Holy shit. What a game, you guys. Fantastically pitched on both sides, though it looked like classic Mets to lose on a few sparkling Brett Gardner (booooooooo!) plays and a Marlon Byrd (BOOOOOOOOO!) error. But then, out of the blue, the Mets rally off of Mariano Rivera in the 9th to win in walkoff fashion, and Harvey escapes the loss. Subway series 2-0, good guys. Hooray!
But let's talk about Matt Harvey. The dude is a complete stud. Motherfucker doesn't give a good God damn. Harvey the best, except that he isn't. Nobody is, this is the point. Matt Harvey gets really, really mad at himself when he isn't perfect. Nobody is perfect for any extended amount of time in the big leagues. Nobody. The talent level is too high, and baseball is very hard. If there's one sliver of doubt regarding Matt Harvey's career with the Mets, it's that he beats himself up too much over little mistakes.
Don't get me wrong, I've been an athlete for most of my life. I ran cross country and wrestled in high school, and was a decathlete in college. I get it. You want to be competitive, and you want to be better than the next guy, especially if he's on a rival team or has a hotshot reputation. An often overlooked aspect of athletics, however, is that you need to know your limits, recognize your weaknesses, and work to improve. I worry that Matt Harvey has never really been tested in his career like he is going to be tested in the majors, and I worry that his competitive edge turns on him and becomes poisonous. I don't want another Mike Pelfrey or John Maine head case on this team.
Harvey appears to be above that. He seems to be a smart kid, and hopefully he recognizes that being the best takes real work. Nobody in the majors is untouchable. It takes getting knocked around a few times to identify flaws and improve upon them. I hope that Harvey gets this. Honestly, he probably does. It's just the Mets fan in me that's preparing for the worst.
Unrelated; I really really really hope Matt Kemp breaks out of his season long funk. Dude is too much fun to have such a wasted year.
Spent most of the Mets game exchanging emails with my Yankee fan father.
Catch you crazy cats tomorrow,
-Keaston
No comments:
Post a Comment