Radio morning program Boomer & Gio replayed audio of the incident and debated how this situation began. Co-host Boomer Esiason affirmed that it was derived out of a conversation he and co-host Gregg Giannotti had had in the morning about Bob Heussler attending his 50th Opening Day.
“I told you Evan was going and you said, ‘No, he’s not. He’s going to be here on Friday,’ and I said, ‘No, he’s going to Opening Day,’” Esiason explained. I’ve been around here long enough to know Evan. I don’t know why this surprised anybody, especially you, and I understand what you were saying that he should have been here that Friday because that’s his responsibility; his name’s on the moniker and it’s the afternoon show, but there are certain things that are – I hate to say it – seem to be more important to Evan, and I have to say that I was not surprised by any of it.”
The belligerent exchange ended with Roberts presumably being suspended from the afternoon program this week, with Eskin stating that it would be “Tiki and Friends” if he did not show up by 4 p.m. EST. Roberts was not present at the WFAN studios, instead witnessing a 3-1 Mets loss in which the team only recorded one hit for the game. Giannotti received various text messages asking him about the incident, proceeding him to deliver a public service announcement.
“I do listen to the radio station a lot, but I’m not listening to it 24/7,” Giannotti disclosed, “so if you text me something about what’s going on in the radio station without context, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Update anchor Jerry Recco revealed that he watched the segment on YouTube Friday night because he was not aware of it either. Upon seeing what happened, Recco explained that he would fire Roberts if the on-air exchange was not fabricated. With April Fools Day a few days away on the calendar at that point, Giannotti figured that it could be a means of entertainment that they were in on, and it ultimately garnered a plethora of views and engagement across media platforms.
“It’s obviously part of the bit,” Giannotti said. “I appreciate their effort in this – a lot of people were interested and they were texting me about it – but clearly, it’s entertainment.”
“The thing about it is you started it in the morning by questioning Evan not being here,” Esiason replied. “I told you he was going to be at Opening Day, so I was right.”
