No one exemplifies the complicated relationship New York has with its superstar athletes more than Matt Harvey.
The 26-year-old Mets ace has been celebrated by the Amazin’s fans and the media as the Dark Knight who led his team to the 2015 World Series and, almost in the same breath, the object of their ridicule when he posts a vacation photo on Instagram, is spotted at too many Rangers games with a blond model on his arm, or appears on a red carpet in a dapper suit that accentuates his athletic frame. But he makes no apologies for his off-the-diamond pursuits.
“I’m not going to give up enjoying my life and doing the things that I’m interested in doing,” says a thoughtful Harvey, reclining on a leather couch inside the High Line Hotel. “I’m not getting caught in a club at 2 o’clock in the morning. I’m going to basketball games and hockey games and going to events and dinners. [The scrutiny] might be jealousy. I don’t know. Nobody knows the hard work that goes in the morning before I do anything. You can only work out for so many hours a day.”
The hate sometimes poured on the handsome hurler hasn’t dampened his allure. There is no doubt he is the reigning object of fascination in Big Apple sports.
When the 6-foot-4 stud arrived for his first full season in 2013, he was often compared not to his baseball hero Derek Jeter but to Jets great Broadway Joe Namath: freakishly confident and eager to take a bite out of the Big Apple. His prowess and intensity on the mound inspired fans, who dubbed each of his starts a “Harvey Day,” to flood Citi Field. He immediately hooked up with Russian Sports Illustrated model Anne V, posed naked for the ESPN the Magazine Body Issue, and gave a freewheeling interview to Men’s Fitness in which he marveled over Derek Jeter’s ability to date hot women under a veil of discretion. He inspired envy from Yankees fans in a way that hasn’t been seen in the city since the Mets won the World Series in 1986.
But the Matt Harvey of 2016, now single, won’t be posing in the buff or gushing about dating models on the sly. He wears a more seasoned look on his face, and even his bravado is much softer than three years ago.
“I think there’s a lot of learning process in figuring out what things you want to do and shouldn’t do. Maturing in that way is something that comes with experience and time,” he says, his hazel-blue eyes sparkling. “I did some things, including the Body Issue. I’m not going to say I regret doing that, but I think now if you asked me to do it, I would probably say no. It’s just something fun to do when you’re a little bit younger. But I think there have been a couple of articles that came out that I wish I maybe had had a little more insight [into], maybe that I [had been] a little more careful.”
After sitting out the 2014 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Harvey returned in 2015, joining Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom in what became the most electrifying pitching staff in baseball. In a rollicking postseason run, the team reached the World Series and faced off against the Kansas City Royals. But the storybook season ended in Game 5. Harvey, during an otherworldly performance, refused to let his manager, Terry Collins, take him off the mound going into the ninth inning, and the Mets eventually lost the game and with it the series. Fans and sports writers piled on both Collins and his pitcher, but the unflappable big leaguer is at peace with his actions.
“No regrets,” he says of the moment. “I felt great. I felt I could go out there and do everything I could to keep runs off the board. I was very passionate about the game and it showed. And it was something I really wanted. And unfortunately it didn’t work out.”
With no parade down the Canyon of Heroes, Harvey decamped to Mystic, Conn., where he spent some time with his family, and then treated pals to an Aspen vacation. Unlike his teammates who stay in their home states during the off-season, Harvey returned to the city. He starts his days with Pilates in Long Island, then drives to Citi Field for a sweat session. He also spent a month in Newport Beach, Calif., training with other players across the league to prepare for spring training.
When he wasn’t hitting the gym, Harvey took advantage of all New York has to offer. In November, he sat front row at the Victoria’s Secret show and watched as his then-rumored girlfriend Devon Windsor hit the runway in a barely-there blue-and-green bodysuit with wings. He joined New York Jet Eric Decker, Giant Victor Cruz and Olivia Palermo’s model husband Johannes Huebl as CFDA ambassadors for Men’s Fashion Week in February.
“It was a cool experience and great to hang with those guys,” says Harvey, who names the John Varvatos show as his highlight. He even appeared on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live,” where he let loose and divulged to host Andy Cohen that while attending the University of North Carolina, he engaged in sex on the baseball field. “Yeah, you can’t believe everything you hear all the time,” he says with a playful smile when pressed about the admission. And he moved his home base from a one-bedroom in the East Village to a three-bedroom bachelor pad in the West Village.
“I didn’t buy it, but I am splurging on the rent a little bit and decorating. I had an interior designer. It was my biggest off-season purchase,” says Harvey, adding that the décor is homey and dark. “It could look like the Dark Knight pad if that’s what you want to call it. It’s much bigger than my old place. I can finally have my parents come and stay instead of [putting them in] a hotel.” It’s the perfect spread to house the fruits of his gentlemanly pursuits — his suits and shoes.
‘I don’t think I will follow the Derek Jeter model. I’m not afraid of marriage.’
- Matt Harvey
“I think a lot of women would be impressed by my shoe collection,” he says, adding, “It’s getting to the point where it’s ridiculous: I have too many suits, over 20. My suit game has stepped its level up, and that has a lot to do with my stylist Khalilah (Beavers).” As for the ladies, Harvey says that, unlike his Yankee idol, he most likely won’t be waiting until 41 to pop the question.
“I don’t think I will [follow] the Derek Jeter model. I’m not afraid of [marriage],” he says with a smirk. “I would like to have two or three kids.” But first there’s baseball to be played. Collins has named Harvey the starting pitcher in the season opener against their World Series foes, the Royals. There are high hopes for the Mets’ likable squad.
“It’s pretty obvious what we bring to the table. Everyone is a year older and we’re used to being in spring training together. It’s nice to have a core group of guys coming from the same place.”
Photos by Jeff Riedel
Editor: Serena French; Stylist: Khalilah Beavers, khalilahwilliamswebb.com; Groomer: William Murphy for Atelier Management; Location: The High Line Hotel, 180 Tenth Ave.
Credits for top photo: Single-breasted suit, $2,000, and shirt, $340, both at Jeffrey Rüdes, 57 Greene St.; Reversible silk tie, $200 at Dior Homme, 17 E. 57th St.; “Le Petit Prince” watch, price upon request at IWC Schaffhausen, 535 Madison Ave.
Credits for second photo: Sweater, $130 at tommy.com; Trench coat, $2,000 at Jeffrey Rüdes; “Fit 2” jeans, $255 at rag-bone.com; 43.5mm Automatic Chronograph watch, $3,400 at davidyurman.com; Saint Laurent shoes, $795 at barneys.com
Credits for third photo: Single-button suit, $1,295, and shirt, $350, both at Calvin Klein Collection, 654 Madison Ave.; Camouflage silk tie, $200 at Dior Homme
Credits for fourth photo: Two-button slim suit, $1,295, and shirt, $350, both at Calvin Klein Collection; Tommy Hilfiger bow tie, $50 at macys.com; Prada shoes, $950 at barneys.com
Credits for fifth photo: Double-breasted jacket, $1,800 at Jeffrey Rüdes; Shirt, $120 at tommy.com; Silk tie, $200 at Dior Homme; Wool trousers, $525 at Ermenegildo Zegna, 663 Fifth Ave.; Girard-Perregaux 1966 white-gold watch, $17,250 at Cellini, 509 Madison Ave.
Credits for sixth photo: “Super 150’s” two-button suit, $1,795, shirt, $450, and tie, $135, all at Calvin Klein Collection