Closing the book on the most polarizing player in Mets history.

Screen: MLB/SNY. Good Fundies illustration.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015. Matt Harvey’s first start at Citi Field in 20 months. His return from Tommy John surgery. An announced crowd of 39,489 filled the stands to see The Dark Knight’s homecoming. Five of my college roommates and I made the two hour trek down from Marist College in Poughkeepsie to be witnesses. We met up with my cousin, and the seven of us sat in the upper deck along the left field line. Loud, frantic, and a few Miller Lites deep, the seven of us screamed as loud as we could as Matt Harvey took the mound for the top of the first inning. He struck out nine batters over six innings, giving up three earned runs. It was not Harvey’s most dominant performance*, but to me it was a start that defined Matt Harvey’s Dark Knight persona best.

* The Mets won 6–5. David Wright left in the 8th inning after pulling his hamstring and disappeared until that August. Catcher Anthony Recker took his place at third base, thankfully for just one inning.

Wilmer Flores and Michael Cuddyer were beaned in the second inning that night. Matt Harvey retaliated in the fifth. He drilled Chase Utley right between the numbers with a 95 mph fastball. Utley was a notorious Met killer who had taken Harvey deep earlier. The crowd gladly let the future attempted murderer of Ruben Tejada know they were glad to see him get drilled. My friends were among the many screaming at the top of our lungs ‘HAR-VEY’ in call and response. You could feel the roars of the crowd bounce back as the stadium started to shake. Citi Field was alive. It had never been so loud. It was only the second home game of the season.

Amidst the rising noise, as the umpire issued warnings to both sides, Matt Harvey glared at Chase Utley, his eyes fixated on the veteran for all 90 feet of his amble. Harvey retired Carlos Ruiz to escape the inning, unscathed by his old school baseball approach to justice.

It was that glare, that look on Matt’s face that told Utley, the Phillies, and all other teams across the league that if you mess with his team while he’s on the rubber, you are gonna wear one later. It was The Dark Knight at his finest. It was the Matt Harvey I thought we would see for years to come.

If you told me as I was leaving Citi Field that night that in three years I would be writing about Matt Harvey because he was designated for assignment a little over one month into the season, I would have laughed and assumed you had not taken your medicine. This is a strange farewell. I feel conflicted, and sad. I think most Mets fans feel this way too. We were all sick of Harvey’s antics. The writing had been on the wall for his tenure with the Mets since his infamous ‘no-show’ last season, when Adam Wilk became a head-shaking trivia answer.

Matt Harvey has always been an egotistical, abrasive, and prideful player. A bulldog on the mound, he was fierce and would challenge hitters, winning those battles more times than not. It was fine at first, when he took the baseball by storm, when his golden arm justified his sharp bombast. His personality rubbed people the wrong way, but it was easy for us tolerate when he came out and dominated every fifth day.

None of us envisioned Harvey’s Met tenure ending like this. Not during his debut during the lost 2012 season when he struck 11 Diamondbacks out. Not when he was the National League starting pitcher in the All-Star Game at Citi Field the following year. Not when he was on track for a Cy Young award during his first full season before his body failed him, the first time. Not when he inexplicably came back from Tommy John surgery and was still great, and eventually had an actual major league offense giving him run support.

Harvey expected to win each time out, with good reason. He wanted to be one of the best to ever play, and it showed. For a franchise that had four consecutive losing seasons, branded from the beginning as ‘lovable losers’, it was refreshing to have a young ace come up through the farm. It allowed the fans to be excited about the present, and feel something besides terrorizing anxiety. To compare Matt Harvey to Tom Seaver might be laughable, but they both shared a desire to turn the Mets into contenders right when they came up. Neither of them tolerated losing, and in both cases was a necessary personality to add to their respective clubs. For the Mets to have success in 2015, Matt Harvey was going to be a key factor. They needed his grit, his ‘Fuck You’ attitude, and his elite arm.

I was optimistic for Matt coming into 2018. I knew he would never be the same after getting diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome in 2016. He bounced back adamantly after missing 2014 with a partial tear of his UCL, winning NL Comeback Player of The Year in 2015. He was a key reason the Mets went to the World Series, but was never the same after Game 5 . I don’t like to use ‘what ifs’ but one of the few I do love is ‘What If’ Matt Harvey didn’t come out for the ninth: Where would the franchise be? He went against the advice of his agent Scott Boras and exceeded the formerly agreed upon 180 innings limit down the stretch run. Those extra innings in the postseason likely took a toll on his arm. His livelihood. Maybe losing in such a tragic fashion, after such a dominant performance, took a toll on him mentally too. As soon as 2016 started he looked off. His fastball was flat, velocity down, his superhero persona gone. The Dark Knight had gone missing. That guy who stared down Chase Utley lost that fierce glare that grown men used to fear. Harvey was too proud to admit it publicly, but listening to him speak, and watching his posture on the mound, I truly believe that deep, deep down he knew he didn’t have his elite talent anymore. He knew he could never get that ninth inning back*. He was broken for good this time. He still knows it. He’s just too proud and arrogant to admit it.

* November 1, 2015 was the last time Matt Harvey pitched in the ninth inning of a baseball game he had started.

Matt had been abrasive anytime he faced adversity with the Mets. Throughout his entire tenure it always seemed like the front office was at odds with Harvey over something. Whether it was missing a practice before the postseason, partying in L.A., or considering to shut himself down, anything he did caused controversy. Sometimes he was right, and most times he was wrong, but he always stood proud by his decisions. I thought Mickey Callaway and Dave Eiland could help him turn it around and allow Harvey to succeed. He seemed optimistic. He wanted help and I think he bought into Callaway’s plan during the offseason. Then the season started, and Harvey continued to struggle. They moved him to the bullpen and in a blink that was it; Harvey was done. He felt insulted. In his mind he was beneath the bullpen, but in actuality, he only had a rotation spot to start the season because of his name. He refused to listen. Eiland and Callaway were holding Harvey accountable for his performance, something Terry Collins and Dan Warthen did not do. They wanted him to figure it out in the bullpen and return to the rotation later in the season, but he didn’t care. Matt Harvey thought he was still Matt Harvey, and Matt Harvey was always a starting pitcher.

Of course he did. He excelled at every level in baseball, from little league to the majors he was the best pitcher on the team. The first serious adversity Harvey faced in baseball was having to return from Tommy John. He succeeded, and the future remained bright, but another bad break was right behind it. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, a rare injury, and this bad break proved to be too much. For the first time in his life Matt Harvey wasn’t the best pitcher on the field. Harvey’s diminished skill came by bad luck, but he remained headstrong, and too defiant to change his approach. He wanted everything to stay the same, but he seemed to fail each time he took the mound the last two years. He didn’t have ‘It’ anymore, and the man who showed us the promising future for the Mets was no more. Each outing was torture, then just plain sad. Fans became nostalgic for a time that had not long passed. Earlier today as I watched highlights from Game 5 of the World Series, it was depressing to see the emotion and passion Harvey had. He was on top of the baseball world yet again, and was making a statement. This statement ultimately turned into heartbreak, and the passionate Harvey was no more.

Now Matt Harvey faces a new chapter: Unemployment. I’m sure a team will take a flyer on him, and a change of scenery will be good for Matt, but it will take a total change of heart for Matt to swallow his pride. I do wish him success; I don’t have ill feelings towards him. His time with the Mets was emotionally conflicting. He went from an elite pitcher to below replacement level in in the span of seemingly one second.

How should Met fans remember Harvey? He isn’t a success, but it would be foolish to consider him a bust. For me I’ll remember Matt Harvey as the player who allowed the Mets to transfer over from the David Wright era to the era of five starters. “The Dream Rotation”. I will remember that baseball was cruel to Harvey both physically and mentally, giving him an ego that has been lying to him for years now. A nasty bulldog that opposing hitters feared, transformed into an insecure Shih Tzu that hitters teed off on. Each fan will feel differently about Harvey, but it is impossible to deny his significance in Met history. I know how he made me feel. I know that he was on my side. A New York Met, literally staring down the bad guys.

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