Mr. Met: How a Sports-Mad Kid from Jersey Became Like Family to Generations of Big Leaguers by Jay Horwitz

Reviewed by: Mr. Met: How a Sports-Mad Kid from Jersey Became Like Family to Generations of Big Leaguers by Jay Horwitz Doug Wedge Jay Horwitz.Mr. Met: How a Sports-Mad Kid from Jersey Became Like Family to Generations of Big Leaguers. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2020. 258 pp. Cloth, $28.00. A limited few are fortunate to be considered a baseball lifer, someone who has spent a lifetime in and around the game. For example, Hall of Famer Joe Torre [End Page 217] is a lifer. His time in the big leagues spans from 1960 as a rookie in Milwaukee to currently serving as Chief Baseball Officer for Major League Baseball. He has been named the National League’s Most Valuable Player and has managed in parts of five decades. Unlike Torre, Jay Horwitz never stepped to the plate for an at-bat. He never framed a pitch or threw a runner out. But, Horwitz is a fellow baseball lifer, having spent forty years with the New York Mets, thirty-eight of them as the team’s head of public relations. Horwitz has been on the front lines to observe a lot of baseball history. Not only that, but he has also developed deep friendships with many of the Mets’ front office and ownership teams, managers, and players. His up-close view of the game, coupled with knowing the players both on the field and those working behind the scenes, offer Horwitz a rich understanding of and appreciation for the New York Mets. Horwitz has written a book, Mr. Met, that describes his journey as a self-described sports-crazed kid from Clifton, New Jersey to Shea Stadium and, later on, Citi Field. Horwitz grew up enjoying sports, his childhood highlighted by attending New York Giants football games with his father Milton. The passion for sports grew as he managed high school teams and, once enrolled at New York University, managed its basketball team. After he graduated, Horwitz became a sportswriter covering New York City sports, including the Mets and the Jets, where he discovered he enjoyed writing stories about the personalities of those performing on the field. “A colorful player with a good backstory doing exciting things on the field of play—that was what the readers wanted to know more about. I found that if you just talked to the athletes and paid attention, they’d tell you all sorts of things that went beyond first downs or touchdowns or winning margins” (23). Although successful at sports-writing, college beckoned Horwitz to return to academics, though this time as schools’ sports information director. Horwitz served in this capacity at NYU and then at Farleigh Dickinson University, where he looked for and appreciated human interest stories that were enjoyable and insightful and that transcended box scores. He discovered that these stories attracted interest in the schools and their teams. Horwitz’s advocacy caught the attention of the New York Mets who, in 1980 when Horwitz joined the team, was on its way to a fifth-place finish. Horwitz used his perspective as a former sportswriter to help players prepare for meeting and interacting with reporters. Anticipating the questions that would be asked, Horwitz enabled players to step in front of microphones and cameras with poise and preparation rather than surprise. Horwitz also encouraged players to be honest and direct with the media, and he reminded players and managers that the goodwill created by the approach would help them in the long run. [End Page 218] During his tenure as the head of public relations, Horwitz worked with twelve Mets managers, beginning with Joe Torre and ending with Terry Collins. One of the strengths of the book is Horwitz describing these different leaders and their management styles. With Davey Johnson, the team had a young, confident manager who challenged the team by stating at the beginning of the 1986 season, “We will dominate.” Johnson set the bar high for his team, and they responded. In Bobby Valentine, Horwitz observed a leader who didn’t back down from players who challenged his authority. With Willie Randolph, Horwitz admired how he studied Billy Martin and Joe Torre and was “relaxed and...

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