Opinion: Ron Darling, Jon Matlack inducted into Mets’ Hall of Fame: 'Amazing, isn't it'

They hailed from two brilliant generations of New York Mets’ pitching staffs, their talents camouflaged by their teammates’ greatness.

Jon Matlack, 71, was hidden in the shadows in the 70’s by Hall of Famer Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman.

Ron Darling, 60 was overlooked in the 80’s by the celebrated beginning of Dwight Gooden’s career.

Well, Saturday night at Citi Field, the Mets’ organization and passionate fanbase were reveling in their accomplishments as they were inducted along with Edgardo Alfonso into the Mets’ Hall of Fame.

Ok, sure, these two fabulous pitchers never won 20 games in a season.

They never won a Cy Young award.

They didn’t pitch a no-hitters or set strikeout records.

But, could they pitch.

Matlack and Darling combined for 682 starts in their 13-year careers, spanning 3,723 innings, 134 complete games and 43 shutouts to go along with their 261 victories.

They each had seven seasons of at least 200 innings.

You want durability?

Matlack suffered a fractured skull in 1973 when Atlanta’s Marty Perez hit a line drive off his forehead. He spent three days in the hospital. Never went on the injured list.

And was back on the mound 11 days later.

And for Darling?

He never spent a single day on the injured list during his entire career.

“I don’t know if my skillset would have been looked upon as favorable back in my day,’’ Darling told USA TODAY Sports. “Those are things that people don’t care about now. They care about how well you pitch when you have the ball instead of, 'Boy, he’s really useful because he doesn’t miss a start.’ I felt very dependable. I felt I was in a place where my skills could really shine.’’

Darling didn’t light up the radar gun. Never struck out 200 hitters. But was there every fifth day. Every single year.

Matlack went into coaching after he retired in 1983, and slowly saw the game moving into another direction.

He remembers the days of being embarrassed if you lasted only six innings, and were publicly scorned if you lasted just five innings.

These days, guys are being glorified if they go five innings.

“The game has changed a lot,’’ says Matlack, the 1972 NL Rookie of the Year winner who twice led the league in strikeouts. “Today’s pitchers are not conditioned for more than 90 or 100 pitches, and seven innings.

“Baseball in general is missing out on some of these individuals that can give you so much more. If your gut tells you something, go with it, but some of these [managers] just follow the plan given to them before the game so they don’t get criticized.’’

Now, with the way the starting pitchers have been babied, and front offices screaming if their manager permits someone to throw more than 110 pitches in a game, Koosman and Darling are grateful they pitched in the eras they did.

Really, they wouldn’t change a thing.

“I was really fortunate because my locker was between Seaver and Koosman, and they both made me a better pitcher,’’ Matlack says. “Tommy was on my left, talking about everything from mental conditioning to sleeping habits. Koosman was on the other side, talking about, 'How do you pitch this guy, sequence that guy,' everything.

“Looking back, it couldn’t have worked out better. It brought everyone’s game up. Nobody wanted to be the weak link in the chain.

“I remember we had a stretch once that we played seven consecutive games without a reliever ever entering the game. Can you imagine that now?’’

It was no different for Darling, remembering those talented staffs with Bobby Ojeda, Sid Fernandez and David Cone, simply wanting to out-pitch the other.

“We made each other better pitchers because we were all so uber-competitive,’’ said Darling, the former All-Star and Gold Glove winner. “We all had those alpha beta tendencies. It was unbelievable.’’

And, of course, he had the privilege of being on the same staff as Gooden.

It wasn’t a curse, but a blessing.

“Hey, with Doc, I deserved to be second fiddle,’’ Darling says. “His first two years in New York were some of the greatest years in history.’’

Gooden went 41-13 those two seasons with a 2.00 ERA and 544 strikeouts.

There may never be anyone who duplicates Gooden’s 1985 Cy Young season when he went 24-4 with a 1.53 ERA, including 16 complete games over 276 ⅔ innings.

Then again, with all of innings accumulated year after year, without ever going on the injured list, the Mets may never see anyone with Matlack and Darling’s durability again.

“I think we’re a bigger deal now at our age,’’ Matlack said, “than we were when we pitched.

“Amazing, isn’t it?”

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The breakup

The two franchises symbolized hope, inspiration and excellence, ending an 108-year World Series championship drought in Chicago and a 95-year absence in Washington, D.C.

The Chicago Cubs and Washington Nationals combined for two World Series titles and 10 postseason berths in the last seven years, but in a matter of hours, all of the stars that brought their glory got their eviction notice, with their championship homes now occupied by prospects.

The Nationals traded eight veterans off their 2021 roster, including four from their 2019 World Series team, replacing them with 11 prospects.

“It’s been tough to say goodbye to everybody,” Nats manager Davey Martinez said, fighting back tears. “But these guys all have a special place not only here for the city of Washington and the Nationals fans, but definitely a special place in my heart. I’ll miss these guys, but we’ll have a special bond, especially the guys that were here in ‘19.”

Yet, with orders to lower payroll, with seven players under expiring contracts while hoping to lock up star outfielder Juan Soto, Nats GM Mike Rizzo had no choice but to start the rebuild, headed by the Los Angeles Dodgers prospects in return for three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer and All-Star shortstop Trea Turner.

“We got everything out of this group that we could’ve gotten out of it, and we reached the highest level,” Rizzo said. “For 10 straight years, we’ve competed with the best and brightest in baseball. We were as good as anybody in the game. We won four division titles. We made the playoffs five times. We won the World Series with this group.

“There’s no shame in having to take a step back, refocus, reboot and start the process again, and that’s what we’re preparing to do.”

And the centerpiece will be Soto, 22, one of the biggest and brightest stars in the game.

The Nationals have him under control through 2024.

They’d love to add 10 more years to it, even if takes a cool $400 million.

In Chicago, three of the biggest stars in Cubs history were traded in a matter of 12 hours with Anthony Rizzo going to the Yankees, Javier Baez going to the Mets and Kris Bryant to the San Francisco Giants.

They were the centerpiece of the Cubs’ World Series team, and now, gone like pixie dust flying into the clouds.

“Was it emotionally difficult?" Cubs president Jed Hoyer said. “Yes. Do I think it was absolutely the right thing for the organization? I do.’’

Really, Hoyer had no choice.

They made contract proposals to all three players in the past two years, including one to Rizzo and Baez this season.

All were flatly rejected.

The Cubs had to trade them now, and, if they somehow want to return at the Cubs’ price, the door is open.

The Cubs still are the richest kids on the NL Central block. No one has deeper pockets. They can buy whoever they want in free agency.

They just have to make sure they’re close enough to contention to make a difference.

“We’re going to sit down and figure out the right path to try to build a championship team,’’ Hoyer said. “Sometimes that path might mean letting the garden grow for a long time because you need to let those prospects mature. Sometimes it may mean accelerating it through free agency."

These two teams and their fanbases will forever cherish the memories, and one day, perhaps much sooner than envisioned considering their flawed divisions, there will be a sequel.

Around the basepaths

--The trade deadline was so fabulous and exhilarating with 30 trades involving 84 players and 10 All-Stars in the last 24 hours, MLB may have to strongly consider changing it to stay at one deadline for the future.

If there still were an Aug. 31 non-waiver trade deadline, GMs say at least 10 of the trades never would have materialized.

One trade deadline created a whole lot more urgency.

--It all looks great on paper, but there are personalities and egos involved, too, so Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and White Sox manager Tony La Russa will have to soothe some hard feelings.

The Dodgers have two All-Star shortstops with the acquisition of Trea Turner, joining holdover Corey Seager for the rest of the season.

The plan is to have Seager remain as the starting shortstop since he has never played on the other side of the diamond or in the outfield and have Turner, who’s the superior shortstop of the two, play second base and center field most nights.

“That’s not really my decision,’’ said Seager, a free agent at the season’s conclusion, “that’s their decision. I’d like to play shortstop. I want to play shortstop. But we’ll see where it goes.”

And the White Sox have two All-Star closers with Craig Kimbrel moving across town joining Liam Hendriks.

Kimbrel, who is yielding a 0.49 ERA, adamantly wants to remain the closer where he is carving a potential path to the Hall of Fame.

Hendriks, who has 26 saves, didn’t sign a three-year, $54 million contract to be a glorified setup man.

“We’re not going to have a closer controversy,’’ says White Sox manager La Russa, who plans to choose his closer on that night’s availability. “We’re not going to have co-closers.’’

--The NL Cy Young race is now wide open with Jacob deGrom getting shut down again where he’ll be sidelined until at least September.

The leader in the clubhouse appears to be Walker Buehler of the Dodgers, 11-1, 2.19 ERA, with Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers and Kevin Gausman of the Giants certainly in the picture.

DeGrom, who was on pace to break Bob Gibson’s legendary ERA record of 1.12 ERA, now won’t even have enough innings to even qualify for the ERA title.

--Normally, players are only infuriated when they’re traded against their wishes.

Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story was enraged because he was not traded against his wishes.

“I’m confused and I don’t have really anything good to say about the situation and how it unfolded,” Story told The Denver Post.

Simply, Rockies interim GM Bill Schmidt didn’t care for the offers he received -- with the White Sox, Rays and Blue Jays showing the strongest pursuit-- and believes the compensatory draft pick the Rockies will get when Story turns down their qualifying offer will be more valuable.

“With what we were offered, we thought the pick was better suited for us,’’ Schmidt said, “and we could have Trevor on our team for another two months. If (any deals) were close, we probably would’ve got to the finish line.”

--Tyler Glasnow, who was emerging as an ace for the Rays staff until suffering a partially torn UCL in June, was back throwing on the mound on Trade Deadline Day with hopes of returning in September only to experience further pain.

He now is expected to undergo Tommy John elbow surgery that will sideline him until 2023.

--Ok, so what got into Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto?

He has morphed from a lumbering on-base machine into a home run hitter, homering in seven consecutive games?

“This stretch that he's on right now,’’ teammate Tucker Barnhart says, “I've not seen it like this, where he's basically calling his shot."

--So, what does it finally feel like for the Blue Jays to finally be home in Toronto after 670 days on the road?

“It’s hard to explain the feeling,’’ Blue Jays All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette says. “We’ve just kind of been trying to pretend like we had a home and it’s difficult to do for two years.

“So when we finally came back here, it feels like definitely a big weight off our shoulders.’’

--Prayers to Cleveland manager Terry Francona, whose managed only 12 games last season, now will miss the rest of the season. He will be undergoing hip replacement surgery and surgery on his left foot for a staph infection in the next six weeks.

“It had gotten to the point where I didn't feel like I was doing my job appropriately,’’ Francona said, “and I didn’t feel like I was being fair to the organization. But at the same time, I almost didn't feel like I was being fair to myself, either. I was having a really hard internal struggle on what to do."

--How ugly is the NL East?

The Mets are the only team above .500, and Atlanta, which was more aggressive than any other NL East team, has yet to be above .500 this entire season.

“The one fortunate thing for all of us in the NL East,’’ Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos said, “is that we’re playing in the NL East in 2021. That allows us all to stay in it and be competitive.

--Considering the dearth of starting pitching on the trade market, maybe someone should have taken a flier on Orioles veteran Matt Harvey.

The same dude who yielded a 7.70 ERA in his first 18 starts this year, suddenly has pitched 18 ⅓ scoreless innings in his last three starts. He is only the fourth Orioles’ pitcher in the past 50 years to have three consecutive starts of at least six shutout innings, joining Gausman, Fernando Valenzuela and Jim Palmer.

--Why did the Texas Rangers ultimately trade Joey Gallo to the Yankees?

They never believed they could sign him.

They offered a five-year, $84 million contract.

Gallo was seeking in excess of $300 million, according to the Dallas Morning News.

“I appreciate who Joey is,’’ Rangers president Jon Daniels said. “He is a hell of a player. But when we are rebuilding …and a player, based on their contractual status is not going to be here when we really believe we are going to do something special, our options are to trade him or let the clock run out.

“And running out the clock doesn’t make sense.”

--Remember when Angels MVP Mike Trout strained his calf in May that was supposed to sideline him from six to eight weeks.

It is 10 weeks and counting now.

Can you imagine how powerful the Angels’ lineup will look with a healthy Trout and a torrid Shohei Ohtani hitting back-to-back?

--In case you missed it, Mickey Mantle’s 1952 rookie card was sold for $5.2 million, according to Bonus.ca. The next highest rookie card sold was Mike Trout’s 2009 card at $3.936 million.

--Come on, does anyone really believe that playing first base is easy?

Yet, the Red Sox are planning to try Kyle Schwarber at first without playing the position in his career, and the same goes for the Brewers, who are asking the same of Eduardo Escobar.

Follow Nightengale on Twitter: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nightengale's notebook: Mets' HOF ceremony, MLB trade deadline