When it comes to major league baseball, there are no demigods anymore. The hulking, spectral players of the past – the immortals whose tales were told down through the ages – exist only in fading memory and faulty story. Your intrepid columnist heard them from his Dad. He was there when Babe Ruth said his final goodbye at Yankee Stadium. He cheered — then all-too-quickly mourned — Lou Gehrig. He was stirred by the grace of Joe DiMaggio, awed by the raw talent of Mickey Mantle, impressed by the acumen of Casey Stengel. As a Yankee fan of the time, he was surprisingly not Yankee-centric. He was a font of information about the dimensions of the Polo Grounds, the nuances of Tiger Stadium, the lineup construction of the 1948 Indians and 1950 Phillies. When Casey was unceremoniously cashiered by the Yankees, my Dad followed him over to the NL and became a Mets expert, while also specializing in NL sluggers. As a very young child, the columnist heard about a very young Tom Seaver, yes, but also learned names like Willie McCovey, Hank Aaron, Dick Allen and Willie Mays.

It was on this bedrock that fandom took hold. I had always held major league ballplayers in awe, even long past the age when such a tack becomes foolhardy. My own versions of my father’s tales involved Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Glenn Davis, the Astrodome and the 1985 Royals. Even up to now, I would look for that ephemeral something-or-other that would turn a very, very good player into a legend. Matt Harvey is on the cusp of earning that designation. He’s very close to already being in my very own Hall of Merit. My Dad would have loved to see him pitch.

But not last night (7/8).

Harvey looked decidedly ordinary, utilizing 50 pitches to get through the first two innings – including an 8-pitch strikeout of his opposite number Tim Lincecum, which had started with an 0-2 count. Harvey could not put anybody away during the first five innings I was paying attention. The parade was all too familiar. Jerry Koosman, Ron Darling, Al Leiter, John Franco, John Maine, Mike Pelfrey… All would get ahead of a hitter, then nibble at the corners, have too many good pitches spoiled as fouls and run their pitch counts too high too quickly. Matt Harvey hadn’t done that yet. Harvey’s game is built on stuff and economy: he uses high quality pitches to quickly dispatch opposing batters, such that he has been able to last into the late innings of most games. (For all his labors last night, he got into the seventh again, but that was more by managerial hijinks than economy of effort.)

But not last night. The guy is human after all. Whodathunkit?

Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley

5 comments on “The Human Side Of Matt Harvey

  • Peter Hyatt

    it’s wasn’t fun when my son asked me what they were talking about a player posing nude.

    Doesn’t anyone give a damn about being an example to children?

    Let the post-modernity rage fall upon me, I still prefer that he would do a stupid shaving cream commercial, and keep his head out of Page Six, NYC night life, supermodels, and just pitch.

  • Michael von Graevenitz

    I watched the game, yes all 16 innings from Pennsylvania, and Matt Harvey is going to have games like this. I know how jet lag can effect the average traveler so even a talent like Matt, it has to affect him. The media and the fans have been too quick to crown him as the next Franchise. Even Seaver and Gooden had their down games. Seaver LOST 13 games in his ROY year. Gooden’s numbers were very similar to Harvey through the first 28 or so starts . Patience! The Mets aren’t going to the playoffs this year. Give Harvey a rest until after the ASG. Start him against Philly on Friday then we’ll see.

  • Joe Vasile

    I’m interested to see just how much his blister issues are responsible for his relatively poor performance in last night’s game, but regardless of that, he was due to have at least one stinker this year.

  • Name

    Reports are he has a blister on his hand. Explains a lot.

  • […] in 15 mostly listless innings. Fast forward to July 8, when they recovered from a rare Matt Harvey off-night and some late-inning defensive robberies by the Giants to score the first win of the sweep. […]

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