Daniel Murphy: ‘Queens Has A Very Special Place In My Heart’

The Mets announced on Tuesday that they were bringing back Old Timers’ Day for the first time since 1994. The festivities will take place on August 27 at 5 p.m. before the Mets regularly scheduled game hosting the Rockies.

There will be over 40 former Mets that participate in the event including Daniel Murphy, Cliff Floyd, and Robin Ventura. All three of them talked to the New York media on Tuesday afternoon via zoom.

Murphy, the Mets postseason hero from 2015, said he was humbled when Jay Horwitz called him about participating in the event. The former infielder spoke fondly of his time with the Mets, “”I have such a fond place in my heart for the Mets and what they meant to my career…Queens has a very special place in my heart.”

Most notably of course, Murphy set the major league record by homering in six straight playoff games during the Mets 2015 playoff run that ultimately fell short in 2015. After the season, Murphy would decline a qualifying offer from the Mets, and ended up signing a more lucrative deal with the Nationals. Murphy went on to have two monster seasons in Washington that earned him two All-Star appearances and two Silver Slugger Awards.

Floyd and Ventura both noted how much they enjoyed playing at Shea Stadium because when it was loud, there wasn’t another ballpark like it.

Ventura, most famous for his grand slam single, played for the Mets from 1999 through 2001, and was part of the best defensive infield in franchise history.

Floyd had his best season with the Mets when he hit 34 home runs in 2005. During the zoom, the former outfielder said that the current CBA negotiation between the MLB and MLBPA were “tough to watch”.

You can watch the full call here.

Frank Thomas, Ron Swoboda, Jon Matlack, Felix Millán, Mookie Wilson, Howard Johnson, Bobby Ojeda, Turk Wendell, and Endy Chávez are the other players that the Mets have announced will be at the event.

Though, the Mets media director Harold Kaufman noted during the zoom call that there will be more names released over the coming weeks and months.