Former Met Matt Harvey retires from baseball

Matt Harvey, the former Mets ace and one-time "Dark Knight," announced his retirement from baseball on Friday morning.

"To the fans, most importantly the NY Mets fans: you made a dream come true for me," Harvey wrote on Instagram. "A dream I never could have thought to be true. Who would have thought a kid from Mystic, CT, would be able to play in the greatest city in the world, his hometown. You are forever embedded in my heart."

Harvey, 34, finishes his career with a 50-66 record with a 4.42 ERA and 867 strikeouts in 966 1/3 innings. For the Mets, Harvey was 34-37 with a 3.66 ERA – a far cry from what he expected from himself when he told Newsday in 2014 that his goal was to one day be inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Harvey began his six-year career with the Mets in 2012 and helped lead the team to the World Series in 2015 after missing the previous season to rehab from Tommy John surgery.  

Harvey had one of his best seasons in 2015, going 13-8 with a 2.71 ERA. He pitched one of the greatest games in Mets history when he went into the ninth inning in Game 5 of the World Series against the Royals with a 2-0 lead only to be taken out by manager Terry Collins after a walk and a double made it 2-1.  

Jeurys Familia blew the save and the Mets went on to lose the series-clinching game in 12 innings, 7-2.

Still, Harvey put his career and health on the line by pitching deep into that year’s postseason despite warnings that no pitcher had ever thrown that many innings so soon after Tommy John surgery.  

“I’d like to say I gave everything I had here,” Harvey said in 2021.

Harvey's 2016 season was cut short by a diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome. Harvey pitched for the Mets in 2017 but was a shell of his superhero self. He was designated for assignment in 2018 and began a nomad-like existence on the fringes of the major leagues, his career eventually flaming out after too many serious injuries and what he later conceded was too much partying during his dizzying ascent with the Mets.

But for a few years, “The Dark Knight” owned Gotham as the Mets ascended along with him. There wasn’t a bigger star in New York and Harvey soaked it all in – for better and worse.

Harvey referenced all of it when he returned to Citi Field in 2021 as a member of the Baltimore Orioles and received a sustained ovation.

“Obviously, there have been so many ups and downs here at this ballpark and with this organization that I didn’t really know what to expect,” Harvey said. “And what the fans gave me out there was pretty incredible. I was holding back tears. I’m not going to lie about that. It was pretty hard holding them back. It reminded me, really, of a lot of the good memories.

“Between the injuries and I think me getting in my own way and causing some of those problems, I feel for them — I feel for the fans that maybe I let them down. I guess it’s fair to say that I would understand if they [booed]. I’m extremely happy that they didn’t, and it went the other way. The last couple years, I guess, have been extremely humbling. … I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

Harvey also pitched for the Reds, Angels, Royals and Orioles. He pitched for Italy in this year's World Baseball Classic and hoped to join another big-league organization. But that call never came.

Harvey ended his retirement message with: “I have to say this is my time to say thank you, and goodbye."

With Mark LaMonica

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.