Highlights of the Mets' shark fishing trip

by Tim Reilly March 07, 2018 0 Comments

The video from the now-infamous shark fishing trip have surfaced, courtesy of BlacktipH Fishing. This team bonding experience made headlines for reasons I don’t care to delve back into.

If you let politics dictate who you cheer for, watch in the movies, talk to in a bar, or God forbid, who you allow yourself to run into on a beach while fishing, you're going to be disappointed, and probably live an isolated life. (by @DarrenJMeenan)https://t.co/7YW9piVWyk
— The 7 Line (@The7Line) February 17, 2018

What I do want to talk about is how much I loved watching the guys spending their downtime together. When’s the last time you heard about the Mets getting together just for the sake of hanging out? You can teach a lot of things during Spring Training, but team chemistry isn’t one of them.

The fact that Sandy Alderson tagged along says a lot. I’ve gotten the feeling throughout Sandy’s tenure that he doesn’t typically spend much time with the players, so I found it to be a breath of fresh air to see him join in on the action. It’s nice to see the organization from top to bottom on the same page for once, even if it’s just over a fishing trip.

Meanwhile, it seems Mickey Callaway is quickly living up to his reputation as a player’s manager. He was the mastermind behind this trip, and the guys clearly enjoyed every second of it. And this might be a stretch, but watching Callaway and Matt Harvey reel in sharks together, side-by-side, gave me reason to believe a newfound trust and comfort level between the manager and rotation is already developing.

Harvey is going to be such an integral piece to the Mets’ success this season, and Callaway damn well knows that. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a real, genuine smile on Harvey’s face, and this might’ve been the first time I’ve ever seen him appear to be “one of the boys” with his teammates. Is The Dark Knight ready to rise?

Brandon Nimmo and Kevin Plawecki, two guys looking to finally establish themselves this year, were the true stars of the video. First we had a Plawecki tall tale of a fishing story, and then we had Nimmo looking like it was Christmas morning when a shark struck his line. No one had more fun than these guys, and I’m hoping to see those same smiles carry over into Queens this year.

My biggest fear when I first got wind of this trip was that someone was going to get attacked by a shark. I mean would that really have shocked anyone? If anything, I’m more surprised that someone didn’t come away losing a limb or something tragic occurring.

You could tell this was definitely on the minds of the players. Harvey spent as little time as possible around his catch once it was beached. He disappears out of the shot at the first sign of any movement. His fearless leader wasn’t too far behind…

All in all, this trip looked like a blast. I’m dying to go. The 7 Line outing in Port St. Lucie next season might just have to add shark fishing to the agenda.