Good night, Dark Knight.
Former Mets ace Matt Harvey officially announced his retirement on Instagram Friday after nine professional seasons – his best days coming at Citi Field with the Mets.Matt Harvey is walking away from baseball.
The former Mets ace officially announced his retirement on Instagram Friday after nine professional seasons – a good chunk of that stretch coming with the Mets.
“Goodbye, baseball. And thank you,” Harvey wrote in the caption of his Instagram post, along with a photo of him in a Mets uniform.
Harvey stormed onto the scene at the end of 2012 season and became a hero among fans with a flame-throwing arm and an unflinching confidence.
The term “Harvey Day” was coined to capture the excitement around the days he was starting.
Along with the photo, the 34-year-old attached a long note directed towards Mets fans, documenting a moment from 2013 that appeared to stick with him over the years.
“April 19, 2013. A game I will always remember. I haven’t gone back to really feel or relive some of the highest moments pitching in the big league, especially for the New York Mets. But this particular game hits me extremely hard, making this a very difficult thing to write,” the note read.
“…There is nothing I loved more than getting out of a tough situation in the 7th or 8th inning, to finally let the emotions out, knowing I did absolutely everything I could to help my team win, and to give a powerful fist bump and a scream!
“That day will forever stay in my dreams. I know I pitched well and we were on our way to a win, and as I’m sitting in the dugout, all I hear is the chants overtaking Citi Field.
“Harvey’s Better.”
The game he was referring to was against the Nationals in which he out-dueled Washington ace Stephen Strasburg.
The Connecticut native was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball for a stretch with the Mets, making an All-Star appearance in 2013.
After undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the entirety of the 2014 season, Harvey had a strong return in 2015, helping lead the Mets to a World Series berth.
However, he needed surgery again for thoracic outlet syndrome in 2017 and was not the same pitcher afterwards.
The Mets traded him early in the 2018 season to the Reds for catcher Devin Mesoraco.
Harvey struggled in the years that followed, eventually getting DFAed by the Mets and having stints with the Reds, Angels, Royals and Orioles from 2018 to 2021.
He signed a minor league deal with the Orioles in 2022, but a drug suspension kept him from pitching in the majors last year.
Harvey pitched for Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.