There is a direct correlation between the Tom Seaver trade in June 1977 and the moment when Shea Stadium, by every measure, went dark. Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry supplied attitude and power when they arrived in 1983. But it was “Dr. K”—at age 19—who brought the electricity back.

Dwight Gooden.

On Sunday, Gooden will be center stage again as he deservedly gets his No. 16 retired at Citi Field.

The incredible start of his career gave reason to believe he was on the fast track to the Hall of Fame. His story has been told as a cautionary tale—one in which outside influences and internal demons stunted his astonishing talents and prevented him from achieving even greater accomplishments. But with passage of time, a better understanding of mental health and human frailties, plus his admittance to past personal faults, Gooden’s legacy is as a Mets legend.

He would go on to win 157 times and record 1,875 strikeouts over his 11 seasons. Those statistics, along with WHIP and ERA figures that are ranked in the top 10 of the franchise leaderboard, place Gooden alongside Seaver and Jacob deGrom on the short list of greatest Mets arms.

It would have been impossible for Gooden to match this level no matter what the circumstances. Bright spots were mixed with dark days. He missed the World Series parade and started the following season in drug rehabilitation. Similar off-the-field issues would haunt him for the duration of his Mets tenure.

The post The Phenomenon of Dr. K appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets will introduce Carlos Mendoza as their new manager in a press conference at noon today. He officially signed his three-year contract on Monday. The conference will be streamed live on SNY and on their social channels.

Latest Mets News

Kodai Senga finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting behind Diamondbacks outfielder Corbin Carroll, who won unanimously. Senga received 22 second-place votes and five third-place votes. Carroll is the first Diamondback to win the award.

Latest MLB News

Gunnar Henderson unanimously won AL Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Oriole to win the award since Gregg Olson in 1989. This marks the fifth time that both Rookie of the Year winners were voted unanimously.

The Cubs officially named Craig Counsell the 56th manager in their franchise’s history. Counsell said during in his press conference that former Chicago skipper David Ross called him before the hiring was announced publicly. Counsell’s Cubs will also be featured on the first Sunday Night Baseball telecast in 2024, when they take on the reigning World Series champion Rangers on March 31.

The Yankees named James Rowson their hitting coach on Monday. Rowson, who attended high school in the Bronx, spent 2023 as the Tigers’ hitting coach, and previously held the same role with the Twins from 2017-19.

The Yankees interviewed Andrew Bailey to be their bench coach on Monday. The former two-time All-Star and Rookie of the Year has spent the last four season as the pitching coach for the Giants. Bailey also played for the Yankees back in 2015.

The Blue Jays have named DeMarlo Hale their associate manager. Hale was the team’s bench coach under John Gibbons from 2013-18. He was Terry Francona‘s bench coach in Cleveland for the last three seasons.

The Pirates have hired Justin Horowitz as their new Director of Amateur Scouting. Horowitz has spent the last dozen seasons with the Red Sox organization.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported that the Braves and Cardinals among teams showing early interest in free-agent starter Aaron Nola. Nola recorded a 4.46 ERA/4.03 FIP with 202 strikeouts in 193 2/3 innings this season.

Shota Imanaga has hired Octagon to represent him. The 29-year-old lefty is said to be coming stateside after posting a strong 2.66 ERA with 188 strikeouts in 159 innings this season.

Topps announced the launch of Rookie Debut Patch Auto Cards. The 1 of 1 cards will be available in their Chrome Update Series on November 15.

Latest on MMO

To celebrate reaching 30,000 followers on Twitter, MMO is giving away a Francisco Álvarez New York Mets Star Rookie Bobblehead from FOCO. All you have to do to enter is retweet this tweet and followed @Metsmerized.

Allison Waxman and Patrick Glynn debate which former Met the team should look to re-sign.

Sam Neumann grades Omar Narváez‘s performance during the 2023 season.

On This Date in Mets History

2012: R.A. Dickey wins the NL Cy Young award over the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw. Dickey is the first ever knuckleballer to win the award, going 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA and a league-leading 230 strikeouts.

2018: Jacob deGrom wins his first Cy Young award, beating out the reigning two-time winner Max Scherzer. The 30-year-old deGrom won just 10 games but recorded a sparkling 1.70 ERA with 269 strikeouts in 217 innings during the season.

Birthdays: Darrell Sutherland (82), Tim Hamulack (47), Xavier Nady (45), Joely Rodríguez (32), Akeel Morris (31), Francisco Lindor (30)

The post Morning Briefing: Mets to Introduce Carlos Mendoza Today appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Kodai Senga. Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Senga was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball this past season, second in the NL in ERA behind Blake Snell with a 2.98 ERA, fourth in all of qualified starting pitchers in runs allowed with 60 and fourth in BAA with a .208. He also became the second Mets rookie since Dwight Gooden to strike out 200 or more batters.

The Japanese-born pitcher finished his season going 12-7 in 166 ⅓ innings pitched. He struck out 202 batters, allowed 126 hits, 77 walks, and had an ERA+ of 142. The ghost fork hurler was selected to his first All-Star game this past summer in Seattle. Fellow Mets rookie Francisco Álvarez did not receive a vote. The last Met who took home Rookie of the Year honors was Pete Alonso in 2019.

Carroll, on the other hand, was by no means a slouch. The speedy centerfielder from the National League championship Diamondbacks was a shoo-in for the award. He finished his award-winning year hitting .285/.362/.506/.868 with an OPS+ of 134. His ten triples led the league for the year.

James Outman of the Dodgers came in third in the voting for NL ROY. Gunnar Henderson of the Baltimore Orioles unanimously won the American League Rookie of the Year, beating out Tanner Bibee of the Cleveland Guardians and Triston Casas of the Boston Red Sox.

The post Kodai Senga Runner Up, Corbin Carroll Wins NL Rookie of the Year appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Before the game, the Marlins were 79-73 and needed a win to remain in the third National League wildcard slot.

Meanwhile, the Mets, who were nine games behind the Marlins in the standings, had their rookie sensation Kodai Senga pitching. And Tuesday’s start was another opportunity for the rookie to cement his case for two major awards.

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports

Senga wasn’t sharp on Tuesday but kept the Marlins off the board for the first three innings. He allowed two walks and singles in that frame but retired the side on softly hit groundballs and flyouts.

After having a baserunner every inning, the Marlins finally cashed in for a run in the bottom of the fourth. Bryan De La Cruz singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on Senga’s league-leading 14th wild pitch.

De La Cruz advanced to third on a ground out by Jesús Sánchez, and then came into score after Garrett Hampson flew out to center field. Senga escaped further damage in the inning by striking out Jacob Stallings to retire the side.

Surprisingly, the strikeout of Stallings was only Senga’s second of the night. He didn’t have his normal swing-and-miss stuff against the Marlins and finished his night with a mere three strikeouts.

Despite having only three strikeouts and having traffic on the bases every inning, Senga recorded another quality start on Tuesday. He allowed seven hits, two walks, and two runs in six innings.

15 straight starts with 3 earned runs or less for Kodai Senga pic.twitter.com/wR5ba6vG2v

— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) September 21, 2023

Senga’s start against the Marlins also continued an impressive streak. He has recorded eight consecutive quality starts dating back to August 7, where he has gone 6-2 and recorded a 2.31 ERA.

Senga’s impressive streak, however, really started on June 23. Since then, Senga has a 2.50 ERA, 107 strikeouts, and 33 walks in 90 innings pitched. In those 15 starts, he hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs.

Senga’s dominant stretch has put him in the conversation for not only the National League Rookie of the Year, but also the NL Cy Young award.

As it currently stands, Senga might have an easier path to the NL RoY. His greatest competition is Corbin Carroll, who is having a historic stretch for the Diamondbacks.

After homering on Wednesday, Carroll became the first rookie in major league history to record 25 homers and 50 stolen bases in a season. With this historic season, Carroll (5.3) is also outpacing Senga (4.5) in bWAR. With a dominant start on Wednesday, Senga may be able to inch closer to Carroll for the award.

While the NL RoY is in reach, lefty Blake Snell has distanced himself from the competition for NL Cy Young. He leads the majors with a 2.33 ERA and 176 ERA+, despite also leading the majors with 97 walks.

Snell also solidified his status with a dominant start against the Rockies on Tuesday. He struck out 10 batters and didn’t allow a run in seven innings.

Senga simply doesn’t have enough time left to meet Snell’s ERA. Buck Showalter confirmed that Senga’s last start is on Wednesday, and even if he pitched a complete game shutout, he would still trail Snell by half a run (2.80 ERA).

Still, even if Senga misses out on both awards, which is likely, it shouldn’t take away from his amazing first season. As of September 21, Senga has a 2.96 ERA, 143 ERA+, and 194 strikeouts in 28 starts.

If the season ended today, Senga would be the sixth rookie starter in Mets’ history to finish the season with an ERA under three with at least 100 innings pitched. The others are Jacob deGrom, Dwight Gooden, Jerry Koosman, Tom Seaver, and Jon Matlack.

Senga also has one more start to chase another milestone — 200 strikeouts. He would be the 30th rookie in major league history to reach the milestone and the fourth Japanese rookie to do it behind Yu Darvish (2012), Daisuke Matsuzaka (2007), and Hideo Nomo (1995).

The milestone is achievable. He has 194 strikeouts and one more start against the Marlins on September 27.

The post Senga Recorded Eighth Consecutive Quality Start Tuesday appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Senga, who has 11.07 strikeouts per nine innings this season, set the tone early with 10 strikeouts in his first five innings. He only allowed one hit during this time, a single to former Mets outfielder Tommy Pham.

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

It took Senga until the sixth inning to show signs of being a human, when he walked two consecutive batters to load the bases with two outs. Luckily for Senga, he was able to escape trouble by generating a sharp lineup from Christian Walker that had an exit velocity of 103.6 mph.

Phil Bickford replaced Senga to begin the seventh inning.

Senga’s final line: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K

This performance ties him with former Mets’ pitcher Sid Fernandez for the single-season team record of six outings with six innings pitched and two or fewer hits allowed.

Despite putting up a commendable performance, Senga was not satisfied with the length he provided.

After the game, he said (through a translator), “To be honest, I wanted to go to the 7th and get through the 7th. I think that will continue my season into next year, I think it would develop me a lot.”

As a rookie who came from Japan, the Mets have adopted a very passive philosophy with their usage of Senga by making their best effort to allot him six days of rest in between starts to mimic his previous workload. That said, Senga likely had a little more energy left in the tank after throwing 103 pitches through six innings. On the flip side, the Mets are not in a pennant race, so a conservative approach to conclude Senga’s season can be seen as a way to ensure that he is healthy for the 2024 season.

Senga’s ghost forkball was extremely effective in this outing and has continued to be one of the best pitches in baseball this season. He used it 38 times, the most out of his repertoire, and he generated 11 whiffs on 19 swings with four called strikes (CSW% of 39 percent). Also, his fastball was very potent on Thursday, as he used it 33 times with an average spin rate of 2339 rpm, which is 63 units higher than his year average.

After this outing, Senga now has a 2.95 ERA for the season, with 191 strikeouts in 155 1/3 innings. When examining this from the perspective of the Mets, Senga has undoubtedly earned every penny of his $15 million salary by establishing himself as a useful piece. Not only has he been a revelation for the Mets, but he has emerged as one of the best pitchers in the entire league, with his 2.95 ERA ranking fourth among qualified starting pitchers this season.

All things considered, Senga has gained more traction in the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award conversations. Currently, Senga ranks fifth in the MLB for strikeouts per nine innings among qualified starting pitchers. While other pitchers are ahead of him in this statistic and others, he still has a chance to finish this season strong and surpass his competitors in the rankings.

He remained humble when asked for his opinion on his ability to take home the Rookie of the Year Award.

“I have no idea,” he said in a humorous tone.

Senga has a professional and likable demeanor to match his pitching prowess. The Mets hit the jackpot when they signed the Japanese pitcher to a five-year contract this past offseason. He seems to get better every time he pitches, so it will be exciting to see what he can accomplish going forward.

The post Kodai Senga Should Be In Cy Young Contention appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Mets fans, an all-new episode is here!

This week, Mike and I discuss Kodai Senga‘s case for Rookie of the Year, we dive into Pete Alonso‘s hot August and the newest trade rumors surrounding the Mets slugger, break  down Shohei Ohtani‘s weekend in Queens, react to Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry‘s number retirement announcements, and much more!

With rumors of an Alonso trade bubbling since the trading deadline, and more reports “expecting” the Mets to trade their star slugger in the offseason entering his walk year, where will the team go from here? For Mike, listening to offers is always smart business, but the best move to be made is keeping the two time Home Run Derby champion in Queens longterm:

“With where the Mets went at the deadline selling off pieces and Alonso only being under control through 2024, it’s only natural to listen to offers for a player like him. It wouldn’t be smart to say that a player is untouchable if they are only with the organization for another year beyond this current season. With that being said, I do think some of those rumors are a bit overblown, especially the supposed deadline deal with the Brewers. That leak came from a Brewers front office member, a team that didn’t want Steve Cohen buying the Mets and who then tried to take their head executive in David Stearns. Now it does seem like Stearns will be hired by the Mets now that he is no longer under contract in Milwaukee, so we need to use some context and common sense when figuring out where these trade rumors are coming from. It just doesn’t make a lot of sense for the Mets to trade Alonso in the winter unless they really are so far apart on price, but I really doubt that Alonso would try and price himself out of Cohen.”

Watch and subscribe to the MMO YouTube channel here.

The post MMO Weekly Episode 56: Pete Alonso Trade Looming? appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

With a 2.58 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A Las Vegas, he was called up as a replacement for the injured Dillon Gee. Originally slated to be a reliever among the organization’s young crop of highly-touted starting pitcher prospects, deGrom was thrust into the middle of the Subway Series for his initial Mets assignment. Fresh-faced and sporting a shoulder-length mane of hair, it might have been hard for Citi Field security guards to not confuse him with an overzealous teen trying to sneak into the clubhouse.

But the 25-year-old more than held his own. He ended the first inning with his first strikeout, getting Mark Teixeira swinging. The Yankees put at least one runner on in each of the initial three frames only to come up empty. DeGrom really settled in afterward — retiring 11 straight.

Trying to maintain a scoreless tie in the seventh, the Mets were unable to turn an inning-ending double play. Alfonso Soriano made it costly with a double that brought home catcher Brian McCann all the way from first.

DeGrom left trailing 1-0, and it would remain that way for the duration of the game.

As it turned out, this first start went like many of his others as a Met. He went seven innings. He allowed one earned run, four hits, and a walk. He struck out six. He even got a hit himself. And he didn’t win.

As has been a theme for several of his starts over the years, deGrom was completely betrayed by his offense this evening. A combination of Chase Whitley, Dellin Betances, Adam Warren, and David Robertson held the Mets scoreless. Batters numbers one through eight only managed one hit. DeGrom got the other—a single in the fourth (snapping an 0-for-64 drought among Mets’ pitchers). It advanced Ruben Tejada to third base, who provided the other single of the night.

While he lost in frustrating fashion, deGrom had won a permanent place in the starting rotation and the attention of Mets fans.

However, as is customary for any rookie, he had trouble matching that first performance over the next six weeks. It wasn’t until July 8th that began a string of starts that led to national recognition. He won eight of his next nine decisions — striking out 91 with a 1.90 ERA.

In September, deGrom tossed 28 consecutive scoreless innings. None of the great Mets rookie pitchers—Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Jon Matlack, or Dwight Gooden — can claim anything so impressive. The streak ended on September 15th, but that night was highlighted by eight straight strikeouts to start the game. It matched a modern-day major league record. Within a few months, he was named National League Rookie of the Year, and the foundation was laid for one of the greatest pitching careers in Mets history.

Not bad for a former college shortstop and a ninth-round draft pick.

The post OTD 2014: DeGrom’s Major-League Debut appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

This was three years in the making. No player in Mets history had more hype surrounding him than Darryl Strawberry. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, two walks, and a stolen base in a 13-inning victory on a Friday night. But the mere fact that the team’s proclaimed savior was officially on a major league diamond was worth celebrating.

Even still, the debuts of hot prospects don’t engender the same kind of reaction as they do now — especially in terms of attendance. About 16,000 were on-hand at Shea Stadium that evening. The Mets were in last place and the Cincinnati Reds were on their way, but Strawberry was expected to help his team finally escape the cellar soon.

The paucity of talent on New York’s roster was evident as Darryl was slotted into the No. 3 spot in the batting order and the starter in right field. He struck out in the first against Cincinnati starter Mario Soto, hit a foul popup in the fourth, fanned in the seventh, and K’d in the ninth as the tying run.

He was given the opportunity for more plate appearances when the Mets came back from a 3-0 deficit. Tom Seaver allowed those runs to his former team and left after eight trailing by two. But Dave Kingman came up after Strawberry’s fourth strikeout and launched a two-run homer into the sky.

After both teams traded runs in the 10th, Darryl re-appeared at the plate in the 11th and drew a walk to put runners on first and second. The Mets were unable to push across the game-winner, but did so two innings later.

With two outs, Strawberry kept the bottom of the 13th going when he drew another free pass. He quickly stole second and came around the bases as George Foster delivered a three-run walk-off homer.

Darryl’s entrance into the majors was slow, but he’d eventually figure it out and begin to fulfill those enormous expectations. Starting on June 7, Darryl fashioned an OPS of .936, topping the figure of NL MVP Dale Murphy. His power took a significant upturn in the second half as he hammered 19 homers and drove in 51 runs. By September, the glimpses of his potential were now on full display.

In the final month, he exhibited terrific plate discipline by batting .376 and hitting successfully in 20 of 24 games. In 122 games, he had a 134 OPS+ and 19 stolen bases. His final totals of 26 homers and 76 RBIs stood as Mets rookie records until 2019 and he became the third in team history and became the third Met to take the National League Rookie of the Year honors, joining Seaver (1967) and Jon Matlack (1972).

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He established a rookie record for strikeouts, posted an ERA of 2.60, went 17-9 and completely captivated New York. It’s hard to believe Dwight Gooden almost didn’t start the ’84 season in the major leagues.

Davey Johnson, the Mets’ first-year manager who saw Gooden up-close when the teenager helped his Triple-A Tidewater club, insisted upon it.

Johnson eased the 19-year-old Gooden into the spotlight by having his initial entrance occur in a rather tempered environment. Met fans were anxious to see the teenage pitcher make his first start, but nobody was more anxious than Gooden himself. He arrived so early to the Astrodome that he needed to jump a fence so he could enter the stadium.

With his parents in attendance, Gooden didn’t show many nerves — at least outwardly. The final line was five innings, one run, three hits, two walks, five K’s, and win No. 1.

Doc found little trouble early, getting a pair of first-inning grounders to second and a patented K on Dickie Thon.

The Mets offense offered up some run support in the second, courtesy of the franchise’s other phenom — Darryl Strawberry. Still less than a year into his major league career, Straw took a Bob Knepper pitch to the deepest part of the cavernous ballpark. The Astrodome was renowned for holding power hitters in check, but Darryl made homering look rather easy.

Gooden encountered his biggest trouble in the fifth. A one-out single is followed with a two-out walk and base hit, which plates the first (and only) Houston run. Doc prevented further damage, ending his debut on a deep fly ball by Terry Puhl to Mookie Wilson in center field.

After relievers Dick Tidrow and Doug Sisk worked one inning each, Jesse Orosco finished the game with two innings to preserve Gooden’s 3-2 victory.

As is customary with a first-year player, Doc was inconsistent over his first two months. But from June 1 on, he looked like anything but a rookie. Before long, he was an All-Star and striking out veterans with regularity.

Gooden went 13-6 with a 2.37 ERA and 203 strikeouts in 166 2/3 innings for the duration of a phenomenal season. The end results for 1984 were remarkable. Gooden’s 276 strikeouts (11.4 every nine innings) remains the standard for first-year pitchers. Of the 879 batters he faced, 31.4 percent ended with a strikeout. When the Rookie of the Year voting was conducted, it was unanimous.

There is a direct correlation between the Tom Seaver trade in June 1977 and the moment when Shea went dark for all intents and purposes. While Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry ensured the return of attitude and power with their arrival in 1983, it was Gooden — at 19 years old — who brought the electricity back in ’84.

The post OTD 1984: Dwight Gooden’s Big-League Debut appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Thirty years ago this July, a proper name entered the lexicon of baseball fans and film enthusiasts.

Henry Rowengartner.

For many, the name will elicit memories from childhood and a period when several prominent baseball films were released, including “Angels in the Outfield,” “Little Big League,” “The Sandlot” and “Rookie of the Year.”

“Rookie of the Year” is a family comedy that centers around twelve-year-old Henry Rowengartner, or Gardenhoser, Rosinbagger, and several other erroneous names fictional Chicago Cubs manager Sal Martinella (played by Albert Hall) calls him throughout the film.

After breaking his arm in a schoolyard accident, Rowengartner discovers that he’s been gifted with a powerful right arm that can hit triple-digits on the radar gun. While attending a Cubs game with his two friends, Rowengartner drew the attention of the front office after he unleashed a throw from the bleachers to the catcher after the opposing team homered. The struggling Cubs signed Rowengartner to a major league contract in hopes of turning their season around.

Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas portrayed Rowengartner, in what was his first starring film role.

The young actor starred alongside Gary Busey, who played aging ace Chet Steadman, Amy Morton, who played Rowengartner’s mom Mary, and Daniel Stern, who played zany pitching coach Phil Brickma and also directed the film.

The idea of a preteen getting to play Major League Baseball and help lead a club to the postseason is a far-fetched dream that so many kids can’t help but fantasize over. For Nicholas, getting to step foot on the mound at historic Wrigley Field in front of 35,000 fans in Rowengartner’s debut made him forget that he was even shooting a movie.

“I always say that in that moment, even though I’m a trained actor, I wasn’t really acting,” said Nicholas. “To be walking out to the mound and for two minutes, I would say that I pretty much believed that I was Henry because those 35,000 people were chanting my character’s name.”

Beyond the baseball theme, “Rookie of the Year” is also about family, particularly the connection of mother and son. In the film, Rowengartner is raised by his mother, which Nicholas connected with in his own personal life having been raised by a single mother.

The actor will be busy this year, making appearances to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the film, while continuing to act, produce and perform with his band.

For Nicholas, the nostalgia and love the film still garners thirty years later gives him hope that a sequel could still be in the works.

“This is the year, thirty years in, this is the one to finally go forward.”

I had the privilege of speaking with Nicholas, where he discussed auditioning for the role, shooting at Wrigley Field and hopes of making a sequel.

MMO: How did you come to secure the role of Henry for “Rookie of the Year”?

Nicholas: Even though it’s thirty years, or thirty-one, that I was auditioning for it, I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a crazy process because the audition process was vastly different than it is now, we were doing everything in person. There were no virtual auditions over Zoom.

I remember that I auditioned for it and didn’t get a callback, and I was in the process of switching agencies. I knew they had been searching in L.A., New York and Chicago.

I found out later that Daniel Stern was very, very close to hiring his own son, who’s ironically named Henry. Henry Stern is now a senator in California; he’s a couple of years younger than me.

I switched agents, and the new agent said, “I have an audition for you for ‘Rookie of the Year.’” I said, ‘I already went on that,’ and she said, “They obviously don’t remember you. Go again.”

I went and got a callback, and I remember meeting with Daniel Stern. It was like the perfect storm, but working in my favor that I got two opportunities instead of just one.

MMO: Did you have any formal experience playing baseball prior to shooting the film?

Nicholas: No. [Laughs.] I’ve been acting since 1986 and grew up, similar to Henry, in a single-parent household with just my mom. Things were more focused on the arts and entertainment than they were sports. I liked to play sports, but I didn’t formally play on any teams.

Of course, when I got the job, I immediately linked up with a neighbor of mine and learned the mechanics of pitching so that I could throw sixty feet, six inches, and throw a strike.

It was very easy to tap into Henry’s bad performance in Little League and more challenging to be good.

MMO: You mention that you worked with a neighbor on the mechanics of pitching. Was there any other training you underwent for the role?

Nicholas: That was the main thing. I had a couple of weeks before I flew to Chicago, and I went out every day until I could actually throw from that distance.

When we got into town, I feel like we did a couple of games. Some actors that were playing some of the players had actually played on major league teams before. But that was about it.

Of course, that all went out the window when Daniel Stern wanted to get this crazy arm thing going for Henry, which went completely against the mechanics of pitching. If you know anything about the mechanics, Henry is essentially shortarming it. Tiger Balm was my best friend on set. [Laughs.]

MMO: One of the funnier scenes in the film is when Henry taunts the Dodgers pitcher after drawing a walk in his first career plate appearance. That pitcher is Tim Stoddard, who appeared in close to 500 major league games for his career. I read that he also acted as the film’s baseball adviser. Can you talk about his role?

Nicholas: He was there every day. I might also add that the ring at the end, which everyone always asks about, was actually Stoddard’s 1983 Orioles [championship] ring. We had to put a lot of duct tape on the bottom because his hands are massive and mine are not, especially when I was twelve.

It’s funny, there are a lot of questions about the hidden-ball trick scene and whether or not Henry was balking. I remember Tim instructing me where to put my feet so that it wasn’t a balk. The shot that they used in the film, you can’t see where my feet are, so it’s a big question amongst baseball advocates as to whether or not Henry was balking. But I assure you, I was not.

Tim used to play for the Cubs, and I ran into him a couple of years back at the Cubs Convention. That was cool because I hadn’t seen him in like twenty-eight years.

MMO: Have you kept in touch with many of your co-stars over the years?

Nicholas: This year is the thirtieth anniversary, and the Cubs are doing an official Henry Rowengartner Day. It’s advertised on their website, and they’re making 10,000 bobbleheads of Henry in the floater pitch position. That’s on July 2 at Wrigley.

I’ve been going out every year to throw out the first pitch since 2008; it’s sort of an annual tradition. That will be part of that tradition, but now [with] an official Henry Rowengartner Day. They’re showing the movie at Gallagher Way just outside the stadium afterward.

As far as keeping in touch with people, at the twenty-fifth anniversary they invited Amy Morton, who played my mom, and is on “Chicago P.D.” She came out to do the first pitch. She didn’t want to throw, so we ended up doing this whole reenactment of the floater. I still have a video of it and it’s a pretty awesome moment. I even wrote “Mary” in my glove, and they did a close-up shot of it. I threw a strike as a floater, and the guy who was catching for me barely moved his glove. It was the perfect floater pitch!

I’ve been in touch with Daniel Stern starting a couple of years ago. I mentioned that his son, Henry, is a senator here in California. My son, Nolan River, booked the movie “Old,” the M. Night [Shyamalan] movie that came out a couple of years ago. This was 2020, and he needed a passport to go to the Dominican Republic to shoot the movie. During Covid, there was no expediting of passports. Danny and Henry actually linked us up with our local senator and helped expedite Nolan’s passport. Talk about a full circle of events of fathers and sons helping fathers and sons!

MMO: How many months did you shoot for?

Nicholas: We shot for three months in Chicago: September, October, November. I believe there were fifty-five shooting days, five-day weeks. I worked fifty-four of them.

MMO: What was it like juggling school and shooting the film?

Nicholas: It’s government-regulated that you have to do three hours of school every day. It was a little bit challenging.

Wrigley Field is set up so much differently now, but at the time, where we were parked with the trailers was a good fifteen-minute walk. Sometimes I spent more time walking to the school trailer and walking back than I did school. I can only imagine what kind of challenge that was for the producers!

For me, it was easy. It was just go here, go there, do this. That’s definitely a challenge when you’re working with kids and the amount of time they’re allowed to shoot based on their age. You have to follow all the rules.

MMO: Another scene from the film that stands out is your ability to echo your voice as you did early on in the film when Henry is doing laundry in the basement. How did you learn to do that, and was that something you ad-libbed?

Nicholas: Everyone loves the echo. My mom and I had some roommates around that time, and one was this writer/performer/stand-up comedian who could do this echo. He could also throw his voice, which I never learned how to do. You could literally be standing in front of him, and it sounded like it was coming from behind you! He was the one who taught me how to do that echo.

In that scene, it was just one of those things where, because Henry was announcing his name, I just kind of threw it in, and Danny loved it. So it stayed, and what you hear is what I did live.

MMO: What was Daniel Stern like both as a co-star and director of the film?

Nicholas: Danny’s amazing. He’s not the zany character that we know him for in things like “Home Alone” and even as Brickma in “Rookie of the Year.” He’s just a sweetheart of a man, and was a great director.

Being that he is a talented actor, both in comedy and drama, he really understood how to communicate what he wanted to us as the actors.

I had a fantastic time working with him. I know it’s been thirty years, but I would love to work with him again.

MMO: What are your memories of shooting at Wrigley Field? Is it true that the first time they shot at Wrigley was in between an actual double-header?

Nicholas: Yeah, it was actually three days before we started the official principal photography. We were in town for a couple of weeks for rehearsals and some of those baseball games that we did in parks and things with some of the team.

They had an opportunity to shoot on September 19; it was a doubleheader of the Cardinals versus the Cubs. We had ten minutes to shoot all of those shots.

I still remember Danny getting on a wireless microphone, pacing through the outfield, and telling the crowd, which was 35,000 people, that we were going to shoot this movie, and this twelve-year-old kid was going to have this fastball, and we were going to take the Cubs to win the World Series. And let me tell you something: those Cubs fans cheered like the Cubs had just won the World Series in that moment!

I still have fond memories of that moment from walking from the bullpen to the mound. Danny got the entire 35,000 crowd to chant Henry’s name. It was such a surreal moment!

I always say that in that moment, even though I’m a trained actor, I wasn’t really acting. To be walking out to the mound and for two minutes, I would say that I pretty much believed that I was Henry because those 35,000 people were chanting my character’s name. That full 360 Steadicam shot around me is legit.

We did get to shoot there in October for an entire month. They would put ads in the paper, and people would come fill the stands. If there wasn’t a Bears game, we’d get like 5,000 people in the stands. If there was a Bears game, we’d get like 300-500 people.

MMO: What was Gary Busey like on set?

Nicholas: Gary is a character. He has a lot of energy! The energy that you think he has, he has ten times more. He’s like a giant kid.

I didn’t get a lot of time with him outside of the actual scenes that we were doing because, like we were talking about before, I was doing school. I would really only come to set when they were ready to shoot, so I had just the rehearsals and scenes.

Gary was really nice to me and I think he had more energy than me at that time. You’d think as a twelve-year-old kid I’d be the one bouncing off the walls!

MMO: I heard a podcast you were interviewed on where you talked about the climax of the film where Henry floats the pitch to strike out Alejandro “Butch” Heddo (played by the late Tom Milanovich) to send the Cubs to the National League Championship Series. You said that when you looked to the stands to find Amy Morton, you saw your real mother instead. Can you expand on that?

Nicholas: That is true. What transpired at that time was we were shooting that scene, and I don’t think for that moment Amy was on set. That was just my coverage, which happens a lot of times. It’s like the irony of Casey Affleck playing my brother in “American Pie.” The only time I ever met him was at the premiere. I was never there in person with him when we were shooting those scenes. The script supervisor read his lines, and vice versa.

They had this fifteen-foot ladder that I had at eyeline so when I looked to the stands, my look was in the right direction for the camera.

I can’t remember who was up there for the rehearsal, but when we went to do the take, I looked up to the eyeline and they put my mom, my actual mom, on top of the ladder. It was a surprise to me, but it helped me tap into that emotion because my mom is similar to Henry’s mom and a big supporter of my career.

I remember afterward she was like, “I’m sorry, they asked me to do it!” I wasn’t expecting it, but it was a nice surprise.

MMO: Do you have a favorite scene?

Nicholas: There’s a lot of great moments. I’ve often said that the scene of walking out to the mound is one of the most memorable, but that’s not necessarily for the acting part of it.

I would say because drama is more my forte, my favorite moment was the scene with Amy Morton after she punches Jack Bradfield (played by Bruce Altman), and then we have the heart-to-heart of who Henry’s dad really was. He reveals that he already knew because grandma told him in the second grade.

That whole moment was really great. Amy is such an incredible actor. That’s probably one of my favorites, and more dramatic moments of the film.

MMO: Conversely, was there a scene that was toughest to shoot?

Nicholas: The baseball stuff. My heart goes out to the people that were just coming to volunteer to be in the stands because it was October in Chicago. It’s not very warm in October in Chicago.

We had huge parkas on, me, along with all of the other actors and people in the stands. When the camera was up, we all had to take off our coats and pretend it was a warm summer day or night. That was definitely the challenge.

The other challenge, of course, was pitching and trying to make sure I had time to warm up my arm. Thinking about the mechanics of baseball, a lot of times you’re not throwing cold. You don’t want to go to the gym and work out cold, you want to warm up. We’d sneak those warmup pitches in any chance we could get before the scenes just to get my arm ready.

MMO: There were a few big league stars that made cameos in “Rookie of the Year” in Pedro Guerrero, Bobby Bonilla and Barry Bonds. Did you get to interact with them much?

Nicholas: I was there for all the times they were on set. I would say the coolest experience for me was Barry Bonds stayed after and watched me shoot a scene and gave me a compliment. As a kid, even though I wasn’t a sports guy, everyone knew who those players were. It was an awesome moment of like, ‘My God, Barry Bonds just complimented my acting!’

When we were doing promo, I got to go to a few other baseball stadiums and got to go out to Shea Stadium.

MMO: There’s been talk over the years about making a sequel to “Rookie of the Year.” Do you have any insight into those talks? And what are your thoughts on making another film?

Nicholas: There’s been some interest. Obviously, things changed hands because this was a Fox movie, but now Disney owns Fox. It’s kind of an odd thing where all the people that I know who worked there thirty years ago have all changed now.

I’ve talked with Danny about it, and there was a moment when the Cubs won the World Series that I was in talks with Fox, but they were going to maybe do a reboot and not a sequel. That kind of came and went and didn’t happen.

Nostalgia is big right now; I don’t know if there’s another possibility. I keep talking about it in interviews, and maybe someone at Disney will read one of them and go, that’s a good idea, we should do that!

My son is eleven, so he’s right around the age; turning twelve at the end of this year. This is the year, thirty years in; this is the one to finally go forward.

But again, it’s not really my call since the studio owns all the rights, and it’s a little convoluted. I’m definitely interested in it. Or, maybe it’s like the idea of where I talked to Danny about maybe we just leave well-enough alone and have the nostalgia be. I don’t really know.

MMO: I think it would be great to have you and your son as part of the sequel. Especially considering he’s right around the age that you were when you shot the film.

Nicholas: I agree with you, Mathew. I think it’s still sort of in the ether. Maybe doing this Rowengartner Day at Wrigley, and Disney is involved in the approval of that, so maybe this will kind of open up their eyes to the interest in things.

MMO: Why do you think the film still holds up?

Nicholas: There’s an interesting part when I was meeting with one of the producers to try and get the long-awaited sequel going, back pre-2016. I was like, ‘If the Cubs don’t win the World Series, it’s okay, we can do the sequel. And if they do, then it’s art imitating life because the Cubs have their win just like they did in the film.’

We were talking about the life of the movie and our opinions as to why it’s kind of carried on. There were a bunch of kids’ baseball films at the time; that was just one of four. People mix them up between “The Sandlot,” “Rookie of the Year,” “Angels in the Outfield,” and “Little Big League.”

It’s funny, too, because on the films I’m working on that I produce, on my film “Adverse” that I produced for Lionsgate, I hired Luke Edwards, who was in “Little Big League.” And just recently, for my TV show “Underdeveloped” that I just produced and starred in, I hired Luke again.

We still joke about how when we were growing up, people would say the wrong baseball movie name. People would tell him they loved him in “Rookie of the Year,” and I would sometimes get “Little Big League.” We got to the point where we just stopped correcting people because they were just saying that they loved it and that was good enough, it didn’t matter if they got the details right.

For me, at the end of that conversation, what it had was that mother/son relationship, and it really had the mom having so much strength. And that’s maybe why it carried on to a different level because it had this other element. Amy Morton is so great in the movie portraying that role and that strength as a single parent.

I’m a big believer in single parents, I have my mom who is my mentor and hero in a lot of ways. The person who I rely on, like Henry relied on, his mom.

MMO: You mentioned July 2 at Wrigley Field. Are there any other events currently planned to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary?

Nicholas: My band (Thomas Nicholas Band) plays in Chicago and all around Illinois. We play everywhere, but we do a lot of shows there. I will probably be playing a concert with my band around that time.

My normal sort of annual tradition is I go out, throw out the first pitch, and then my band plays across the street from Wrigley at HVAC Pub. I’m talking with them and trying to decide if we should do it before this year because they’re showing the movie at Gallagher Way on the big screen outside of it. It’s a Sunday night, so I don’t know if people are going to come party with my band on a Sunday after the game and after the movie. [Laughs.] We might do it beforehand.

I’m a big fan of the Chicago dog. The closest Chicago dog from Wrigley is probably about a ten-minute walk at a place called Wrigley Dog. I’ve had it in my mind that you can make a Chicago dog at Wrigley inside the stadium, but there isn’t one right there in the area. One of my other harebrained ideas is to open up a Henry’s hot dog spot right there in Wrigleyville.

I’ve been talking about it for five years, like the sequel, so maybe this is the year it all comes together.

MMO: What other projects are you involved with?

Nicholas: I like to keep busy. I talked about “Adverse,” my film that came out with Lionsgate that you can see now on streaming platforms. I’m very proud of my work in that. It’s very different from “Rookie of the Year,” it’s a dramatic film, a crime drama.

I have a TV show with Tom Arnold and Mark Pellegrino that we just shot; we’re in post-production now. I did that song with Bowling for Soup that’s a parody of “1985” called “1999.” My band is running around, still playing shows, and working on my seventh album.

I frankly just don’t like to sleep with my music career, producing career and being a dad. I drink a lot of coffee. [Laughs.]

MMO: Thanks very much for taking the time to reminisce about the film, Thomas.

Nicholas: Mathew, it’s my pleasure, man. I really enjoyed speaking with you.

Follow Thomas Ian Nicholas on Twitter, @TINBand

Check out Nicholas’ website here.

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