During a recent Q&A, Bobby Valentine was answering an issue about his antics while managing the New York Mets. Valentine recalled a time when he wore a fake mustache and sunglasses within the dugout – and got caught. That happened 25 years ago.
The one who asked the query? A 9-year-old fan.
“His mother and father probably didn't even know each other, but he wanted to know anyway,” joked Valentine. “I was amazed at the legs of that minute and a half of my life.”
There are loads of baseball fans who weren't alive on June 9, 1999, but are someway accustomed to one among Valentine's most infamous (or famous, depending on the person) moments. He was ejected through the twelfth inning of a 14-inning game against the Toronto Blue Jays – but he would Returning to the Shea Stadium dugout in a disguise.
This disguise is now a fun topic for Valentine and Orel Hershiser, who played a key role in attempting to hide Valentine. And 25 years later, it's still something that many laugh about – young and old – and something that helped make Valentine a fan favorite.
The mustache? Valentine said he found black Eye Black stickers within the training room and placed them the wrong way up under his nose.
“I looked in the mirror and it looked pretty good,” Valentine said. “And then Orel said, 'They'll never know,' when he saw me. The rest is history.”
June 9, 1999: @Mets Manager Bobby Valentine is ejected within the twelfth inning. Wearing dark sunglasses and a fake mustache, he sneaks back to the team bench at Shea Stadium. #LGM pic.twitter.com/fMgSiyJ5yu
– MetsRewind (@metsrewind) June 9, 2024
The Mets were tied 3-3 with Toronto within the twelfth inning that June night, and Blue Jays infielder Craig Grebeck was at bat while outfielder Shannon Stewart was on first base. On Stewart's try to steal second base, the Mets called a pitchout. Catcher Mike Piazza took Pat Mahomes' pitch wide out and attempted to throw Stewart out. However, Piazza was awarded a catcher's balk for going too far in front of the plate when he threw.
Valentine left the dugout to query umpire Randy Marsh and was ejected. After the ejection, Valentine considered how he could get messages from the clubhouse to the dugout. A standard practice for a disqualified manager was to observe the sport on television and assign a “runner” to relay messages to the acting manager. Hershiser offered to be the runner, Valentine said, but the ability at Shea required climbing stairs, making Hershiser's offer to relay messages in a timely manner unrealistic.
“Then Hershiser said, 'Why don't you come into the dugout with me?'” Valentine said. “Then he threw me a pair of glasses and the hat.”
Hershiser said he wasn't sure who got here up with the thought of using disguise as an answer, but he wasn't attempting to dispute the choice.
“I don't know what his version (of the story) is,” Hershiser said. “It was like, if you're going to do this, you better cover up as much as you can. If he said I gave him the hat, then I believe him.”
Hershiser was tasked with blocking the referee's view of Valentine, with Mahomes assisting. Valentine said a camera filming players within the dugout “got him.”
Hershiser, who now works as an analyst for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was accustomed to the relay system. He had seen it in motion as a pitcher for the Dodgers when manager Tommy Lasorda was thrown out of games.
It's a shaggy dog story for Valentine now, especially since the Mets ultimately won the sport on a walk-off hit by Rey Ordóñez within the 14th inning. But the ejection wasn't funny on the time, Valentine said. He was fined $5,000 and suspended two games for the stunt.
“And (Hershiser) never wanted to pay half the fine – and he made more money than me,” Valentine said, laughing. “Find that out.”
“Nobody forced him to do it,” Hershiser replied. “We just helped or complemented our manager's idea.”
In addition, there was not much to laugh about with the Mets in late May and early June 1999. General Manager Steve Phillips had fired pitching coach Bob Apodaca, hitting coach Tom Robson and bullpen coach Randy Niemann after eight consecutive losses, so Valentine was left with a newly formed coaching staff and worries about his own job.
The Mets, nonetheless, managed to show things around, winning six of seven games after the June 9 victory, which was actually the team's fourth in a row. The Mets went 17-10 that month and finished the regular season with a 97-66 record. They beat the Arizona Diamondbacks within the NLDS before losing to the Atlanta Braves within the NLCS.
Twenty-five years later, Valentine said he hadn't heard much embellishment of the story. But he had heard stories that he had a dressing up ready at every stadium, which wasn't true.
When you hear people of all ages – even 9-year-olds – still talking about it, it means it was indeed a special moment.
“I think it's about making people laugh,” Valentine said. “I'm glad the lightness helps today, and I guess it helped then, too.”
image credit : www.nytimes.com