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 most likely 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 someway they’re acquainted with considered one of Valentine’s most notorious (or well-known, relying on the individual) moments. He was ejected through the twelfth inning of what could be a 14-inning recreation in opposition to the Toronto Blue Jays — however he would return to the Shea Stadium dugout sporting a disguise.
That disguise is now a enjoyable matter 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 And 25 years later, it’s nonetheless one thing that many snort at — younger and outdated — and one thing that has helped to make Valentine a fan favourite.
The mustache? Valentine stated he discovered eye black stickers from the coaching room and put them on the other way up underneath his nostril.
“I appeared within the mirror, and it appeared fairly good,” Valentine stated. “After which Orel stated, ‘They’ll by no means know,’ when he noticed me. The remaining 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 evening, 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 known as a pitchout. Catcher Mike Piazza took the pitch vast from Pat Mahomes and tried to throw out Stewart. Piazza, nonetheless, was known 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 typical follow for a disqualified supervisor was to look at the sport on tv and have a “runner” relay messages to the performing supervisor. Hershiser volunteered to be the runner, Valentine stated, however the setup at Shea included working up and down stairs, making Hershiser’s supply to relay well timed messages unrealistic.
“Then Hershiser says, ‘Why don’t you come out to the dugout?’” Valentine stated. “That’s when he threw me glasses and the hat.”
Hershiser stated he’s uncertain 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 stated. “It was like, in case you’re going to try this, (you) higher cowl up as a lot as potential. If he stated I gave him the hat, I consider him.”
Hershiser was tasked with blocking the umpire’s view of Valentine, with Mahomes helping. Valentine stated 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 acquainted with 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, significantly with the Mets in the end profitable that recreation on a Rey Ordóñez walk-off hit within the 14th. However the ejection wasn’t humorous on the time, Valentine stated. He was fined $5,000 and suspended two video games for the stunt.
“And (Hershiser) by no means wished to pay half the tremendous — and he was making extra money than me,” Valentine stated 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 thought, or including to the thought.”
So as to add, there wasn’t quite a lot of laughing across the Mets in late Could and early June of 1999. Common 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 group. 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 stated 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 speak about it means it was certainly a second.
“I believe that it’s all about making individuals snort,” Valentine stated. “I’m glad the levity helps right now, and I assume it helped then, too.”
(Photograph: John Conrad Williams, Jr. / Newsday RM through Getty Photographs)