Turn Back the Pitch Clock

Just a reminder that while we wait for Edwin Diaz to rehabilitate from his WBC celebration injury, next weekend brings the first of fourteen Klassik Kloser Saturdays, Presented by Kwikset, the Official Provider of Deadbolts, Knobs and Handlesets of the New York Mets. That’s a mouthful, but closing out games in 2023 will likely require an armful.

As much confidence as David Peterson earned on Opening Day and Adam Ottavino might inspire based on what he accomplished last year, the Mets recognized the ninth inning as the “turnkey to success” and concluded “there’s no substitute for experience” (forgive me for invoking the sponsor’s press release lingo), so in addition to using whichever veterans Buck Showalter, Jeremy Hefner and Dom Chiti deem ready to go the other six days of the week, the manager and his pitching coaches will now have at their disposal, during the latter stages of Saturday home games, one reliever from the franchise’s “ya gotta believable” past.

It seems the idea was planted in the fan demand to bring back Old Timers Day, so if any leads get away on any home Saturdays this season, blame people like me who thought reviving a great tradition was a win-win. Let’s hope it’s a win-save. Steve Cohen heard the people call for Old Timers Day and saw us flock to Citi Field to cheer the alumni in action. For us in the stands, it was an overdue celebration of history. For Cohen, unbeknownst to the 42,000 or so in attendance, the affair doubled as a laboratory of sorts. He saw how warmly the old players were received and couldn’t help but be impressed by how flexible many of them still were. “Spry,” Cohen says in the press release, “didn’t begin to describe it.”

Thus, at Cohen’s direction, Billy Eppler and the medical staff, in conjunction with the Mets’ partners at the Hospital for Special Surgery, forged a new sports physiology and training unit called Metropolitan Transformation, and, for the past few months, all concerned have worked to return to baseball shape a plethora of previous Mets relievers, with some of the same “revolutionary” research not incidentally being applied to Diaz’s knee — speaking of Klassik Klosers and their state-of-the-art body parts. That we’ll have Klassik Klosers taking on some of the ninths that would have belonged to Edwin is fortuitous timing, but given who owns the New York Mets, you also get the sense that luck is the residue of design here. One way (or spelling) or another, we were gonna have Klassik Klosers at Citi Field on Saturdays this year.

Being that this is a Steve Cohen-driven initiative, these aren’t Quadruple-A hangers-on or even standouts from the independent leagues. These are genuine Met closers and their ilk. True, you gotta wonder if they’re up for it after so many years of idleness was interrupted by a sole Old Timers bow, but “it’s just one inning,” Buck said the other day, “and it gives Hef and Dom and the rest of our people some options we didn’t think we had. If they sign the waivers and their families are OK with it, we’re gonna support them as best we can.” Showalter pointed to some of his old favorites from Baltimore the Mets have signed, like Tommy Hunter, who threw a pair of zeroes Friday night, and preached the virtues of familiarity. “You know what you’re getting with these guys, and they know how to get batters out. I’m not asking anybody for ID. It’s not like I’m serving them drinks. I’ll do that after the game if that’s what they want.”

One is tempted to make a crack about Geritol being the beverage of choice in the Met clubhouse, but glass houses prevent a fan who’s about as old as the franchise for which he roots from throwing zingers.

Because Cohen is funneling so many luxury tax dollars to the other MLB owners, he saw opportunity where others might have viewed only penalty. To the principal owner, the so-called “Cohen tax” presented a negotiation position. All right, he essentially said, you want me to enrich your coffers, I want something for my investment. The genius might have been in framing it as a pilot program from which eventually all thirty franchises might benefit. The Mets will be the first to do Klassik Klosers, but don’t be surprised if you see other teams try it…if their owners can figure out how to make it work the way Cohen has. Hell, by the time they catch up to Steve’s thinking, you can bet — probably at a casino he will get built in the parking lot — he’ll have brainstormed something else even more, shall we say, Amazin’.

Much like with second games of doubleheaders, the Mets will get a “27th man” roster exemption in order to activate their Klassik Kloser every home Saturday. Their opponent will get the same, but can only call up somebody already on their 40-man. Fair? Cohen paid for the privilege of bending the rules to his will. And, let’s keep in mind, if it doesn’t work, the visiting team stands to benefit by putting runs on the enormous Citi Field scoreboard (as they will from their share of gate receipts, as this is already apparently proving quite a seat-filler). With all the new rules coming and out of baseball, it’s no wonder this little number got slipped in to scant notice.

The potential drawback, at least for 2023, is if a Klassik Kloser is particularly successful on a given Saturday, Buck and his minions can’t suddenly lean on him come Monday or even the next Saturday. There is one dedicated Klassik Kloser per the Basic Agreement codicil that enables Klassik Kloser Saturdays, Presented by Kwikset, the Official Provider of Deadbolts, Knobs and Handlesets of the New York Mets. He can’t be used in more than one game during this season; that clause might be revisited next season. I’m not sure if the Klassik Kloser can go in two games should there be a doubleheader on a Saturday — when you’d be dealing with a “28th man” — but how often do you see Buck use a pitcher in two consecutive games on two consecutive days? And in case you’re curious, yes, the three-batter rule applies, though no, none of the Klassik Klosers will enter to Timmy Trumpet. In fact, Cohen has hired famed White Sox organist Nancy Faust to play appropriate ditties for when the Kwikset-secured bullpen door swings open, including “Don’t Say You Don’t Remember”; “Yesterday Once More” and, not surprisingly, “Old Days”.

One interesting element from a historical perspective is if a Klassik Kloser is already on the Hall of Fame ballot, this will not affect his candidacy vis-à-vis the standard five-year wait. You might not have gotten the full relief pitcher buy-in to this notion had certain relievers thought this might backfire. But, really, there’s been loads of enthusiasm. These guys loved the late-inning spotlight in their day, and they sure didn’t mind the attention on Old Timers Day last August or, for that matter, Amazin’ Day last weekend.

As Amazin’ Day showed, McDowell and Wendell are still at home in the New York spotlight.

I’ll admit to a touch of skepticism when I first heard about Klassik Kloser Saturdays, Presented by Kwikset, the Official Provider of Deadbolts, Knobs and Handlesets of the New York Mets, not because I have anything against Kwikset’s fine products or the Kwikset ad patches set to replace the skyline logo on the Mets’ jersey sleeves, but because, let’s face it, not every relief pitcher was a closer when he was active the first time, and it appears they’re trying to pass off a couple of middlemen as if they were firemen. Ah, maybe that’s picking nits at this point. The upside is we get a fresh arm, bionically (or however they do it) engineered to compete anew while making the most of a storehouse of knowledge devoted to retiring batters. I mean retiring them in a game. The uplifting part of all this is the implicit message that “retirement” doesn’t have to be permanent. Life is long. Who wants to stop doing what one wants to do if one can still do it?

The bottom line from the viewpoint of a Mets fan on a Saturday when the club is home is if you buy a ticket to a Saturday game this season, you stand an excellent chance of enjoying relief pitching like it used to be, perhaps relief pitching like it oughta be. Below is the schedule the Mets will announce to the rest of the media on Monday, with all the usual “subject to change/competitive discretion/certain restrictions/no refunds” caveats. Hat tip to alumni director Jay Horwitz for getting us the information in advance and getting these more or less beloved once and future Mets warming up in the pen.

APR 8 vs MIA
John Franco — Well, who else? He’s the Mets’ all-time leader in saves and, you have may have heard, he’s from Brooklyn.

APR 29 vs ATL
Steve Dillon — Dillon pitched before anybody thought in terms of closing, and he was never relied on to do what a Franco did. But did you see Steve at Old Timers Day? At 79, he was in about as good a shape as any pitcher, even backing up home plate on one play. Plus he’s local. I love giving him a shot in this role.

MAY 6 vs COL
Jenrry Mejia — Lifetime bans aren’t what they’re used to be. Call it the Klassik Kloser Redemption Tour. His buddy Familia hooked on in Oakland. Maybe Jenrry has one more comeback beyond this one in him. They might wanna run a test before sending him in, however.

MAY 20 vs CLE
Bobby Parnell — Dude is only 38. And his beard is younger than that.

JUN 3 vs TOR
Billy Wagner — Nice subliminal advertisement for Billy’s HOF chances to have him be the Klassik Kloser on Mets Hall of Fame Day. BBWAA, pay attention to what the lefty still has and always had: heart.

JUN 17 vs STL
Neil Allen — How do you like this for timing? It will be the fortieth anniversary plus two days of the day Allen was sent to the Cardinals for, oh, who was it again? Why, No. 17, as in June 17, come see the reliever who was crafting a pretty good career as a Met reliever before Keith Hernandez became magically available. Hopefully Whitey Herzog will be tuning in from somewhere.

JUL 1 vs SFG
Armando Benitez — I almost think something more is up here, because, as we’ve all been told ad nauseam that July 1 is Bobby Bonilla Day, and we’ve heard Steve Cohen wants to make a real Day of it at Citi Field, presenting Bobby Bo with an oversized check to pay him off what he’s otherwise owed through 2035, and what better grace note for an unlikely homecoming than to bring in as Kloser one of the best righties the Mets have ever featured in ninth innings…and one of the shall we say most polarizing. That’s a nice way of saying Armando’s been gone 20 years and the wounds from his intermittent (cough) missteps are still fresh. But if we’re maybe going to welcome back Bonilla, why not Benitez? Fun fact: the last time Armando pitched in Flushing, he was giving up a game-winning home run to Carlos Delgado while with this July 1’s special guests, the San Francisco Giants.

JUL 15 vs LAD
Jesse Orosco — Alert the FAA! A glove could be falling from the sky somewhere near LaGuardia! Or Jesse could just use a new one. He did pitch for about a hundred years after recording the final out of the 1986 World Series, so we can assume somebody spotted him a new one. (We’ll try to forget Orosco also pitched for those Dodgers, in the 1988 NLCS, and simply enjoy him trying to beat L.A. in 2023.)

JUL 29 vs WAS
Jason Isringhausen — Intriguing choice, as Izzy’s reign as primary Met back-end pen man was brief, just long enough to collect the requisite saves to allow Jason to make it to his 300th in 2011. We think of the young Isringhausen, who was a starter as he set out on what became a long journey in 1995. Izzy’s appearance is scheduled to occur one day shy of the 28th anniversary of his first major league win, itself saved by John Franco. Circle of life, eh?

AUG 12 vs ATL
Randy Myers — I love this on two counts. 1) RANDALL K! The K didn’t stand for Kloser in New York long enough for my taste (no offense, Johnny). 2) If the Mets were looking for a reliever who had no shudder-inducing history versus the Braves, I’m thinking they found their man. The Braves weren’t the Braves as we know them when Randy Myers was getting pumped. No flashbacks, just heat.

AUG 26 vs LAA
Francisco Rodriguez — I’m glad hard feelings have softened. Maybe they already did when K-Rod came back after his “incident” in 2010 to pitch for several more months in 2011. Soon he’d be traded to avoid paying him what he might have been worth (not that we had many games to save in those vesting option/post-Madoff days) and Frankie disappeared from the Met consciousness. Having him come back versus the team he came up with shows somebody is paying attention.

SEP 2 VS SEA
Skip Lockwood — The former Seattle Pilot (is there a current one?) will be in town to show his timeless stuff versus the Seattle Mariners. Lockwood, a heck of an author, by the by, locked down plenty of ballgames for the Mets between 1975 and 1979. I wouldn’t Skip this outing.

SEP 16 vs CIN
Roger McDowell — Watch your feet, Wayne Kirby. Roger had a way with a book of matches and first base coaches’ shoes. I wonder if the Reds’ institutional memory will be disturbed to see the pitcher who snuffed Cincy out as both a reliever and a right fielder on July 22, 1986?

SEP 30 vs PHI
Turk Wendell — A bit of an off choice to Klose out Klassik Klosers? Only in that Turk was the setup guy for Franco, then Benitez before being traded to the Phillies in 2001. But who better among those available to slam the final rosin bag on the first iteration of this innovation? Mr. Wendell is still a popular figure among Mets fans, as gauged by the reaction he drew on Amazin’ Day, and if Steve Cohen is conscious of anything, it’s pleasing a crowd. Also, if a playoff spot is still on the line when September ends, trusting Turk will be second nature.

Oh, should the Met starter on one of these Klassik Kloser Saturdays have a complete game going into the ninth…ha! You almost had me there. We know as sure as we know today’s date that expecting a Met pitcher will be left in to throw nine innings in 2023 amounts to utter foolishness. You’re gonna believe a Met might throw a complete game this year?

Seriously, don’t be so gullible.