Pulchritudinous, The Mets, and The West Wing

Pul·​chri·​tu·​di·​nous is a formal, often humorous adjective meaning physically beautiful or breathtakingly attractive.

Mets TV broadcaster Gary Cohen dropped “pulchritudinous” on SNY during his joyous ninth-inning description of Carson Benge’s diving catch in right field to rob Vaughn Grissom of a certain extra-base hit in the Mets’ 5-1 victory in Anaheim on Sunday.

While a Mets win has been a rarity these days, it’s not quite as rare as Substack ledes that begin with 15-letter words. However, the Mets have now won three of their last four. Baseball.

Pulchritudinous. Obscure? Certainly. But I’m familiar with the word, and I didn’t think this was a flex. It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that I heard Mets radio broadcasters Keith Raad and Pat McCarthy discussing Cohen’s use of the word pulchritudinous. Raad and McCarthy said that while they like to think of themselves as voracious readers, they had never stumbled upon this particular reference to beauty.

It struck me like a Seinfeld reference: Worlds Colliding! I remembered where I had heard the word before.

Mets, meet “The West Wing,” an iconic TV show that was originally broadcast on NBC for seven seasons between 1999-2006. It’s so good that it’s currently available on both Netflix and HBO Max. I watched it when it aired. Remember TiVo? That box helped me never miss an episode during the transition era between the gradual extinction of VCRs and the dawning of streaming services, which started when Netflix got tired of mailing out DVDs. I’ve watched “The West Wing” many times since. It’s comfort food to me, background noise.

In season 6, episode 19, Leo McGarry (the late John Spencer) goes to Cuba to check on Fidel Castro in an episode entitled “90 Miles Away.” The late, great Brian Dennehy makes a guest appearance as a U.S. Senator from Florida with a colorful vocabulary and outdated views on many issues.

In one scene, Cliff Calley (played by Mark Feuerstein) comes to see the Senator. While the Senator’s female staff members walk in and out of the office, Dennehy’s character, in a perfect Florida southern drawl, tells Calley that his aide is “a sashaying piece of pulchritude.” Then he says, “Some people say that beauty and brains don’t go together. Well, I’m talking smart pulchritude around here.”

So, when I heard Gary Cohen’s “Carson Benge with a pulchritudinous play!” It didn’t faze me. And I imagine other Mets fans who are also “Wingnuts” who remember.

I like to drop a West Wing reference or two into my writing. If you’re one of us, please feel free to call it out in the comments. Or just flash me the Signal.