At a latest Q&A session, Bobby Valentine fielded a query that mentioned his antics throughout his days as supervisor of the New York Mets. Valentine was reminded of a time the place he wore — and was caught sporting — a faux mustache and sun shades within the dugout. That occurred 25 years in the past.
The one who requested the query? A 9-year-old fan.
“His father and mom in all probability hadn’t even met, but he wished to know,” Valentine joked. “I’ve been amazed on the legs of that minute and a half of my life.”
There are a bunch of baseball followers who weren’t alive on June 9, 1999, but in some way they’re conversant in certainly one of Valentine’s most notorious (or well-known, relying on the individual) moments. He was ejected in the course of the twelfth inning of what could be a 14-inning sport towards the Toronto Blue Jays — however he would return to the Shea Stadium dugout sporting a disguise.
That disguise is now a enjoyable subject for Valentine and Orel Hershiser, who performed a key function within the try to cover Valentine. And 25 years later, it’s nonetheless one thing that many snicker at — younger and previous — and one thing that has helped to make Valentine a fan favourite.
The mustache? Valentine mentioned he discovered eye black stickers from the coaching room and put them on the wrong way up beneath his nostril.
“I regarded within the mirror, and it regarded fairly good,” Valentine mentioned. “After which Orel mentioned, ‘They’ll by no means know,’ when he noticed me. The remainder is historical past.”
June 9, 1999: @Mets supervisor Bobby Valentine is ejected within the twelfth inning. He sneaks again into the dugout Shea Stadium sporting darkish sun shades and a faux mustache. #LGM pic.twitter.com/fMgSiyJ5yu
— MetsRewind (@metsrewind) June 9, 2024
The Mets had been tied 3-3 with Toronto within the prime of the twelfth on that June night time, and Blue Jays infielder Craig Grebeck was on the plate with outfielder Shannon Stewart on first base. In Stewart’s try and steal second, the Mets referred to as a pitchout. Catcher Mike Piazza took the pitch huge from Pat Mahomes and tried to throw out Stewart. Piazza, nonetheless, was referred to as for a catcher’s balk for going too far in entrance of the plate on the throw.
Valentine left the dugout to query umpire Randy Marsh and was ejected. Following the ejection, Valentine thought of methods to get messages from the clubhouse to the dugout. A standard observe for a disqualified supervisor was to look at the sport on tv and have a “runner” relay messages to the appearing supervisor. Hershiser volunteered to be the runner, Valentine mentioned, however the setup at Shea included working up and down stairs, making Hershiser’s provide to relay well timed messages unrealistic.
“Then Hershiser says, ‘Why don’t you come out to the dugout?’” Valentine mentioned. “That’s when he threw me glasses and the hat.”
Hershiser mentioned he’s not sure who got here up with the disguise as an answer, however he’s not about arguing the decision, so to talk.
“I don’t know what his model (of the story) is,” Hershiser mentioned. “It was like, in case you’re going to try this, (you) higher cowl up as a lot as doable. If he mentioned I gave him the hat, I consider him.”
Hershiser was tasked with blocking the umpire’s view of Valentine, with Mahomes helping. Valentine mentioned a digital camera used to seize gamers within the dugout “busted” him.
Hershiser, who now works as an analyst for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was conversant in the relay system. It was one thing he’d seen as a pitcher for the Dodgers when supervisor Tommy Lasorda was tossed from video games.
It’s a joke now for Valentine, notably with the Mets finally profitable that sport on a Rey Ordóñez walk-off hit within the 14th. However the ejection wasn’t humorous on the time, Valentine mentioned. He was fined $5,000 and suspended two video games for the stunt.
“And (Hershiser) by no means wished to pay half the nice — and he was making more cash than me,” Valentine mentioned with fun. “Go determine that out.”
“Nobody was forcing him to do that,” Hershiser responded. “We had been simply serving to our supervisor together with his concept, or including to the concept.”
So as to add, there wasn’t a variety of laughing across the Mets in late Could and early June of 1999. Normal supervisor Steve Phillips had fired pitching coach Bob Apodaca, hitting coach Tom Robson and bullpen coach Randy Niemann after eight consecutive losses, leaving Valentine with a revamped teaching employees and worrying about his personal job safety.
The Mets, nonetheless, managed to show issues round, profitable six of seven after that June 9 win, which really was a fourth consecutive for the staff. The Mets went 17-10 for the month and completed the common season with a 97-66 report. They beat the Arizona Diamondbacks within the NLDS earlier than falling to the Atlanta Braves within the NLCS.
Twenty-five years later, Valentine mentioned he hasn’t heard a lot embellishment of the story. However he has heard tales of him having a disguise prepared at each stadium, which was not true.
To listen to individuals of all ages — even 9-year-olds — nonetheless discuss it means it was certainly a second.
“I believe that it’s all about making individuals snicker,” Valentine mentioned. “I’m glad the levity helps as we speak, and I assume it helped then, too.”
(Photograph: John Conrad Williams, Jr. / Newsday RM by way of Getty Photos)
