Matt Harvey [1] was on the mound at Citi Field. Harvey’s Met teammates were scattered about: Michael Conforto and Dom Smith batting third and fifth, respectively; Jeurys Familia and Robert Gsellman chilling in the bullpen for possible deployment later; Jacob deGrom waiting out a precautionary injured list stint in the dugout, somewhere down the bench from Jeremy Hefner; Tomás Nido in catcher’s gear. But the center of attention, at the park and on TV, was Matt Harvey. Just like the good old Day.
Sort of like the good old Day at any rate. Yes, Wednesday afternoon was Harvey Day, but Harvey Day inverted. Personnel has changed. Times have changed. This season, the Mets win dramatically and tear Patrick Mazeika’s shirt off. Eight seasons ago, the Mets won sporadically and Harvey tore his own clothes off [2] — all of them. Only a few of the Mets who were Mets alongside Harvey between 2012 and 2018 and who are in Mets uniforms at the moment are necessarily Mets you think of as Harvey Day Mets. Then again, when you think of Harvey Day, you don’t really think of any other Mets.
When you thought of the Mets on this Harvey Day, wherein Matt was on that Citi Field mound in Baltimore Oriole black, orange and gray, you thought of them only after you got a load of Harvey. Centering attention was always the sharpest tool in his skill set.
Matt got a really nice hand from the 8,000 or so invited to buy a ticket to this May matinee. There was some thought beforehand that Harvey would not be greeted with open arms after the dissolution of his and our shall we say professional relationship. Matt Harvey was the incredible disappearing Dark Knight by 2017 and 2018. Technically, those years are closer to 2021 than 2012, 2013 and 2015. But they’re nowhere near the heart of Harvey Day [3]. There’s a reason the phrase “good old days” resonates generation after generation. The less old “meh” days aren’t what we come back to in our minds. Nor should we, provided nobody was irrevocably wounded when our affairs cooled from sizzle to fizzle.
Forget the last we saw of Matt Harvey as a Met. Remember the first and then some we experienced. That was something else. That was what made Harvey Day Harvey Day. Nobody else has had a Day all his own since Harvey. I know, I know, we hear [Pitcher] Day for others. It’s not the same. Even if the pitcher in question has surpassed Harvey for superbness, it’s not a Day. It’s a start. With Matt Harvey of the Mets at the peak of his powers, you wanted the full 24 hours.
With Matt Harvey the opposing pitcher, four-and-a-third innings were plenty.
Harvey’s below-middling performance, in which eight Met hits were registered and seven Met runs were scored, wasn’t the point Wednesday. Harvey showing up was the point. The fans showing themselves to have a memory longer than a tsetse fly’s and standing and clapping because Matt Harvey once owned this part of town was the point. They applauded him en route to the rubber. They applauded him stepping to the plate. They applauded him once he departed, no more competitive pitches left in his right arm. They whooped it up more for the many Mets who stuck it to him while he pitched, but they took care of business for somebody who used to take care of business for us.
Harvey and the Orioles lost to Taijuan Walker and the Mets, 7-1 [4]. The Mets are in first place and riding a seven-game winning streak. Both data points are primary grounds for Metsian celebration anytime, but for a day — or a Day — not even they were the point. When the game that ended with Mets high-fiving and Harvey removed in the fifth was over, I wasn’t waiting to hear from Walker or the several offensive and defensive standouts who supported his seven sparkling innings. I needed to hear from the guy in black, orange and gray, the guy who took the L, the guy whose words and actions we developed a habit of hanging on for six years.
As was usually the case when he pitched in 2012, 2013 and 2015, Matt Harvey did not disappoint [5]. Our erstwhile ace copped to the emotion he felt from his former acolytes staging a quick Fan Appreciation promotion, promoting the cause of appreciative fandom. “What the fans gave me out there was pretty incredible,” he told the media. “I was holding back tears. I’m not going to lie about that.”
Chalk up Harvey Day inverted as a win for all involved.