Thank You, David | RE5PECT

With all due respect to Tom Hanks, he had no idea what he was talking about when he said there is no crying in baseball. I’m not a Mets fan, never have been, but I’ve been a fan of No. 5 since before his first big league game. He came to Foley`s for dinner 14 years ago, the night before his major league debut and been the same great guy ever since. So I will proudly admit I shed a few tears Saturday night at Citifield. I didn’t cry for Jeter’s last game or ARod’s send off. I might have come close with Mariano, but I did when I saw Mickey Callaway head out to home plate Ump Tim Timmons. He’d come to get the Captain and the emotions got the better of me.

Everyone likes to kick the Mets and lord knows a lot of times they deserve it. They get an A for last night, however. It would have been an A+ if they had played the countless tribute videos, which included videos everyone from President Donald Trump, Henrik Lundquist, Derek Jeter to Michael Strahan that we’re sent to David, but for some reason they didn’t. Also they could have let the fans in the stands know before the 11th that there was a video tribute after the game.

Once David left, I settled in to watch eight innings of mediocre baseball. My thoughts turned to getting a ball from the game. As luck would have it, I snagged a foul ball off the bat of Michael Conforto. It was a good night.

After David addressed the crowd, I hurried back to Foley’s (Wright’s). Earlier in the week, David had mentioned that he wanted to stop by after the game, but After 13 innings, I figured he’d have other places to go.

But Around 1 am, David’s brothers and friends and family started to show up. He sent an email that he was on his way.

That began one of the best nights at Foley`s. David, as David has always done, posed for every picture (even grabbed the phone and took pictures for a fan who wanted one with WFAN’s Ed Coleman), signed every autograph and even bought pizza for the house at 4 am. He’s always been a classy kid and he hasn’t changed a bit.

As I said, I’m not a Mets fan, but I am a father of two Mets fans, and that’s because of David. I have been a fan of David since Joe McEwing brought him to Foley`s that summer night 14 years ago. I sent Joe a pic of David and I last night. His reply was how thankful he was to have David and I in his life. Joe has that the wrong way around. I am thankful and blessed to be able to call two the best guys to ever play the game my friends.

Thank you David for a wonderful night for your fans and you for being the same good guy you always were. Enjoy the next chapter (I know I can’t mention the R word), enjoy the girls (they grow up so fast) and your family. You will always have a warm Irish welcome here at Foley’s for you and your family.