Baseball, the story of Matt Harvey: the former Mets pitcher who will be Italy’s coach at the European Championship

The Black Knight wants to become Prince Charming. And as a soundtrack, at the end of it all, he will play a song by Antonello Venditti. It seems a bit like theater of the absurd and a bit like a metaverse, but instead it’s Italian baseball. And it is the story of Matt Harvey, an atypical pitcher with a great career in MLB. Matt retired as the 2023 season was about to begin and just a few days after starring with Italy at the World Baseball Classic. Decisive for our extraordinary fifth place, complete with a great quarter-final at the Tokyo Dome against the future Japanese champions.

He must have felt great there at the Classic, so that now he has agreed to come to the European Championship which starts next week in the Czech Republic. He can no longer pitch, even though he would like to. And then he will be the pitchers’ consultant, together with the pitching coach Rolando Cretis. Matt is sure he can lend a good hand. We talked about it a few days ago, when he came to visit us in Gazzetta.

THE NICKNAME

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As a good coach’s son (father Ed is a manager in Connecticut), Harvey was an ace at high school, he could have skipped college and immediately started his professional career. But he didn’t do it, not because he had some desire to go to school again, but because he wanted to be valued as much as he believed he deserved. He wanted at least $2 million upon signing and instead the Angels offered him one. A million, which for someone of his age should have been like for Mr. Bovanentura (ok, this is something for real Boomers, young people google), that is, not a little. And so he went to college. At the Mets he then arrived calmly, as he gradually raised the speed of his drive to the 100 mph mark. And then one day Tom Verducci – that is, one of the greatest baseball journalists – decided he would write a story about him for Sports Ilustrated. And he also chose a nickname to put on the cover, because that article would have given the title to the magazine issue. In the Mets there was already Captain America, David Wright, so Verducci decided that Matt Harvey would become Dark Knight, i.e. Batman, as named in Christopher Nolan’s film. Other than Mr. Bonaventura. “Yes, I think he thought of it, Verducci, without anyone having suggested it to him, certainly not me,” says Matt. “I found it and I liked it”. Better this way, since he remained close to him. And even now, in America, it’s Dark Knight. Noah Syndergaard, Thor, would arrive on the team some time later. “Evidently the Mets needed superheroes,” he laughed.

NO REGRETS

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Matt says he has no regrets: “It would have been nice to stay healthier, have fewer injuries. Also because when you can’t pitch, you’re not well even on a mental level, other problems take over and it becomes a vicious circle.” In this sense he could have had even more from his career. At the end of which the greatest of the “What Ifs” concerns the last inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series. Up until then he had kept the Kansas City Royals at bay. But once he came out, the game flew by. “Who knows…”, he says. It’s life, it’s baseball, no one knows what the next inning will bring, much less the last.

LIFE OUTSIDE THE “DIAMOND”

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The important thing is that there is always another one to play, one way or another. Now, in theory, he shouldn’t have anything to do with baseball anymore. “I work for a large company that has offices in New York and London,” she said. “I don’t have a crystal ball, and so I don’t know if I’ll ever get back into baseball in the United States. For now I’m there, I’m 34 years old, I live in New York and I try to make as much money as I can.” So, just to confirm that he hasn’t changed since his college days. Rather, we here could take advantage of the opportunity to give him a professorship in some university with a course on how to get engaged to the most beautiful women in the world. Harvey is dating Monika Clarke, a model. However, just Google “Harvey” and “List of…” and before his records as a pitcher the list of achievements comes out. That is – brace yourselves – Anne Vyalitsyna (Sports Illustrated Swinsuits cover model), Ania Cywinska (Top Model), Asha Leo (BBC presenter and model), Adriana Lima (actress and one of the most famous models on the planet, ex-wife of Marko Jaric), Lo Bosworth, Devon Windsor, Shannon Rusbuldt, Asley Haas. “I’m actually quite an expert on the subject,” he admitted without false modesty. And in the general enthusiasm.

ITALY

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Better get back to baseball. And finding that he’s exciting when a few more innings come along. Like those who await the Dark Knight in the Czech Republic, at the European Championship. “I don’t know exactly what the level will be like. I talked about it a little with the guys, but honestly it’s not that important, baseball is baseball, everywhere. I looked at the rosters, especially the Netherlands one, and I saw a few players I know, on whom I think I can give some advice. I hope to be useful. I really like the idea of ​​being able to do something for Italy, for its growth.”

AND SOLD

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In short, he embraced the cause. In the name of her mother’s family. On her father’s side, however, she is Irish: “Dad also has citizenship, so I’m half Irish and half Italian, a perfect New Yorker.” His origins are in the province of Frosinone, in Boville Ernica. “But I’ve never been there. In Italy yes, I had already come, to Rome, Venice, Florence. Not in Milan, it’s the first time. I hope to go to my mother’s family places soon.” Mother Jackie whose surname is Venditti. It would only be a curiosity if it weren’t for the fact that the most famous of the Vendittis, Antonello, during the Classic, immediately after Italy’s great victory against the Netherlands, also obtained – above all – thanks to Matt, made a very heartfelt post on Instagram. “It’s a thing of historical proportion – he said, moved – only those who have played baseball, like me, can understand what it means. I’m over the moon, it’s like a victory for Roma, a wonderful thing.” He didn’t know the Dark Knight, Venditti. “But now you have to let me hear his songs,” he told everyone in the Gazzetta.