The good news is, for many years, Jon Niese has been paid millions of dollars to throw a baseball. The bad news is seemingly everyone despises him.
While he was never one of my favorite Mets, the hostility towards Niese is bizarre. The only thing remotely offensive about him is, according to a 2013 New York Post article, he pumps himself up on game day by listening to Jason Mraz.
Nobody should feel sorry for Niese. This past week, he signed a minor-league deal with the Yankees for $1.25 million if he makes the team as a middle reliever/spot starter, plus the opportunity to earn $750,000 in incentives. Not bad for someone who would primarily be hanging out in the bullpen. We should all be so lucky.
In fact, the Dave Day (banjo player for the ‘60s proto-punk band The Monks) look-alike appears to be blessed and cursed by luck. He was born on October 27th, 1986, the day the Mets last won the World Series. Good timing. When Niese made his debut with the Mets as a highly regarded pitching prospect in the fall of 2008, Rickie Weeks Jr. of the Brewers homered off him on just his second pitch. It was the first time in Mets history that a pitcher gave up a home run to the first batter he faced in his career. Bad timing.
For the rest of his tenure in Queens, he was a solid, unspectacular contributor, eventually made expandable by the Mets endless supply of stellar starting pitching. Back when the Mets traded him to Pittsburgh in December 2015, Niese complimented the Pirates defense. Quite a few Met fanatics got offended by the comment, and subsequently did what irrational people in the 21st century do best: unleash their anger on social media. Some choice examples from the last 14 month’s include “Jon Niese is the Zika Virus,” “Hope he stinks as he stunk,” “More like Jon Piece of crap,” and the old reliable “Fuck Jon Niese.” Believe it or not though, there are worse things than being compared to excrement and a disease that causes death and makes your testicles shrink.
What looked like a fresh start for Niese turned out to be the worst year of his career, as if the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme music took human form. It got so bad even Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington regretted receiving Niese from the Mets for second baseman Neil Walker, saying publicly, “In hindsight, maybe the two fringe prospects and trying to figure out where to reallocate the money might have been a better return.” That’s right, not prospects, fringe prospects. This was said when Niese was still on the team. It’s one thing to be roasted by anonymous people living lives that are profiles in stupidity and cowardice. But from the guy that actually traded for him?
Making things worse, Walker, a fan favorite, team leader, and Pittsburgh native, was putting up one of his best seasons before a back injury shut him down for the year in August. Meanwhile, Niese was buried in the bullpen, got traded back to the Mets in August, and soon after was also done for the year after getting knee surgery.
Yankee fans once booed Derek Jeter, someone so beloved I saw a grown man repeatedly chant “DEREK JETER!” for no apparent reason during a Rush show at Jones Beach. So realistically, it may not be too long before Niese hears his first “YOU SUCK!!” However, this Mets fan wishes him the best in the Bronx. At least up until they face the Yankees this summer. On that occasion, to quote a recent one-word assessment of Niese on social media, “STINKS!”
Matt Leinwohl