So if you had to guess what grand, world changing event that would bring me out of my self-induced absence from the world of blogging, you’d have a veritable topic du jour laid upon your table to choose from. Let’s see would it be the slow burning scandal that is Hillary Clinton’s email habits while serving as Secretary of State? Maybe it’s the allure surrounding Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump and what consequences his candidacy could have for this country if not the world?
For some reason those topics, while I find them fascinating, haven’t done enough for me to shed my Obi-Wan Kenobi-esque writing exile. I guess we all find our muse’s in our own special ways and for me, it wasn’t something I was expecting in the least.
One of my escapes from the weightiness of the world has always been baseball, especially New York Mets baseball. When I heard that Matt Harvey, the Mets staff ace, said that he would stop pitching once he hit 180 innings pitched, I have to admit I thought it was a joke. Granted Harvey missed all of 2014, rehabbing from Tommy John surgery which replaced his partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.
However hearing Harvey, at the apparent behest and counsel of his agent, the infamous Scott Boras, suddenly come out and tell the press of all people, that he’s essentially done, took the wind out of every Met fan’s sails in a matter of seconds as I’m sure it didn’t earn him any favor from his teammates. Harvey has already clocked 166 innings this year and has been a huge reason the team is finally making a run at the postseason for the first time since 2006.
This is coming from the same guy who a few weeks ago was bemoaning the fact that the team was instituting a 6 man rotation, designed to lessen HIS workload. Not to mention the team planned skipping a few of his starts, causing Harvey to yet again throw a media conniption, with every start after his extended rest where he would complain that he was quote, “rusty” due to the rest. What I don’t understand is, if this was the plan all along, that his total would be 180 innings, then why not just start his season in late May? Silly me.
The Dark Knight, as he’s been dubbed by fans and media, has a credibility issue, created by his own hand with a nudge by his agent Scott Boras. Boras is the uber-agent to the sports world. He’s reviled by many, especially those who write really, really big checks to pro athletes. Then you have those who love his tough as nails and bloodthirsty desire to get the maximum dollar amount for his clients
He’s the lawyer we all hear about and hate and wish never existed but would want to have on our side if we needed him. He’s the Johnny Cochrane of sports agents. I think he’s a cancer but just like cancer cells that reside in us all, there’s a part in each of us that would want Boras negotiating our next raise.
I can’t help but feel like Michael Corleone when he discovered that his brother Fredo had sold the family out to Johnny Ola and Hyman Roth. I can understand if Harvey is concerned about his future and his health. Let’s face it, the Mets don’t exactly have a stellar medical history with their players. But the only thing Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins haven’t done is personally carry Harvey out to the mound like Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra, fanning and feeding him grapes.
Everything Harvey said flies in the face of what he’s obviously “portraying” on the field. That’s the definition of a fraud and it kills me to say it All of a sudden the bloody nosed Dark Knight who “looks” menacing on the mound, is coming across more as a show off, bitching that he could’ve pitched last September knowing fully well that that would’ve never happened. A man full of not just himself but full of bravado. Not a good mix in the locker room.
Speaking of the locker room, as I was watching the Mets today take on the Florida Marlins the cameras paid close attention to Harvey in the dugout. And for what seemed like the majority of the game, no one was giving Matt the time of day with the exception of David Wright. The camera cut to both the captain and Harvey having quite a discussion, with Wright doing most of the talking and Harvey just nodding.
As Gary Cohen intimated, the conversation was probably not about the club scene in Miami, but probably the events that were unfolding. It speaks volumes that Harvey was an island onto himself in that dugout. I can’t blame them. If a nobody fan like me feels slighted imagine those guys?
Well needless to say just like a politician in need of corralling and controlling the message, Matt Harvey took to Derek Jeter’s The Players Tribune website to pen a brief but pointed statement essentially telling fans to forget everything that came out of his mouth over the past 24 hours, that he’ll pitch in the postseason.
That may be true but at this point the damage is done. The seeds have been sowed. I have no expectations that Matt Harvey will pitch this postseason if the Mets are lucky enough to get there, nor do I expect him to suit up and some point next next as well.
The world will not come to an end Mets fans if Matt Harvey ends up in another dugout next year. Just go ask Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinal fans who felt like they lost an organ when Albert bolted for the left coast. How’s that working out for the redbirds by the way? Like I told a friend on Facebook, I’d rather have a team of Wilmer Flores’ than one faux Dark Knight anyday.
(Graphic by Joe Maracic @GrafixJoker)
