Jason Decrow/Associated Press
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The 2004 baseball season was a turning points for the Mets. It was the final year of Art Howe’s forgettable reign as manager and the last season that the storied lefties John Franco and Al Leiter pitched for their boyhood team.
But new beginnings also emerged that year: David Wright made his debut in July, and then in October the Mets owner Fred Wilpon brought back Omar Minaya to be general manager.
All of those men, minus Howe, gathered at the Mets’ minor league complex on Monday to watch the team’s current top pitchers — Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard — throw in an intrasquad game.