The End of Matt Harvey or I Really Shouldn’t Have Brought Three Harvey Shirts

I wanted to start right on topic today, but I need to take a moment to address another related trend that’s really bothering me. I’m not pretending this is the first Matt Harvey article written in the past ten days. There’s been numerous, and I’m sure, even if you tried to avoid the topic, you’ve read or glanced through a couple. And I totally understand that Harvey played up his Dark Knight persona, using it as a marking on his bat, and embracing the fame and notoriety it brought him. Referencing it made total sense.

What I can’t forgive is how all of these “journalists” continue to quote the Harvey Dent line from the Dark Knight. You know the one – “You either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself as a villain”. I get it. Harvey’s fall from grace makes this an easy comparison, especially from a Batman movie who’s title featured his nickname. But for Christ’s sake, does anyone in journalism have an original bone in their body? Everybody had to expect this to flood the media as soon as the Designation for Assignment report leaked. This should follow calling shotgun in a car rules – the first writer who used the quote gets it, and everybody else has to sit in the back seat. In this scenario, the back seat is using less popular quotes from Batman movies. Imaging being designated to quote from Ben Affleck Batman? You’d be better off not writing the article at all.

So in summation, if you used the Harvey Dent quote, I lost respect for you. And if you’re Ian O’Connon, I never had any respect for you anyway.

And now for today’s regularly scheduled article – The Two Faced Betrayal by Matt Harvey Dent or How Matt Harvey Found Himself to be the Villain.

You don’t know. I could have been the writer who called shotgun*

…

Last week was a weird time to be a Mets fan. First, the Mets didn’t win a game the entire week. I guess that parts isn’t so weird, but it’s sure disappointing. Secondly, and probably more important for the Franchise as a whole, was the Designation of Assignment and eventual trade of Matt Harvey to the Reds. Had you told me three years ago this would happen, I’d have assumed we were getting Joey Votto, seven front line prospects, and a cloned Ken Griffey Jr.  Alas, their haul only consisted of one player, Devin Mesoroco, ironically an equally battered and injured player. Considering the circumstances, this seemed like a fair return. I’d have accepted today’s Ken Griffey Jr honestly. Come on, Griffey is awesome.

It would be easy to write a quick response on how I feel about the trade. Well, I mean it wouldn’t be easy for me. Brevity isn’t my strong suit.  This isn’t the time for a quick article anyway. Mets fans are still processing what happened, and while I think the vast majority of fans feel relief, there’s also a lot of regret and remorse. There’s probably a lot of curse words too, but that’s to be expected.

To truly understand the Harvey era, we need to timeline the events leading up to his debut, and the downward spiral that caused this “trash for trash” deal. Lets take it back to 2011.

2011

Truly, this was the darkest timeline for Mets fans, so, I’m going to start with the good news before reliving all the bleakness. Sandy Alderson became the Mets new general manager, replacing Omar Minaya. Minaya’s reign of terror, which usually consisted of overpaying for aging Latin stars, finally came to a close. Say what you will about Sandy, but he did make the team a contender in a few years, although some of the draft picks were Minaya’s, including Harvey. Overall, I’d say it’s been a successful run, if not without pain points.

Speaking of pain points, this is when the Madoff scandal occurred. The Wilpons, really class acts, were tied heavily into the Madoff Ponzi scheme, and unfortunately were able to keep the team despite several agreements to sell a stake (all falling through) and claiming constant poverty. My belief is that the Mets only signed Alderson because he came from money ball, and the Madoff’s need to pocket some money to make up for lost profits. This brought a ton of shame to the organization, but not nearly as much as the team’s play did.

This team was really bad, made up of mostly broken down players who were on the team in the good year (2006) and the really REALLY bad years (2007-2010). There was little fight in the roster, and even less excitement from the fans. One positive was the Mets turning their last few months of Carlos Beltran for Zach Wheeler, who at the time was a top 50 prospect in baseball. This was viewed as a huge success for the organization. Too bad it never really translated. Jose Reyes also managed to lead the majors in batting average right as his contract expired. Reyes tastefully bunted on for a single his first time up and then removed himself out of the game. This is the Floyd Mayweather school of sports.

Bobby Bonilla was paid $1,000,000 on July 1^st.

The team needed a shot in the arm in the offseason. They got something like that.

2012

The Mets wouldn’t start the off season with a shot in the arm, but rather a punch to the fan base’s collective gut – likely full of sandwiches from Keith’s Grill. Say what you will about Jose Reyes the man, or the current version of the player. Back in 2011, he was half the face of the franchise, who had been part of the major league roster since 2003. Reyes was rumored to be offered five years, $40 million by the Mets, which is the equivalent of offering Subway $1.95 for a $5 footlong. Reyes left for Miami where he then bounced around, probably committed domestic violence against his now wife, and wound up back on the Mets five years later as a shell of himself. Awesome.

The Mets in part let Reyes walk to cover for David Wright’s huge contract. In theory, choosing Wright over Reyes made sense as Wright was the better hitter, and his game should have aged well. Naturally, this is when Wright’s body began to betray him, and we’d rarely see a full season from him again. This preseason, an article was writing where Wright and Reyes both wished to play at least one more game together.  That might be the most depressing thing I ever heard.

Wait, I can think of one thing more depressing – Bobby Bonilla received another million dollar check. Ca-Ching.

It wasn’t all completely awful, just the vast majority of it. On June 1st, Johan Santana made Mets history by pitching the team’s first no hitter. Some people would argue that this was an illegitimate no hitter, saying that former Met Carlos Beltran hit a double down the line in the 7^th hitter. However, I reviewed the play and…

Listen, can’t we just let the Mets have something nice? Santana threw an irresponsible 134 pitches in the no hitter, and he was never the same after the outing. And when I saw never the same, I mean he was like 2015 Harvey to 2017 Harvey. He gave his shoulder for that history. Who are you to question if Beltran got a hit. That umpire made a great call.

The Mets also had the 2012 NL CY Young on the roster. R.A. Dickey, a Knuckballer, somehow had the pitch dancing in the right direction the whole season. Dickey quickly filled the void that Reyes’ departure and Wright’s injuries caused by becoming many Mets fans’ favorite player. It was the perfect season for a journeyman, late 30s pitcher, but he would have longevity as he was a knuckleballer. Mets fans were excited about him being on the team for years to come.

I’m biting my knuckle re-reading this, by the way.

The only other high mark in the season was the debut of touted prospect Matthew Edward Harvey, who’s name sounds eerily similar to an attractive, popular blogger, but I digress.

Harvey was dominating in the minor leagues, but was only called up due to injuries. Had the Mets been healthy (HAHAHAHA), Alderson probably leaves Harvey in the minors for another season. He didn’t think Harvey had the consistency or the control to succeed at the major league level. This would be the first time that Alderson and Harvey would disagree, and it would become a long list of disagreements.

Like nearly every start afterwards, Harvey’s debut created buzz. He struck out 11 batters in 5 and 1/3^rd innings, even getting two base hits on the night. It was a near perfect debut. Harvey touching 98 on the radar gun is what stuck out the most. Even teammates said a starter hadn’t touched 98 in a long time. The Mets players were used to their starters struggling for 88. I mean, Dickey’s knuckleball probably would be under most speed limits. It was a huge change to what the team was used to. It’s kind of funny to think about now with Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom on the team.

In his rookie season, Harvey threw 59 and 1/3^rd innings, reaching his cap for the season in Mid September. He struck out 70 and had a 2.73 ERA. It was a small sample size, but those were ace numbers. Nobody believed Harvey was an ace at the time, except probably Harvey, and his ego. Little did we know what we were about to witness.

2013

Let’s start with the good, and something I totally suppressed out of my memory – Jason Bay was released! He was so bad, I forgot he was a major league player until I started reviewing facts for this article. What a wonderful day that was. Bay was an abhorrent contract and an even worse Met. You have to be a special kind of awful to be more than a footnote in Mets history, and Jason Bay sure was.

In fact, the $1,000,000 we sent Bobby Bonilla, yet again, was better spent than the money we paid Bay over 3+ miserable seasons.

We also traded beloved Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey with absolutely no remorse. Losing popular players was happening so frequency, SNY actually had a special addressing the Mets trading yet another popular player as a sort of grieving session. When this happens, you know you’re rooting for a cursed franchise.

However, this trade was actually one of the best in recent sports history. The Mets managed to receive Travis d’Arnaud, who seemed like a good player at the time and Noah Syndergaard, a true ace and media darling. Remember, Dickey was closing in on 40, and even as a knuckleballer, only had a shelf life for so long. The Blue Jays making this deal was certainly a head scratcher, but they assumed they were getting a Cy Young winner. To say Dickey did not pitch like a Cy Young after this trade is like saying that water is somewhat wet.

Other than this heist, the Mets season was pretty forgettable, except their addition to the rotation brought all eyes from across the country. Harvey was practically a star overnight.

In April, he compiled 46Ks and a 1.56 ERA, earning him pitcher of the month honors. In a memorable showdown with Stephen Strasburg, the Mets crowd began to chant “Harvey’s better” after they took the lead. And you know what? It seemed true. Dwight Gooden said that he believed Harvey was the real deal. The Real Deal stuck as Harvey’s nickname for about 14 seconds before he got a more permanent one later in the year.

As the first half went on, every fifth Mets game became must see TV. Dubbed “Harvey Day”, Harvey’s starts began to get national attention. There wasn’t a lot to like about this team, but seeing Harvey Strikeout hitter after hitter was worth it. He was a phenomenon and there was nobody more popular or bigger than him in New York at the time. I don’t care what anyone says as a counter argument – he ran New York starting now until the end of 2015. And this is where the cracks in the armor start to show.

Sports Illustrated jumps at the opportunity to cash into the budding star, and calls Harvey the Dark Knight, partly in reference to New York City being Gotham, and partly because of Harvey’s love of Batman. The nickname stuck (Sorry Doc), and everyone began to call him that. This too would backfire as Harvey seemed to start eating up the spotlight a little too much.

It was at this time Harvey appeared in the body issue of ESPN the magazine. You know, the one where you’re naked, covered up by some sort of object. In this one, Harvey was walking out of a hotel room, covering the sensitive bits with a tray. I mean, I guess it’s ok to show off the goods, but was this necessary?

At the same time, Harvey’s affairs with models began to reach page six weekly. He didn’t stay with any one model for too long. I guess that Body issue photo shoot had some positive effects. Personally, I don’t care what a player does off the field, as long as it doesn’t affect his performance. Don’t misunderstand, at this point, this was not affecting his pitching.

Harvey was so good, he was elected to start the All Star Game, which was being held at Citi Field. Clayton Kershaw was very mad he wasn’t elected to start, but nobody actually likes Kershaw, so it went over fine. Harvey hit Derek Jeter before retiring the side with no other damage. Technically, this was the greatest inning ever pitched in Mets history – no damage and chucking at Jeter. Met fans had a new hero. The real question was if Harvey could win the CY Young.

That question got answered rather quickly, when it was revealed that Harvey had a tear in his UCL and needed Tommy John. It was depressing. He sat in the dugout like a kicked puppy, just wanting to pitch. In fact, Harvey took this to the extreme, originally opting to avoid the surgery in favor of trying to rehab. Sandy Alderson was not amused, and this created the first tussle between the Mets and Harvey. Quickly, it subsided and Harvey got the surgery a few weeks later, but it would not be the last. Harvey Day would end up on the shelf for all of 2014, but not by choice.

2014

This also wasn’t a great year but there was a few key events that didn’t involve Harvey.

First was the acquisition of Bartolo Colon which many fans questioned at first. Colon ended up eating innings, among other things, and became one of the most beloved players in team history. Restaurants still mourn his departure.

The other big event of 2014 was the debut of Jacob deGrom. Originally, deGrom was only meant to be middle relief, but due to some, surprise surprise, injury issues, deGrom ending up starting. He was brilliant in every start and earned the NL rookie of the year. Since then, deGrom’s been nothing but amazing and he’s still probably the Mets best pitcher. However, at the time, we were all very confident it was Harvey.

Usually when a player is rehabbing, you don’t hear a lot from him other than the recovering is going well. Well, apparently Harvey’s was going so well that he was confident he could pitch at the end of 2014. The Mets shot this down saying he was to recover fully and start 2015 on the active roster. Harvey was frustrated, let it be known several times, and never bothered doing his rehab where the Mets requested him too. Even here, when Harvey was still the talk of the town, there was bad blood between the player and the organization. He did ultimately agree not to pitch that season, but I think this began to plant some bitterness seeds that would blossom later.

Look, I’m not a wordsmith. Not every analogy is going to work.

Harvey also found his way to more than his share of Rangers games, usually with a different piece of arm candy at each. No one ever questioned his loyalty to the Rangers. However, with all the arguments and feuding going on, people did question his commitment to the Mets. Harvey was also on record about wanting to sign a $200,000,000 contract. Being in the limelight fueled this questions even more. Already, with four years of team control to go, people began to speculate that Harvey would be long gone, signing a deal elsewhere.

Now personally, I didn’t think anything of these escapades. You don’t rehab for 24 hours. Let the guy have his fun. If only it had been that easy.

2015

A lot of good things happened in 2015, which was weird, before a really really bad thing happened, which wasn’t as weird in retrospect. I could recap all of the amazing events in this season, but I don’t think you want to sit here and read all this. So let’s focus on a few quick.

The acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes almost doesn’t happen if former Met Carlos Gomez didn’t have a hip made out of lead paint and asbestos. In a five day span, Wilmer Flores is crying on the field because he is traded, then hitting a walk off home run after the trade is void (One of the rare feel good moments in sports). Then Cespedes is acquired in, quite literally, the last hour and tattoos baseballs with reckless abandon. The Mets, who had something called a John Mayberry batting cleanup earlier in the year couldn’t hit but exploded after Cespedes arrived. Again, another Alderson masterpiece.

Michael Conforto helped give the offense a shot in the arm when he was called up. All he did from his promotion was hit, and he became a key piece in the post season with several home runs and giving the Mets hope in a Cespedes, Conforot, Wright combination in the heart of the order. Dear Christ that is depressing.

I will never forget when David Wright returned in 2015 because he had the hardest hit I think I’ve ever seen. In his first at bat from yet another lengthy DL stint, Wright absolutely hammered a ball over the Left field fence. That was the moment I think Mets fans thought they could actually win the division, and maybe the whole thing. It was also one of the last true big moments we might ever see of Wright. He had a few more in the postseason, but nothing as powerful. The fact is happened at Philly made it feel was exorcizing demons from the past. It’s one of those goosebumps moments you can’t describe until it happens. It’ll be on his highlight reel when he gets his number retired.

There was also Daniel Murphy’s amazing playoff run, but then he became a turncoat National and blew like eight defensive plays in the World Series so, you know, whatever.

This was also the debut of Thor, giving the Mets, for exactly three months, three top of the line aces for the first time in their franchise history. Thor came in with a reputation of having an attitude, but it was he who helped close out the Dodgers, and it was he who was the only Mets pitcher seemingly unafraid of the World Series until game five.

Trust me, we’ll address game five.

Nobody was really sure what to expect out of Harvey one year after Tommy John. I think most people anticipated a good pitcher, but nobody thought the Dark Knight would be back. By the time April was finished, Harvey looked like he never left. Bryce Harper said that Harvey would win a Cy Young someday.** Pedro Martinez came out and said Harvey might have a better career than him. Pedro Martinez! You know, the guy who had a sub 2.00 ERA during the steroid era. The hype was through the roof.

Harvey wasn’t quite 2013 good, as he showed vulnerability on the mound at times. He had a game early in May where he was lit up for seven runs and his performance wasn’t enough to get an All Star Nomination (which was a little crazy considering how much he came back). Still, he was pretty much 90% of his 2013 version, which is still an upper echelon pitcher. With the Mets finally in a playoff race, the spotlight was really on Harvey, deGrom and Thor. This is what makes the next incident so inexcusable.

Without warning, Harvey’s agent, professional smile Scott Boras said that Harvey’s innings limit was almost up. He said Harvey’s cap for the year was 180, with no extension for the playoffs. He decided to come out and say this right when Harvey hit roughly 160 innings, effectively giving him two starts and that was it. Everyone figured Harvey would bat the comments aside and keep pitching.

And then he didn’t bat anything aside and stayed quiet.

Then he told reporters to speak with his agent.

Finally, he told reporters there is an innings limit.

The media tore his ass to shreds. He was pictured as Harvey Dent (of course) and vilified him. The media and the fans felt betrayed by the pitcher who put the Mets on the map. It got so bad, Harvey had to release a Player’s Tribune article just to get back in people’s good graces. I personally believe that Harvey mostly decided to pitch to save his image. If people shrugged this off, he sits to try and conserve his body for that $200,000,00 contract.

I also think a portion of this falls on the Mets. Harvey was coming off Tommy John, and there was nothing about an innings limit ever discussed. This should have been addressed in Spring Training. And hey, if there was a cap, why not start him a little later than everyone else and let him start his season in May, with no innings worries. I think the Mets thought they had no chance to compete in 2015, got caught, and then found themselves in a tough part. Whatever you want to say about Harvey’s attitude and deferring to talk here, he did pitch. Keep this in mind.

Harvey’s 2015 line remains extremely impressive, but he stepped up and performed great in the playoffs. However, even this was met with controversy as he missed a required team workout… Again, in the playoffs. Isn’t this the time to be a team player? This story lasted for about 15 minutes before the Mets continued to win and got swept under the rug, but let’s be honest, this was a red flag. Even in the postseason, he was still thinking mostly about himself.

And of course, the elephant in the room is Game Five of the World Series. Harvey pitched a gem for eight innings, getting the Mets three outs from a win, and keeping them alive in the series. When he was to be pulled, Harvey demanded to stay in the game. Terry Collins let him, and the Mets fans cheered. This is what we wanted – our ace on the mound in the biggest inning of the season.

He walked the first battle, gave up a double right after, and then the Mets of course lost the game. I don’t want to focus on that. It still hurts. I want to focus on the what ifs here.

I’m not a big what if guy. I believe what happened, happened and we have to move on. However, this is the crossroad moment in Matt Harvey’s career. In fact, this is the last dominant start in his career, and that was three years ago now. Think about what could have happened.

Harvey gets the Royals out in order- The Mets are down three games to two with deGrom and Thor waiting in the wings. They have a chance to win the series and if they do, Harvey is a NY legend for the rest of his life. Even if the rest of his career pans out as it has, nothing ruins his legacy at this point. The Mets honestly might pay him just because.

Harvey doesn’t go back in the game –  Maybe the Mets hold on a win, and Harvey’s start remains the stuff of legends. Maybe Familia blows yet another game and the Met fans continue to back Harvey, saying he should have said in the game and call for Collins’ head.

But this isn’t what happened. Instead, Harvey kept the door open for the Royals and honestly was never the same. Maybe the loss took away from his psyche. Or maybe he was damaged goods. Let’s check the next year.

2016

2016 was supposed to be the year Harvey was back to being his 2013 form. Tommy John surgery typically takes two years to recover from. This was the second year. This was the Cy Young season that seemed to be taken from him in 2013. This was also supposed to be a revenge season where the Mets won the World Series that was taken from them.

It started with an incredibly embarrassing story were Harvey was rushed to the hospital for, reportedly “not peeing enough”. Nobody possibly believes this, right? There was no information on this incident for two days, as the Mets PR team tried to find excuses and came up with that? C’mon guys, we aren’t that dumb. We all know Harvey was either suffering from alcohol poisoning, an STD, or some sort of withdrawal. I’m all for a guy living his life, but this brought Harvey’s party lifestyle back to the forefront, and painting the pitcher in a negative light.

Most people didn’t think it was weird when he struggled in the preseason. It was likely he was rounding into form. And nobody questioned his iffy performance against the Royals on Opening Day because, well, they did win the World Series. Harvy got hit a bit, but it was mostly bloopers and seeing eye singles, the traditional bullshit of the Royals. It was one start after all.

But then one start became two starts then three, and then, it was an issue. Harvey wasn’t able to strike out batters at the normal rate and he wa giving up more hits. Any game where his stat line looked good, it was a struggle. The biggest issue was his slider had no bite, and this was the key to his whole arsenal.

The Mets training staff, and God bless them because they were trying, didn’t notice anything was wrong at first. The team assumed the issues to be mechincal, and sought Harvey to break the habit. Harvey tried, but continued to get pummeled. It was ugly. On the year, he finished 4-10, and had a 4.86 ERA. Numbers that was unthinkable in the past. Without warning Harvey was mercifully put on the DL. Then, he was out for the year. The reports said he was having a rib removed, which obviously made everyone think of Marilyn Manson.

What Harvey actually had was Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. This is a death sentence to a pitcher. The surgery weakens control and velocity significantly. No pitcher who has had this surgery has every returned close to his original ability. The Mets did not make this information known to the fan base. So yeah, that was fun to research two years ago.

Did the 2015 workload cause this surgery to happen? No pitcher has ever matched Harvey’s inning total off of Tommy John surgery, and after what’s happened to Harvey, no pitcher ever will again. I think there’s definitely a factor here. Plus remember, despite all his indeciveness and selfishness, Harvey did pitch. He might have given his career for that World Series. And to think, it may have ended because he demanded to pitch. Damn, there’s a lot to unpack there. I’ll leave that to you, dear reader.

Also this season, Harvey’s star began to fade as Thor became the team’s media darling. Jacob deGrom continues his star raise, and they received contribution from Seth Lugo and Robert “Fake deGrom” Gsellman. The Mets also made the playoffs without much from Harvey. There was something amiss.

2017

Returning from the surgery, Harvey actually didn’t look so bad in his first four starts after an atrocious Spring Training. There was some hope, but many of these outings were tightrope situations. Soon, he was right back to his 2016 level. Then, probably came the worst moment in the Mets troubling relationship with Harvey.

For his May 7^th start, Mat Harvey didn’t show. No, I don’t mean he pitched bad. I mean he didn’t show up at the stadium. This bothered me a lot, and not just as a Mets fan. I went to this game, in a Harvey jersey. It was devastating. The replacement starter, Wilk (No, I don’t know his first name), might have been the worst pitcher I’ve seen, including little league. He threw an 88 MPH fastball, and an 87 MPH changeup. Not ideal. Giancarlo Stanton hit a ball that is still traveling upward a year later.

The reason Harvey didn’t show was because apparently he was heartbroken over a fling with a model. Mets officials actually went to his home to check in on him. Was he actually hung over, or suffering from some withdrawal? Probably. The Mets suspended him three games, and then Harvey took his turn back in the rotation. It was unbelieveably depressing.

The Mets didn’t really care about Harvey’s well being. After yet another DL stint, they pitched Harvey on short rest despite his surgeries. They didn’t view him as anything special anymore. deGrom and Thor had surpassed him, even with Thor stupidly missing most of the year for his own bad decision to skip an MRI. The fans rained boos on Harvey, who took a 6.70 ERA on the year. It was a titanic fall from grace.

The clear toxic relationship between Harvey and Sandy Alderson became like a couple who’s been together a year too long. You could feel the malice. It was only a matter of time when things ended.

2018

One last bit of hope sprung this year. New manager. Mickey Callaway thought they could fix Harvey, and as the results didn’t show up, the Mets still believed he could be a good pitcher. Every bad spring training outing was met with excuses and cover ups. The fastball still touched 95. There was some movement on pitches. But there was nothing consistent.

In his first start, Harvey gave up one run in five innings. The media praised the start, and said the Dark Knight was bat. Anyone watching the game saw a diminished Harvey struggling to crack 91 MPH, and being bailed out by poor swings and near misses. After this start, every pitch was tattooed. He was battered around for several starts, and again, had no answers.

The Mets moved him to the bullpen, where Harvey was visably pissed, brushing off questions by saying “I’m a starter”. He did no better in the pen, regularly serving up homers, and rumored to party the day before being scheduled to pitch. It was no surprise. He was going to do things his way.

The Mets finally had enough and asked him to go the minors. It was clear he needed to reinvent himself. Out of pure bravado, or maybe to save face, Harvey refused to be sent down. The Mets designated him for assignment, and ultimately traded him for Devin Mesoroco. It was ironic, since both players had promise, but suffered so many injures, they are now shells of their former selves. Harvey ended his Mets career with a 7.50 ERA, giving up five runs in two innings in his last appearance.

Most fans were thrilled to get rid of Harvey. He’s been called a bum and an asshole. A few writers even said he had no talent. I think some of these comments are ridiculous, though some are fair.

I don’t think Harvey could have remained a Met any longer. Honestly, he probably needed to go right after he didn’t show up to his start. He was an awful teammate, and truly only cared about himself. With the way he was pitching, being sent to the minors could have been a godsend – away from the New York media and a way to reinvent yourself. What wil he do in Cincinnati, other than give up 40 homers to left handed batters in a ballpark that rivals the Yankees for cheap homers?

But yet, to say he didn’t have talent is just absurd. If we’ll remember how big of an asshole Harvey is, and trust me, he’s a big one, we must remember the talent he had. For years, the Mets were a laughing stock. Harvey changed that. He made them must see entertainment. He became the biggest star in New York, even when the team wasn’t very good. His sheer force of personality talked himself back into an elimination World Series game.

Bill Walton was one of the best basketball players of all time, though most people don’t know that, other than hearing it from others. He really only played three healthy seasons. But when he was healthy, nobody could pass better, and nobody quite dominated a game. Foot injuries ravished his career, and he was never the same.

Perhaps we’ll remember Harvey the same way down the line – for two and a half seasons, he was a top tier pitcher. He had a claim to the best pitcher belt, and while it was probably Kershaw’s, he got to enter the conversation. That’s an achievement in its own right.

In my 30 years of watching sports, no athlete kept my eyes glued to the TV more than Harvey, and this comes from someone who loves basketball and football. He had the aura about him when he was on. He would challenge hitters and never seemed to pay for it. It was actually a surprise when he got hit. I don’t mean giving up a few runs. I mean an honest to goodness single. That’s what made his last few years so painful. It was seeing a superhero unable to stop a mugging.

Harvey changed the national perception on the Mets twice. Firstly, he made them go from a laughingstock to a contender. This is why people still pick the Mets to win divisions and Wild Cards two years after the talent has been dried up.

He also changed them from a contender to a laughingstock. Certainly a great deal of blame goes to his body for betraying him. But if you think all his excessive partying didn’t contribute to that, you’re probably in his entourage.

Unfortunately, both parts are his legacy. Mets fans, try to remember 2013 ad 2015. That’s the Harvey we deserved, not the one we got.

God damn it I referenced the Dark Knight. I’ll hand in my credientials on the way out***

*This was a joke. I hope I didn’t have to explain that. The fact that I can tell a joke makes my article more original than 98% of what’s been released on Harvey*

**Harper actually got his first this off of Harvey earlier this season and sported a lengthy 0 for stint in his career against him. Harvey could beat him upstairs when he threw 98.

***It’s fine. I don’t have any.