matt harvey mets
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The rise (and fall) of starting pitcher Matt Harvey in New York is something this generation of Mets fans will be talking about for a long time. The hurler most recently made an appearance in the World Baseball Classic with Team Italy. He was effective, and it looked like the 34-year-old still had something left in the tank. And that was despite his fastball velocity hovering around 90 mph.

Alas, that performance didn’t lead to any interest serious enough to get him back with an MLB organization. So on Friday, Harvey took to Instagram to officially announce his retirement from the game:

 

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A post shared by Matt Harvey (@mattharvey33)

I’m not gonna lie, folks. It got a little dusty in here. As we heard during the movie Moneyball, we’re all told when it’s time to stop playing the game. Sometimes it’s at 18, and sometimes, it’s at 40. You just hope you’re able to end it on your own terms.

A situation like Harvey’s just stinks. You know he thinks that deep down he has something left to give. But the situation is telling him it’s time to say goodbye, so that’s what he’s doing.

Before Thoracic Outlet Syndrome appeared to derail his once-promising career, he was an absolute force on the mound. He had the type of bulldog mentality every manager wants from their ace. Harvey was uber-confident in his stuff and ability and lived to pitch in big spots. When he debuted in 2012 and then dominated prior to needing Tommy John surgery in 2013, he gave Mets fans hope when things looked bleak.

Before we could look forward to deGrom Day, there was Harvey Day, and there was nothing like it. I didn’t get a chance to live through Dwight Gooden’s starts at Shea Stadium. But, this had to at least be something close to that.

Even with his struggles over the last two-plus seasons in Flushing, Harvey finished his Mets career with a 34-37 record, 3.66 ERA, and 612 strikeouts in 639.1 innings. Between 2012-15, he twirled a 2.53 ERA and 449 strikeouts in 427 innings.

There are countless moments from Harvey’s Mets career that many of us won’t forget. With the Dark Knight retiring, here are nine that immediately come to mind.

July 26, 2012: Matt Harvey K’s 11 in MLB debut

April 19, 2013: Outdealing Stephen Strasburg

April 19, 2013: Harvey’s Better!

 

May 7, 2013: Nearly perfect vs. White Sox

July 16, 2013: Two scoreless innings to start the All-Star Game

April 14, 2015: First start at Citi Field Post TJ Surgery

April 14, 2015: Plunking Chase Utley with a pitch

(had to slip this one in)

September 26, 2015: Starting the NL East clincher

November 1, 2015: World Series Game 5 performance

So long, Dark Knight. Thanks for the memories, and for laying it all out on the field. Looking forward to seeing you get honored/remembered at Citi Field one day for your contributions to the organization.

You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.

Matt Musico is an editor for ESNY. He’s been writing about baseball and the Mets for the past decade. His work has been featured on numberFire, MetsMerized Online, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! Sports.