KNIGHT & DAY
World Series MVP returns to Citi Field hoping to start new chapter with Mets
Old-Timers’ Day was more than just a chance to reconnect with former teammates and friends for Ray Knight.
It was a day of healing for the MVP of the 1986 World Series, a rare return to Queens and possibly the end of a contentious relationship between Knight and the Mets.
“It’s a special thing for me to be here and feel like maybe I’m back part of this organization because [Steve] Cohen came in and spoke to me today. I hadn’t spoken to Jeff Wilpon in 30 years, period,” he said Saturday. “Never was invited back, except for the 30-year [World Series reunion]. I was never invited to throw out the first pitch, none of that stuff. And that hurts because you give everything you have and you expect somebody to give a little something back, and that’s what this organization is doing now.”
Knight, 69, revisited his departure from the Mets following the 1986 season. It was right before the parade and then-general manager Frank Cashen called him into his office. Cashen made him an offer, a paltry one-year contract with a $5,000 raise. Knight was insulted and left the Mets for the Orioles.
“I didn’t even enjoy the parade. It just never went away, the hurt never went away, because it never changed,” Knight said. “I felt like here we are, such a close-knit unit and each person pulling strong and hard, and we were a collection of a bunch of pieces that fit together in the clubhouse. A lot of talent, but the right blend, and that makes such a difference. They tore the heart out of that ballclub when they let me go and they let [Kevin] Mitchell go because we were two guys who made a difference in that clubhouse. [Howard Johnson] was a better player than me, no doubt about it. It wasn’t HoJo. It was the other people who came in who didn’t have that same intensity.”
His feelings towards the organization didn’t change much over the years, and it obviously didn’t help that the Wilpons never attempted to rebuild the relationship.
“It hurts to this day,” Knight said, referring to leaving the team he helped win a World Series. “I love the New York Mets, I don’t like the Wilpons, I don’t like any of that deal.”