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Man v. Wookie

Edgy MD Jun 19 2013 07:48 AM

Matt Harvey and unwritten rules. Future is now for Mets thanks to imposing duo of Matt Harvey, Zack Wheeler Jeff Passan, Yahoo dude ATLANTA – There is a story about Matt Harvey, one whispered around the New York Mets' clubhouse. It sounds fictitious. People who know Harvey swear it isn't. They saw it themselves. He stared down a giant bully, threatened to whip his ass and watched Goliath slink away. Harvey would prefer not to talk about it, because he knows better than to gloat. "I'm not gonna discuss it," he said Tuesday, one of the biggest days of his career, an even bigger one for the franchise he now and for the distant future will embody. Now, in fact, is the perfect time, for the tale runs so wonderfully parallel to the Mets' recent history. During his rookie season last year, Harvey was tired and decided to take a nap in a side room of the Mets' clubhouse. One of baseball's stupid decrees goes something like: Rookies pretty much can't do anything. That includes nap. The self-appointed enforcer of this rule was Jon Rauch, the 6-foot-11 relief pitcher with head-to-toe tattoos and the sort of perma-snarl reserved for nuns and rabid dogs. Rauch, according to people who saw the incident, barged into the room with bucket of ice water, which he proceeded to dump on Harvey. It waterlogged Harvey's phone, which was resting on his chest as an alarm, and incited an even more electrical reaction inside Harvey. He bounded up and challenged Rauch to a fight. Right there. Right then. He gave up 7 inches, about 75 pounds and a gallon or so of bad ink. It didn't matter that he was a rookie. Harvey would not be a joke. He would not be a punch line in Rauch's re-telling. He would not let some mediocre clown play him. Rauch backed away. From that day forth, everyone who witnessed the incident or heard about it understood a new Mets commandment: Thou shalt not trifle with Matt Harvey. And they gleaned something that they may not have understood at the time but certainly will going forward: If he can stand up against the big, bad leviathan and turn into the alpha dog just like that, so can the team that for the last five years has been nothing but joke after punch line after clown bait. (blah, blah, blah... Harvey and Wheeler are awesome... blah, blah...) http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mets-futur ... 30022.html

metirish Jun 19 2013 07:55 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

I think I'd be pissed too if a big amadán did that to me.

G-Fafif Jun 19 2013 07:58 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

I want this to be true. The only reason I wonder about it is how did it take this long to get out? Rooks need to know their place: on the mound, blowing away hitters. They do that, they can damn well nap anywhere they please. If Jefferies, Milledge, Valdespin other "rule"-breakers had maintained torrid paces, they'd have been deemed Team Leaders ASAP. Can you imagine Seaver being treated as a "rookie" by anyone but fellow 1967 National League All-Star Lou Brock? (If you don't know the story, Brock saw him in the Anaheim Stadium clubhouse, mistook him for the clubhouse kid and asked him to fetch him a soda...which Tom did.) I read a note from someone who may or may not have been talking out his ass that he's never been in a clubhouse that's so status-conscious as the Mets'. And it's certainly paid off in victories. And eff Rauch. Never liked him much. (Though should he wander in here with a scowl and bucket of ice water, I'll be sure to tell him he's the best!)

Edgy MD Jun 19 2013 08:02 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

metirish wrote: I think I'd be pissed too if a big amadán did that to me. Certainly. * //Looking up "amadán" But think of the lose-lose situation that Rauch --- clearly unable to see two moves down the chessboard --- found himself in. If he backs down, he loses his teammates' respect and his future with the team is in doubt. But if he lays so much as a finger on the Mets' most precious and fragile asset, he has no future whatsoever on the team and probably in baseball. If he hurts Harvey in a fracas he absolutely provoked, he possibly gets sued by both the player and the team and loses his entire career's earnings. (He could at least see one move down the chessboard.) And so he backed down. Smartest move of his career.

Ceetar Jun 19 2013 08:04 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Of course, if you're awesome you can get away with anything. Disturbing someone's rest and/or workout seems to be crossing the line imo. I get that clubhouse pranks and hazing are ice-breakers for a group of 25+ guys that may not otherwise get along but spend a whole lot of time together, but hell, don't mess with the sleeping athletes and certainly don't ruin their phone.

Edgy MD Jun 19 2013 08:04 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

G-Fafif wrote: (If you don't know the story, Brock saw him in the Anaheim Stadium clubhouse, mistook him for the clubhouse kid and asked him to fetch him a soda...which Tom did.) The way I've read it is that Seaver said, "Get your own Coke, I'm on the team."

smg58 Jun 19 2013 08:06 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

G-Fafif wrote: If Jefferies, Milledge, Valdespin other "rule"-breakers had maintained torrid paces, they'd have been deemed Team Leaders ASAP. I immediately thought about the "Know Your Place Rook" episode between Wagner and Milledge. I wonder what the media would have done if Milledge had stood up to Wagner in such a manner.

metirish Jun 19 2013 08:06 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Speaking of Seaver(All Hail) I remember he made some pissy comments in the booth one time because one of the new call ups didn't know who he was when they were on the same elevator at old Shea. I believe it was Reyes.

Centerfield Jun 19 2013 08:09 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

As with every story, I'm sure there are several sides to this. And nuance is central and key here. If dumping water on Harvey was part of a general rookie-hazing thing, and Rauch did it in good nature, then Harvey is being a dick here. And maybe being a dick is what drives him to be great. I've said before I think Seaver is an ass, but I'd rather have an asshole who wins 20 games than a nice guy who wins 10. I just hope that if in fact Harvey is a dick (and I don't know if he is or he isn't) they are smart enough never to put Harvey in the booth in 25 years. If Rauch was being a dick, and didn't have the support of his teammates, and singled out Matt, then good for him for standing up to him. Rooking hazing is one thing, but if Rauch took it too far (and dumping ice water and ruining a phone might well be) then he deserves to be made a fool.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jun 19 2013 08:10 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Nobody outdouches Matt Harvey. He's the new head jock of the Mets.

Centerfield Jun 19 2013 08:12 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

metirish wrote: Speaking of Seaver(All Hail) I remember he made some pissy comments in the booth one time because one of the new call ups didn't know who he was when they were on the same elevator at old Shea. I believe it was Reyes. Fuck Seaver. My son and I have been on an elevator at Shea with Seaver, and he made it very clear that he wanted everyone on that elevator to pretend we didn't know who he was.

batmagadanleadoff Jun 19 2013 08:37 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Centerfield wrote: Fuck Seaver. My son and I have been on an elevator at Shea with Seaver, and he made it very clear that he wanted everyone on that elevator to pretend we didn't know who he was. I have Seaver's autograph. My mommy got it for me 35 years ago.

G-Fafif Jun 19 2013 08:43 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

(If you don't know the story, Brock saw him in the Anaheim Stadium clubhouse, mistook him for the clubhouse kid and asked him to fetch him a soda...which Tom did.) The way I've read it is that Seaver said, "Get your own Coke, I'm on the team." A few weeks later Lou Brock would mistake him for something other than a big league ballplayer. Tom had been chosen to the National League All-Star [team], a singular honor for a rookie, especially a pitcher. When he walked into the N.L. clubhouse he passed Brock, who was pulling off a shoe. Brock glanced up, saw the youthful face, and mistook an All-Star pitcher for a clubhouse boy. "Hey, kid, get me a can of soda, would you?" Seaver didn't say a word. He walked straight to a box, opened it, took out a can of soda, popped the lid, brought back the can and handed it to Brock. Someone laughed and a moment later Brock discovered his error. "Oh, hey, look, Seaver, I'm sorry." "No, that's all right," Seaver said, more embarrassed now than when he'd been asked to fetch the soda pop. (Actually, he explained later to a friendly reporter, he'd been very much awed walking into this clubhouse filled with players he'd watched from the seats atop Dodger Stadium only a year earlier.) --John Devaney, Tom Seaver: An Intimate Portrait, 1974 I do like the alternate version, however. "Stick it, Brock. You can't outrun Grote and you can suck this through a straw."

Swan Swan H Jun 19 2013 08:46 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Nobody outdouches Matt Harvey. He's the new head jock of the Mets. He may be a douche, but he's the guy I want on the mound on a summer's eve.

G-Fafif Jun 19 2013 08:47 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Swan Swan H wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Nobody outdouches Matt Harvey. He's the new head jock of the Mets. He may be a douche, but he's the guy I want on the mound on a summer's eve. I feel as if 52 years of Mets baseball were leading to that line.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 19 2013 08:55 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Wow!

Edgy MD Jun 19 2013 09:06 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

I'm telling you, Swannie is on fire. Feed him the ball and stay the hell out of his way.

G-Fafif Jun 20 2013 10:14 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Dave Lennon picks up the story in Newsday: The maintenance room was described as not much bigger than a closet, but it has a couch, and the Mets use it as a crash pad off the main clubhouse at Citi Field. Just like medical residents trying for a quick nap during an overnight shift at the hospital, the players often burn a few free minutes doing the same. That's where Matt Harvey, coming off a late August start the previous night, was camped out, snoozing with a cellphone lying on his chest. But Jon Rauch rudely interrupted the nap, a source confirmed Wednesday, when the 6-11 relief pitcher dumped a bucket of ice water on the unsuspecting Harvey. Rauch was not popular with his own teammates, and once Harvey challenged him to a fight over the soaking, as first reported by Yahoo! Sports, his standing among the Mets only grew in their eyes, especially when Rauch backed down. Harvey had barely shed his prospect label by that point, and here he was, not only pitching like an ace on the field but defending his turf off it. The incident was surprising in the sense that Harvey, who teammates describe as "soft-spoken" and "pretty quiet," was all business from the moment that he arrived in Flushing. The other Mets respected that about Harvey, which is why Rauch was alone in his hazing efforts. Initially, Rauch just wanted to use the room, then chose to take out his annoyance on a rookie who is quickly maturing into the next Seaver, Koosman or Gooden. The Mets soon discovered he didn't need protecting; Harvey could handle himself. When approached Wednesday about the incident, Harvey said only, "I'm not going to discuss that at all." It's a mistake, however, to think of Harvey as some kind of clubhouse avenger out to single-handedly change the Mets' losing culture. No one player can do that, and certainly not a starting pitcher, who can only alter a team's course every fifth day. The best thing Harvey can do for the Mets is to be the kind of irrepressible force he was during Tuesday night's 13-strikeout win over the Braves -- and keep doing that. Threatening to go fists with a clubhouse bully enhances the legend, but teammates are more inspired by what Harvey does on the mound. "What he needs to do at this point is lead by example," said David Wright, who took over as captain in spring training. "Because I think it means a lot when you have a guy that's had the success he's had this year and he continues to want to improve and work harder. The important thing is for him not to be satisfied with what he's done so far, to want to continue to excel." That's not going to be a problem with Harvey. But it will be interesting to see just how much that attitude can influence a Mets clubhouse that doesn't have an identity right now. Sandy Alderson has promised even more changes in the weeks and months ahead, so Harvey is one of the few pillars of stability for this crew. The hope is that Zack Wheeler can be another. As Terry Collins said before Wednesday night's game, it's not like they're trying to stage some interaction between Harvey and Wheeler. When the Mets put their lockers together in spring training, "it wasn't for them to become friends," the manager said. "That comes with time." Harvey and Wheeler don't have to become BFFs to get the Mets to where they want to go. Twin aces would be just fine. And Harvey, as focused as any pitcher right now, makes a good role model, even if at 24 he's only a year older than Wheeler. Wright was the Mets' leader long before he received the captain's label, and he shares a similar business-first style with Harvey. But when Harvey needs someone's attention, he has a direct method of commanding it. "I think it's fairly easy to be intimidating when you throw 100 mph," Wright said, smiling. "But I think when you put his stuff with the makeup, the work ethic, the mound presence and that perfectionist attitude, that's a pretty lethal combination for a starting pitcher."And evidently a dangerous one, for those who try to get in Harvey's way.

Edgy MD Jun 20 2013 10:24 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Lennon doesn't hint at a source. Nor does he indicate whether any beat guys had this story but elected to sit on it. (I doubt that, but why is coming out now?) I'm also kind of surprised coverage hasn't led to two questions: (1) Did management know? and (2) Did it lead them to more vigorously pursue dealing Rauch in the second half?

G-Fafif Jun 20 2013 10:36 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

I'll throw in 3) What is Wright's actual impact behind the scenes? David's not his middle reliever's keeper, but just wondering what all that leadership by example adds up to, if anything.

Edgy MD Jun 20 2013 10:42 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Probably could get a current ex-Met from 2012 to talk. Andres Torres, Jason Bay, Mike Nickeas, what gives? I'll bet you Fred Lewis leaks like a sieve.

Benjamin Grimm Jun 20 2013 10:45 AM Re: Man v. Wookie

Maybe it's time for him to consider adult diapers.