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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
A messy legal wrangle between Anaheim and the Angels suggests Arte Moreno’s team will become the Long Beach Angels . . .
Struggling Seattle is making a $555,000 bet on erstwhile slugger Justin Upton, the outfielder cut by the Angels at age 34 . . .
The Chicago White Sox already won their bet on Johnny Cueto, who fired six scoreless innings in his first two starts . . .
With Dodgers star Clayton Kershaw still sidelined, Tony Gonsolin has had a May to remember with a 3-0 mark, 1.69 ERA, and .132 opposing average so far . . .
Also off his game is Boston starter Nathan Eovaldi, who started this week with May marks of no wins, two losses, an 8.31 ERA, and no victories since April 13 . . .
The unheralded season’s surprise has to be Pittsburgh closer David Bednar, who converted all of his first eight save chances while posting a 0.90 ERA and .132 opposing batting average in his first 16 appearances.
Leading Off
The Beauty of Tee Ball
By Ray Kuhn
There is nothing like the first time. At the time it might feel like nothing, non-descript even, but it most certainly has meaning and is a rite of passage.
The conditions are currently a lot different than they were over 30 years ago when I took the tee-ball field for the first time, but everything else is the same.
After three plus years of watching baseball on TV, lightheartedly playing catch, and hitting off the tee in the backyard, it was now time for my daughter, and 23 of her new friends, to begin their careers in Organized Baseball.
Whether this is the beginning of a lifelong stint of playing organized baseball (more that shortly from my daughter’s perspective) or softball, or it is simply a passing phase, it is an occasion that is deserving of some level of attention.
At the risk of sounding like someone who yells at kids to get off my lawn, back in my day playing tee ball meant showing up for the first time at four years old on a field that did not look anything remotely close to the beautifully-manicured Shea Stadium. The next step was fighting for your preferred number, and then getting out there on the field.
Other than that, all I remember from that entire season was throwing a temper tantrum; after all, I was 4, at not being able secure Number 9. That was the point in my life as baseball fan when I didn’t know that being a Mets’ fan would only lead to disappointment (the jury is still out on 2022) and missed expectations of top prospects.
All I cared about then was being referred to as “Gregg” as Gregg Jefferies, who happened to wear number nine, was going to be the next superstar wearing the blue- and-orange.
It is not surprising that things did not really work out for Jefferies and the Mets, but I continued to play organized baseball all through my youth, which then transitioned to slow-pitch softball. While my memory is quite fuzzy from those early years, it must have been positive since nothing traumatizing happened that caused me stop playing.
The good news is that I now get to live through my daughter in her first foray into organized baseball. Instead of cleats and a dirt/grass field of questionable upkeep, tee-ball now means getting to play on a pristine turf field. That means the rite of purchasing new cleats before a season does not apply here, but as I replaced my softball cleats this spring, my daughter proudly declared that she needed new sneakers for tee ball.
If there was any doubt as to whether or not it was a frivolous expense was quickly erased at the joy my daughter had at putting on the new shoes as we headed off to the field for the first time. When we arrived the field, my daughter was given a Lindenhurst American shirt with the number 17, and while the first thing I thought of was Keith Hernandez, what the number was, was meaningless. The fact that she and her new friends all had matching jerseys was all that mattered.
At this point, they are not even playing games, and instead it is just a coach-led clinic with parents assisting on the field with their children. To be honest, I am not sure which one of us got more joy out of it, and that is what this process is all about.
Through our new Little League affiliation, we are attending the Long Island Ducks game in a few weeks and that is notable for multiple reasons. Not only do we get to go on the field and have a catch before the game and then run the bases after the game, but it is significant based on the opponent.
The Ducks will be taking on the Staten Island Ferryhawks, which means we get to see Kelsie Whitmore take the field. Being able to see a female take the field playing baseball in a professional baseball league just pushes the impact of the day to the next level.
Next month I will report back about our experiences at the game, but it’s clear that this it is the beginning of something special.
Ray Kuhn can be found writing on Fantasy Alarm and podcasting at Friends With Fantasy Benefits after previously covering the Houston Astros as part of the FanSided network at Climbing Tal’s Hill. Reach him at @ray_kuhn_28 or raykuhn57@gmail.com as he is always interested in talking or writing about our great game.
Cleaning Up
Jay Horwitz Caps 42-Year Mets Career With Terrific Tome
By Dan Schlossberg
Jay Horwitz wanted to be Pierre Salinger.
When he was a college student at Fairleigh Dickinson University, the lifelong resident of Clifton, NJ longed to follow in the footsteps of President Kennedy’s press secretary.
That’s what he told a crowd of admirers at Clifton Jewish Center last Sunday before talking about his life as a publicist — first for FDU and finally for the Mets. He now runs the team’s alumni association and doubles as team historian.
On April 1, 1980, his first day on the job, Horwitz got lost trying to find Shea Stadium. He called, someone came to get him, and the rest is history.
Now 76, he never married, mainly because of time constraints caused by his job as Director of Media Relations for the Mets. He did that job well: the press box at Citi Field was just renamed in his honor.
“It’s all about relationships,” said Horwitz, who has an artificial right eye as the result of his mother’s pre-natal bout with German measles.
Joe Torre, the Hall of Fame manager, helped Horwitz when he managed the Mets. “Joe brought me into the clubhouse and took me under his wing,” Horwitz revealed.
The affable baseball historian was with the Mets for their 1986 world championship season. He even cracked a knuckle trying to take off his Clifton High School ring so that he could wear the World Series ring the team voted him.
Horwitz was there through a roller-coaster of emotions, including the team’s reaction to the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York. Manager Bobby Valentine, closer John Franco, starter Al Leiter, and catcher Mike Piazza were the mainstays who used Shea as a staging area to help Metropolitan Area residents in need.
“We felt we made a difference in the community,” said Horwitz, who got to know Ed Kranepool, Ron Swoboda, Art Shamsky, Tom Seaver, Darryl Strawberry, Doc Gooden, and other Mets heroes.
He’s looking forward to July 24, when the late Gil Hodges will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame after a long wait, and August 27, when the Mets will bring back a popular but forgotten tradition, Old Timers Day. Pedro Martinez and Keith Hernandez will be featured guests this year.
“The Miracle Mets never would have won without Gil Hodges,” Horwitz said of the manager, who died from a heart attack at age 47 in 1972. “The Cubs were 11 1/2 games ahead in August with Leo Durocher managing.”
Never an autograph collector, Horwitz preferred photographs. But he said he doesn’t own much Mets memorabilia.
Asked whether there could be a Subway Series this fall, he shook his head. “Anything can happen in the playoffs,” he said, noting that a team has to win 11 games to become a world champion (the Braves went 11-6 in the 2021 postseason).
He does like the team’s new manager, Buck Showalter, who also managed the Yankees during the George Steinbrenner years. “Buck is the perfect manager for the Mets,” Horwitz said. “You need a strong voice in the locker room.”
Horwitz goes to work three days a week but also does a regular podcast, reaching out to players he knows. His long guest list has included Benny Agbayani, Turk Wendell Willie Randolph, Kranepol, Valentine, and Torre, among others.
Jacob deGrom, 40 years younger than Horwitz, has become such a good friend that he wrote the foreword to the new book, lovingly called Mr. Met.
His ability to laugh at himself has endeared Horwitz to players, managers, and media members. “I wanted the players to trust me,” he said, “and I always told the truth to the media.”
The biggest difference from when he started? “There was no social media in 1980,” he said. “Now there’s no privacy for anyone.”
PR people no longer draft press releases, according to Horwitz. “Everything is on Twitter,” he said.
In the only Subway Series involving the Mets and Yankees, the team from the Bronx won in five games. But the Mets stopped the Yankees’ record winning streak of 14 consecutive World Series games.
A personal note: Jay and I started our careers in the same place at the same time. We were both college interns at the Passaic Herald-News, a daily newspaper later absorbed by the Bergen Record (and now USA TODAY’s Gannett group). Even then, Jay was an off-beat, creative, and innovative guy who knew how to turn a phrase.
His book shows that neither his zany sense of humor nor his affinity for the language has faded.
Ex-AP newsman Dan Schlossberg, a baseball writer since 1969, will be signing books in Fair Lawn, NJ on June 19, Cooperstown on July 6 and 23 and at the Level Hotel on South Olive Street in Los Angeles on July 17. E.mail ballauthor@gmail to book him as a speaker.
Timeless Trivia
“I had the scoreboard right in my face and was trying not to make eye contact with it.”
—Cincy rookie Hunter Greene during a 118-pitch hitless appearance against Pittsburgh that ended with one out in the eighth
Backup catcher William Contreras, brother of fellow backstop Willson Contreras, has had a pair of two-homer games for the Braves . . .
Surprise, surprise: Brandon Nimmo of the Mets is rated the NL’s best center-fielder by FanGraphs . . .
Clay Holmes started this week with the longest scoreless innings streak of any reliever — 21 innings — and the longest by a Yankee since David Robertson had 26 1/3 from September 2011 through April 2012 . . .
Georgia native Kumar Rocker, the former Vanderbilt pitcher spurned by the Mets last year, is eligible for the amateur draft again . . .
With their best pitchers sidelined, the Mets face a rigorous June schedule, with games against the Astros, Angels, Brewers, and Dodgers . . .
Robinson Cano, 39, will earn $37 million from the Mets through next season – even though he batted .195 with one homer and three RBI for New York this year after a 162-game PED suspension . . .
Flashback: MLB rookie Satchel Paige, 42, pitched a complete-game, 5-0 shutout for Cleveland against Chicago on Aug. 13, 1948.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Brian Harl [bchrom831@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.