The Mets hosted an All-Star Game for the first time in nearly a half-century, when he team’s past, present, and future were represented.
David Wright, playing in his seventh mid-summer classic, served as unofficial ambassador. He caught the ceremonial first pitch from Tom Seaver, who not surprisingly has the most All-Star appearances of any Met with nine. Wright also won the fan vote at third base and NL manager Bruce Bochy penciled him in the clean-up spot of his starting lineup.
The actual first pitch came from a Met. Matt Harvey was the headliner as far as partisan Citi Field was concerned. Following in the footsteps of “The Franchise,” the starter for the 1970 contest in Cinncinati, and Dwight Gooden, who received the honor in 1986 and ‘88, Harvey earned the nod in his first full big-league season.
For those outside the Big Apple unaware of his pitching prowess and persona, they got glimpses of both in his 32 pitches. Harvey brushed off early jitters to toss two scoreless innings before the announced crowd of 45,186 — the largest in the brief history of Mets’ new stadium.
Sporting new bright orange cleats, the 24-year-old opened with a 97-mile-per hour fastball to Mike Trout — which the multiple-MVP winner promptly drilled down the right-field line for a double. His third pitch, a heater clocked at 96, drilled Robinson Cano near the right knee, which forced the Yankee second baseman to leave the game. He settled down from there, retiring the next three batters including a strikeout of reigning Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera.
Harvey rode that momentum into a much easier second inning. He got David Ortiz to fly out, fanned Adam Jones, and retired Joe Mauer on a liner to left. Much of the 45,000-plus stood and cheered after his 32nd and final pitch.
As for Wright, he singled in the seventh off Greg Holland — the last of his three at-bats in the game and, as it turned out, his final All-Star appearance. The same was true for Mariano Rivera, who had announced his retirement at season’s end. He entered to a long standing ovation before his outing in the eighth and was awarded the Most Valuable Player in a 3-0 American League victory. But for those rooting for the Mets, the primary highlights during this game were provided by “The Dark Knight.”
“When I’m warming up out there, and they start chanting my name, that’s something, as a kid, I don’t think you can ever imagine,” Harvey said to The New York Times. “This whole experience has been absolutely incredible for me. It’s something I’ll never forget.”
