6 Times Matt Harvey Has Gone Rogue
A lot can change in a year.
Just ask Matt Harvey.
On August 15, 2013, Harvey was the dude who would pitch with blood dripping from his nose into his mouth. An All-Star starter in his own town. The Dark Knight of Gotham.
Less than two weeks later, he was diagnosed with a torn ligament in his pitching elbow that would eventually -- two months later! -- lead to Tommy John surgery.
And then things got weird:
1. "Today Is About Qualcomm"
Harvey joined "The Dan Patrick Show" in September and obviously had no intention of discussing his injury. "We can set up another call if you'd like to about that subject, but today we're honoring and supporting Qualcomm," he said.
But, um, nobody cares about Qualcomm (no offense, you guys).
Patrick wanted to know about Harvey and his attempt to try rehab over surgery. So did everyone else. Instead, we got an aggressive pitch about some company, and it didn't work, because we still have no idea what Qualcomm does.
Harvey apologized. That was the end of it.
Until...
2. Joe Versus The Volcano
Logic prevailed. Harvey had the surgery in October. Though he was very much in the public eye with then-girlfriend Anne V, the right-hander was enjoying a drama-free offseason.
Then Joe Benigno happened.
The WFAN host, growing tired of Harvey and the supermodel "canoodling" all over town, put the ace on notice in December for being a "major celebrity" who "has basically done nothing."
Word of the rant got back to Harvey, who tweeted and then deleted: "Very classy. Jealousy is a bad trait. #JustDontWatchThen." He also retweeted a message that said "who the f— is Joe Benigno?"
Joe B. blasted him again. Unfortunately for all of us who love this sort of thing, Harvey stayed silent on Twitter. But his social media habits would become a recurring issue.
3. Social Media Slap Fight
https://twitter.com/MattHarvey33/statuses/422700982846242816
Thailand. Vacation. Nothing can spoil that, right?
Wrong.
Yankees fans. Yankees fans ruin everything. Harvey found that out the hard way in January when he engaged in a testy back-and-forth on Twitter with user @NickDeBabylon, who thought the pitcher was having a little too much fun in his spare time.
To be fair, Harvey wasn't the bad guy here. But he was starting to develop a reputation as a hothead. Lesson: if you're famous, don't throw potshots on Twitter. Because, you know, the ENTIRE WORLD is watching.
4. Nobody Puts Harvey In A Corner
Harvey said all the right things as spring training began. He was finally coming to grips with the fact that he would miss the entire season. But oops, someone let Harvey sign in to Twitter again.
In early March, he tweeted "2014 Harvey day will happen," and then deleted it. Are you sensing a theme, people?
The Mets responded by saying no freakin' way, limiting his interviews. Bad move.
During this team-imposed muzzle period, Harvey sat down with Andy Martino of the New York Daily News to discuss his new beef with the team -- so much tension! -- over where he'd be rehabbing. The Mets made the interview as uncomfortable as possible. Harvey threatened to call the union. Martino wrote a sensational piece. We loved every minute of it.
And Harvey kept talking about '14.
5. The Bird
Ugh, Twitter. In April, Harvey posted the old one-finger salute, was given it back by the media, deleted his account, and the world went bananas. This really shouldn't have been that huge of a thing, so we won't go nuts with it. Read about the whole deal here.
He's back on Twitter now. Yay.
6. Hefner, Schmefner
Mets pitcher Jeremy Hefner was injured at almost the same time as Harvey. He recently had a major setback, and will probably need Tommy John surgery again. It's not good. And we're talking about a guy who wasn't rushing to get back.
That brings us to Harvey.
The Mets basically told Harvey to cool his jets. He's too important to risk for a measly outing or two that may or may not have an effect on his psyche. Seriously, his psyche? Manager Terry Collins thought he'd talk it over with him on Wednesday.
The problem? Harvey decided that'd be a great time to go on the radio and talk about how hard he threw earlier in the day during a bullpen session. Oh, and he still wants to pitch in 2014. Great.
Collins went Dad Mode the next day and told the 25-year-old to get with the program. Get real. "Back off." The skipper claimed that Harvey received the message loud and clear, but hinted at something totally obvious: you just never know with him.
In the meantime, we'll keep our eye on Harvey's Twitter account.
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