Matz enjoys atmosphere at Citi Field

If you believe in fate, Steven Matz's magical ride to Citi Field began more than 40 years ago in a deli in Brooklyn. Matz's great grandmother was a fan of the Mets, the new team in town. When she heard they had a promotion in which you could trade box tops for tickets, she pulled out her scissors and got down to business.

"My grandmother saved all those tops in the deli where she worked and then there we would be sitting in Shea Stadium in the very top row,'' Matz's mother, Lori, recalled Tuesday. "It's a little different experience being down here.''

Down here was down on the field outside the dugout at Citi Field, where Lori was watching her 18-year-old son, Steven, get introduced to the media as the newest member of the Mets organization. The Mets signed the 6-4 lefthander late Monday night after taking him with the 72nd overall pick in June's amateur draft.

The Matz family was soaking it all in before last night's game against the Braves.

"This whole day has been very surreal," Matz said as he sat in the dugout wearing a Mets jersey.

For once, a surreal happening at Citi Field was a good thing for the Mets. In a season in which nothing has seemed to go right, the Matz story was a heartwarming respite. The team has high hopes for the Ward Melville star who will be reporting to the Gulf Coast League as early as Friday.

"All the ingredients are there for him to be a mid-rotation type starter," said Rudy Terrasas, the Mets director of scouting. "He's lefthanded. He has a great body. He's got good stuff. His fastball ranges anywhere from 88 to 92. He's got a real good late three-quarter breaking curveball. He's got a feel for a changeup. He's got three above average potential major-league pitches."

Terrasas first became aware of Matz last summer after seeing him in Lakeland, Fla., in the East Coast Showcase.

"He had a good outing there, and was then a guy on everybody's radar,'' Terrasas said. "I'm just glad he was still there for us. We're very excited about his potential."

No one knows whether Matz will make it to the majors or even be with the Mets organization if he does. Yet, the prospect of a local product being a star in Queens is an exciting one. Just ask John Franco, who grew up in Brooklyn and played 15 seasons with the Mets. It was Franco who called Matz's name last June at the draft, and he likes the idea of having another local kid be a star in Queens.

"Growing up, I was always a Mets fans and I always dreamed of playing here,'' said Franco, who was drafted by the Dodgers and played six seasons for the Reds before being traded to the Mets at age 28. "I know what he must be feeling right now. I hope it happens for him because when I got the chance to play here, it was incredible. There's nothing like playing in your own hometown in front of the people you grew up with."

Franco said the hardest thing about playing at home was drawing boundaries and realizing that he couldn't get tickets for everyone he knew to every game. Matz will have plenty of people just in his own family clamoring for tickets as his father, Ron, also grew up following the Mets.

Ron, after posing on the field for pictures with his son, said: "This is the ultimate situation. It doesn't get any better than this.''

Especially when you don't have to bring box tops.