Matthew Edward Harvey (born March 27, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is considered one of the most dominant young pitchers in the major leagues. Every time Harvey pitches, Mets fans refer to it as "Harvey Day".
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| Matt Harvey |
Harvey previously played at Fitch Senior High School in Groton, Connecticut. After being drafted in the third round of the 2007 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, he decided not to sign with the Angels and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was drafted again in the 2010 MLB draft by the Mets as the seventh overall pick. In his major league debut on July 26, 2012, against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Harvey set a new club record with 11 strikeouts while earning his first career victory. Harvey had a breakout season in 2013, being selected to play in his first Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Harvey then missed the entire 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery but returned to top form in 2015, leading the Mets to the pennant.
After a 2013 magazine cover compared him to Batman, Harvey and his fans have embraced "The Dark Knight" as his nickname.
Early life
Harvey was born in New London, Connecticut; he is the only son and youngest of three children of Ed and Jackie Harvey, both teachers. He is of Irish and Italian descent. Harvey was raised in Mystic, Connecticut, with his two older sisters, Jessica and Jocelyn. His father was a standout athlete at Groton, Connecticut's Fitch Senior High School and attended the University of Connecticut where he played both baseball (as a centerfielder) and football, even appearing in the 1972 College World Series.After UConn, he eventually returned to Groton to coach his former high school baseball team.
Harvey grew up as a New York Yankees fan, especially admiring Paul O'Neill and Derek Jeter, whom he has described as a childhood idol of his.[7][8] At the beginning of every elementary school year, when asked to write about his life goals, Harvey would write that he wanted to play professional baseball.
At Fitch Senior High School, Harvey played both baseball (where he was coached by his dad) and basketball. He was teammates with future Major League pitcher Jesse Hahn on both teams.As a high school freshman, he was able on a few occasions to throw as fast as 90 miles per hour (140 km/h). Harvey also played summer baseball for numerous travel teams across the country, including the South Florida Bandits, the Midland Redskins, and the East Coast Grays. As a high school senior, he was selected as a Rawlings First Team All-American and named to their Northeast All-Region First Team. He was grouped with Madison Bumgarner and Rick Porcello as one of the best pitchers in the 2007 MLB draft and a likely first round pick.However, he fell to the Los Angeles Angels in the third round with the 118th overall pick. As the Angels offered only a $1 million signing bonus, Harvey took the advice of his advisors, Bill Caudill and Scott Boras, and opted to sign with the UNC Tar Heels instead
Personal life
Harvey is a passionate New York Rangers fan and frequently attends their games at Madison Square Garden, sometimes with former teammate Jon Niese. He has been described as perhaps their most prominent and identifiable fan. However, his experience as a hockey player is limited to casual roller hockey and ice hockey at a cousin's backyard rink in Vermont.He is also a fan of the New England Patriots.
Harvey has a high profile in the media. He is known to live a flashy lifestyle, drives an expensive Maserati sports car, has been described as a "lothario" due to his record of dating fashion models, and is frequently mentioned in celebrity gossip columns in New York media. In May 2013, Matt Harvey began dating model Anne Vyalitsyna after meeting her at a New York Rangers game. They broke up in February 2014. In 2015, he began dating Polish model Ania Cywinska.He also appeared nude in The Body Issue of ESPN The Magazine in 2013.
Harvey appeared on the cover of the May 20, 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine, dubbed "The Dark Knight of Gotham," a play on Batman's home city, its association with New York City and the recent Dark Knight film trilogy. Harvey, who had been a Batman fan since childhood, as well as teammates, fans, the Mets and other media sources immediately embraced the comparison.Harvey even had "Dark Knight" carved into the knobs of his bats to begin the 2015 season before replacing it with a personalized hybrid Harvey-Batman logo, versions of which had previously appeared on his locker and on T-shirt. Early in the 2013 season, fans, media and teammates also began referring to any day on which Harvey is scheduled to start as "Harvey Day."
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