PORT ST. LUCIE — Paul O’Neill was scared at first. He was leaving home, the only place he had ever known. He had grown up in Columbus, Ohio, a Reds fan, was drafted by the team and had played for no other organization.
So when he received the call in early November 1992 that he was traded, he felt not just rejection, but fear. He was not going just anywhere. But New York, for goodness sake. The big city. The Biggest City.
But a funny thing he noticed after just his first game: The phone didn’t ring with commentary from family and friends. The daily need to find seats and time for relatives and high-school chums, to try to make it all work on and off the field in his hometown vanished. He had to go, of all things, to the media capital of the world to hide.
“Most people would think it is the other way around, but there is just so much pressure when you play at home,” O’Neill said by phone Sunday.
Which brings us to Neil Walker, born and raised in Pittsburgh. He spent even more time as a kid at Three Rivers Stadium than O’Neill did at Riverfront. Walker was drafted and had only played for the Pirates until he received an early December call that he too was going to the Big City.
Walker had some anxiety about it all, but “within a week or so I realized I could just play.” No longer did he have to be the team spokesman and player rep, and handle all the texts for seats, and meet with buddies and family after games when he is dog tired and just wants to go home. There will be no more big dinners at mom’s after Sunday home games. But the exchange is some peace of mind and being surrounded — as O’Neill discovered in New York — by a greater volume of higher-profile players.
“It isn’t pressure when you are at home as much as just a lot more on your plate,” Walker said. “I had a lot of obligations just go away.”
O’Neill said coming to New York “changed my life.” We will see what it means for Walker.
But know that O’Neill arrived after his age-29 season, just like Walker. He came to New York having played 799 games for Cincinnati with 96 homers, a .336 on-base percentage and a .431 slugging percentage, which looks quite similar to the 836 games, 93 homers, .338 on-base percentage and .431 slugging percentage Walker amassed in Pittsburgh. O’Neill came with a reputation of not being able to hit lefties, just as Walker does. O’Neill learned the game from his minor league pitching father, Charlie, as sure as Walker learned it from his major league pitching father, Tom.
O’Neill was made instantly to feel comfortable in New York by Yankees captain Don Mattingly. Walker received a meaningful call on the day of the trade from Mets captain David Wright, who offered any assistance to help ease the transition.
O’Neill entered just as the Yankees were making strides toward a dynasty. He proved he could indeed hit lefties and became a cornerstone of the success.
Walker enters with the Mets as the defending NL champs, perhaps on the brink of an extended phase of success. However, Walker also comes in his walk year. This has a good chance to be his lone season as a Met, with Dilson Herrera percolating below. If the switch-hitting Walker does not demonstrate he can hit lefties, Wilmer Flores could get the starts versus southpaws.
Leaving Pittsburgh means not having collateral built up, allegiances formed. Terry Collins said he will play those he believes help him win, not caring about matters such as a veteran needing a good walk year.
“That is the business of baseball and I feel if I stay healthy, I will put numbers up and get compensated the way I should when I am a free agent,” Walker said.
Someone who knows him well, Pirates GM Neal Huntington, agreed, writing in an email: “He will handle (an unfamiliar environment) great. He is intelligent, articulate, hard working and a good baseball player. He will work to help his team win and because of his abilities and who he is — will put himself in a good situation going forward.”
The Mets believe that, as well, which is why once they failed to land free agent Ben Zobrist, they pivoted by trading Jon Niese to the Pirates for Walker. They see Walker as a low-maintenance, consistent performer, who should offer better defense — particularly when it comes to turning a double play — and more power than Daniel Murphy, unless the power Murphy showed in the playoffs is now a real thing.
“He’s like a great third-down receiver,” said J.P. Ricciardi, a Mets’ special assistant to the GM. “He catches his 50 balls with a lot of production and not a lot of fanfare. He does his job, checks out and then you look and notice he had another good day.”
So I asked Ricciardi if he thinks that will stay the same in New York as in Pittsburgh, and he said, “there is a lot of pressure playing in your hometown. I think it will be easier with us.”