Defying his personal private prediction, Keith Hernandez made it by means of his complete pregame ceremony with out getting swept up in feelings.
With nary a tear in sight, Hernandez stood close to the pitcher’s mound at Citi Field earlier than the Mets’ recreation on Saturday and basked within the glow of his quantity retirement. After the followers lastly stopped chanting his title, he strode to the microphone.
“New York has been great to me. The Mets have been great to me,” stated Hernandez, who spoke about how “humbled” he was to see his No. 17 plaque lastly get unveiled. “I thank you all, I am truly overwhelmed.”
With former teammates Mookie Wilson and Ed Lynch, plus ex-teammate and present broadcast associate Ron Darling sitting behind him, Hernandez spoke to a packed stadium like a king addressing his royal topics. Mike Piazza, who himself has a quantity within the rafters, launched Hernandez by noting that he might really feel No. 8 (Gary Carter) with them as effectively.
Saturday introduced a full docket for Hernandez, whose brother, daughters, grandson and different members of the family had been flown in by Steve Cohen to assist Hernandez on his big day. Things started with a media press convention an hour and a half earlier than he stepped onto the sphere for the large present. In that press convention, he poked enjoyable at himself, as he usually does.
“Well, I’m a great procrastinator. I did my speech this morning,” Hernandez stated, earlier than recounting the scene on his method to the ballpark. “Driving in this morning, I saw all the 17 jerseys. That was kind of touching. It’ll be like old times tonight, except I’ll be in a suit instead of a uniform.”
The former forty second spherical choose by the Cardinals solely ended up in a Mets’ uniform due to a commerce. With the advantage of hindsight, the well-known transaction is straightforward to declare as an enormous win for each the participant and group. But when all of it went down, on June 15, 1983, Hernandez felt a lot otherwise.
“I’ve learned and read that it was a joyous day in Met nation. Little old me in St. Louis wasn’t very happy,” he stated to uproarious laughter. “What did I know? It was a life and career changing event.”
Not till spring coaching of 1984 did he start to see possession’s imaginative and prescient. While, in Hernandez’s eyes, the expertise was evident instantly, so was one thing else.
“When I came here I noticed that there wasn’t a whole lot of unity on the team. The team had to get together and talk baseball. That’s what my first goal was. Let’s meet after the game. Let’s have a beer in the hotel bar, and let’s talk about hitting. Everyone started having fun, and things gradually changed.”
In succession, the group gained 108 video games within the 1986 common season, knocked off the Astros in a tense National League Championship Series that Hernandez acknowledged was tough for the followers, then grew to become legends by beating the Red Sox within the World Series. The subsequent 12 months, Hernandez was named the primary captain in membership historical past, and when his enjoying days had been over, he grew to become much more ingrained within the group by becoming a member of the SNY broadcast sales space.
Now, he’s ensured of a endlessly standing with the Mets, one thing that got here from the glut of younger expertise he discovered himself surrounded by in that first spring coaching.
“Darryl, Doc, Ron, Ed, Mookie, Roger, Fitzy and Jesse,” he listed. “I was a little listless at that stage in my career. I needed another goal. These young guys inspired me and rejuvenated my career. I never dreamed we would turn it around so quickly.”
Hernandez stays very pleased with the truth that the ‘86 Mets are one of just 12 teams to ever win 108 games in a season, something he said he researched himself on Baseball-Reference. He said he had a lot of fun coming to the ballpark that year, but when manager Davey Johnson publicly stated that the team was going to dominate in 1986, Hernandez wasn’t precisely satisfied till he noticed the proof within the pudding.
“I’m not going to take credit for whipping them into shape,” he stated of the group’s unreal assortment of children. “They were great players, all young and so eager. They just had to learn how to play the game and make rookie mistakes. I was thrust into that [leadership] role because I was 30 years old, eight or nine years in the league.”
At some level early on Saturday morning — he estimated it was about 3:40 a.m. — Hernandez was awoken by a textual content. He stated he was unable to return to sleep after that. When he arrived at Citi Field just a few hours later, his quantity 17 was in every single place: mowed into the outfield grass, plastered on the large dwelling run apple in heart area, throughout the backs of hundreds of followers, and on the sleeve of the Mets’ gamers who he stated have been “a treat” to look at this season.
If the Mets can preserve their mojo going, Hernandez will flip 69 years outdated throughout their postseason run. After that, it’s unknown how for much longer he’ll be across the group. Hernandez has stated he doesn’t know the way for much longer he’ll be within the sales space and finally he’ll have to chop again on broadcasting video games much more than he already has, although he desires to maintain going for so long as he can.
But, as Mets’ radio voice Howie Rose stated whereas he was emceeing the pregame ceremony, there’s yet one more factor for Hernandez to test off his baseball bucket listing now that the quantity retirement is out of the best way.
“If there’s justice in this world, the next stop is Cooperstown.”
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com