NEW YORK — Watching the story of Noah Syndergaard’s first pitch of Game 3 of the World Series, a more-high-than-tight 98 mph fastball to Alcides Escobar, evolve after the Mets’ 9-3 victory was fascinating.
Here’s a quick reminder of the pitch in question from the guy they call Thor.
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And here’s the timeline:
11:47 p.m., Royals' clubhouse
Kansas City third baseman Mike Moustakas, clearly still a bit agitated, is talking with maybe 15 reporters in front of his locker. He’s asked if he thought Syndergaard’s pitch had ill intent: “I don’t know. You’d have to ask him. I just know that we weren’t very happy with what happened. That’s part of the game, though.”
Moustakas, you’ll remember, was caught on camera at the time yelling at Syndergaard as soon as Escobar hit the dirt. He was using, let’s say, colorful language, before the camera cut away. He was asked if there was any chance that one just got away: “He showed pretty good command after that first pitch.”
So, no chance.
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11:49 p.m., Royals' clubhouse
Escobar has already been talking with reporters for a few minutes by this time. He’s asked, again, what he thought of the pitch: “Yesterday, to the media he said, ‘I have a plan for Escobar.’ That’s not a good plan. If you want to throw me inside, you can throw me down. You don’t have to throw to my head.”
So that pitch did take it to another level, he’s asked: “Yeah, that’s not good.”
11:53 p.m., Royals' clubhouse
Eric Hosmer isn’t thrilled, either. He’s asked if the players and coaches in the dugout were upset instantly. “Yeah, no question,” he said. “Any time a guy throws at one of your teammates' heads, it’s not going to go over very easy. Of course we’re going to be mad. Of course we’re going to be upset. We’ll find a way to get back at him.”
Syndergaard’s press conference on Thursday was brought up, the one where he said he had some “tricks up his sleeve” for when he faced Escobar.
Did the Royals know about that before the game? “Yeah. No one in here’s stupid. Everyone knows what was said. Everyone knows what was done.”
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12:07 p.m., Mets' clubhouse
Mets reliever Tyler Clippard threw a scoreless inning in the victory, and he’s standing by his locker, finishing up a few last questions. He’s asked what he thought of the pitch.
“I liked it. That was my perspective. I liked it,” he said. “Thought it set a good tone. Anytime, as a pitcher, you have an approach where, ‘OK, I’m gonna throw the ball inside and get him off the plate a bit,’ it’s important. You’ve got to do it. There’s never really any malicious intent behind it. The guy’s been hot. He’s been red-hot. Sometimes, that’s what you’ve got to do.”
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12:13 p.m., Mets' clubhouse
Daniel Murphy’s one of the last Mets to come out for front-of-his-locker interviews. He’s asked for his perspective on Syndergaard’s pitch. “From second base?” he said. “My perspective was the same as y’all’s. It went to the backstop.”
As a follow-up, he’s asked if that was setting the tone for the game. “I think it just got away from him.”
* * *
So let’s take a moment to look at where we stand.
The Royals are clearly upset because they feel Syndergaard’s pitch was too high, too close to Escobar’s head. The Mets are downplaying the issue — and rightfully so, because Game 3 wasn’t won or lost based on one pitch. And it’s not like Syndergaard dominated immediately because of that pitch; the Royals scored once in the first and two more times in the second before he settled down and finished six strong innings.
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While these clubhouse interviews are going on, Mets manager Terry Collins has already spoken in the main press conference area. His take: “You'd have to ask him. He was probably overamped. That's the first time I've ever seen him throw the ball over the catcher's head, I'd never seen that before. He might have been a little bit amped up.”
At this point, everyone’s weighed in on the controversy, except the guy who threw the pitch that started the whole incident.
* * *
12:16 a.m., Main media conference room
The first question asked to Syndergaard, of course, was essentially, was that really a statement pitch? “Yeah, I mean my first words I said to (Mets catcher) Travis (d'Arnaud) when we walked in the clubhouse today is, How do you feel about high and tight for the first pitch and then a curveball for the second one? So I feel like it really made a statement to start the game off, that you guys can't dig in and get too aggressive because I'll come in there.”
Boom.
12:19 a.m., Main media conference room
Syndergaard is told the Royals are unhappy with the pitch, that a person in the clubhouse called it stupid. He’s asked for his response to that.
“I mean, I certainly wasn't trying to hit the guy, that's for sure. I just didn't want him getting too comfortable. If they have a problem with me throwing inside, then they can meet me 60 feet, six inches away. I've got no problem with that.”
Boom, again.
12:21 a.m., Main media conference room
Syndergaard’s comments, by this point, have reporters furiously tweeting his brutally honest quotes. He’s basically given a chance to do a bit of what might be considered damage control: He’s asked, “What was your exact intent with the pitch?”
He didn’t back down one inch. “My intents on that pitch was to make them uncomfortable, and I feel like I did just that. I know that for the past I think every postseason game that Escobar has played in he's swung at the first-pitch fastball, and I didn't think he would want to swing at that one.”
No, he didn’t swing at that one.
* * *
Without mincing words, Syndergaard basically said, “Yeah, I did exactly what the Royals are accusing me of. What are they going to do about it?”
As if New Yorkers didn’t already love this guy.
Maybe Syndergaard’s too young to know how this denial game has been played throughout the decades. He’s just 23, and this was just his 27th start in the major leagues. And maybe he just doesn’t care what the other team thinks.
When you’re 6-6 and 240 pounds and throw a baseball 100 mph, you’ve probably been able to say pretty much whatever you want your entire life.
The whole media conference lasted 6 minutes, 46 seconds. By the end of it — or when Mets fans read about it in the morning — Syndergaard had pretty much become a New York legend. Hey, he already had the nickname.
