As many New York Mets fans will fondly recollect, before 2012 it had been a while since a young, hard-throwing pitcher had burst onto the scene and truly dominated in Queens. That is, until Matt Harvey made his highly anticipated debut on July 26, 2012, against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Harvey had a start to remember, with 5.1 scoreless innings and a Mets record 11 strikeouts in his debut.
From there, Harvey quickly rose to stardom in New York, leading to the event known as “Harvey Day” that was one of the weekly highlights for Mets fans in 2013.