This Week in Mets Quotes: Harvey apologies for being late, Collins is excited for the playoffs

With the lack of quotes due to the off days prior to the playoffs, TWIMQ will be taking the week off and returning…oh you've got to be kidding me.

"The [mandatory practice is] over and [Matt Harvey’s] not there yet. I’m thinking [shit] they’re all going to want to know where he is." -Terry Collins [Twitter]

tl;dr, the last sentence is the only one that matters.

"Well, now he shows up. He says, ‘I messed up. I was doing this and that, I looked up and it was 1 o’clock. I’m sorry. I understand it looked bad. I said ‘Matt, the timing’s terrible. You’re OK. Listen, we’re going to fine you. We’ll take care of that. You’ve got to talk to your teammates, and you’ve got to talk to the press, tell them that you messed up. So, he did. It’s over. Done. End of story. Still pitching Game 3." -Terry Collins [Twitter]

Terry nailed it.

"That’s your perception [that Harvey’s absence could be seen as him being selfish and unprofessional]. That’s not everybody’s. That could just be your perception. Another perception from somebody else could be that he’s a dumbass, you know? The perception of somebody else might be you know what, he was out partying. There’s all sorts of things that guys are talking about. That’s your opinion. You’re allowed to write whatever you want. My perception is he [fucked] up.  I’ll take care of it. He’s going to have to deal with his teammates, which is a bigger issue than anybody else." -Terry Collins [Twitter]

Well at least we didn’t have to wait for his post in the Player’s Tribune to hear him out this time.

"Obviously, today was not the greatest. I know we had the mandatory workout and the last thing I ever want to do is not be here for my team. Basically, there's no excuse. I screwed up. I wasn't here. I showed up a little late. I've talked to Sandy [Alderson], talked to Terry, and my teammates. I've apologized to them and apologized to everybody. They understand. I'm here to get my workout in and be with the team. Unfortunately today, I screwed up. There's not really anything else to say. They know what happened. It's not going to happen again. It's never happened before and unfortunately it happened at kind of a bad time, at a mandatory time. Truly, I just screwed up " -Matt Harvey [Newsday]

As expected, the Captain gives this issue the canned non-answer it deserves.

"I'm concerned about the guys that are here, and the guys that are here had a great workout. You'll have to talk to Matt about that, but we're rolling, we're clicking . . . I thought it was a good workout. You can only worry about what you can control. We had everybody else here." -David Wright [Newsday]

Warthen coming out firing to protect one of his arms.

"There were a lot of boys on that ’86 team that didn’t make practice, either" -Dan Warthen [Twitter]

That’s a fair point…

"It's really hard for me to criticize. Half our team didn't make the parade. We had guys who barely showed up to games." -Ron Darling [Twitter]

…but on the other hand.

"It's amazing that [Harvey] showed up late. There's no excuse, and he pretty much admitted that. I'm astounded after all that's gone down that this happened. I'm flabbergasted about it. But as my father used to say: 'You make your bed, you've got to sleep in it.' I just think at this particular point of the season it's really, really not good. But I'll leave it at that. And I'm a Matt Harvey fan; I'm a Matt Harvey fan. I've defended him during his crisis, but as he said, there's no excuse." -Keith Hernandez [Newsday]

Let he who is without sin, cast the first rock.

"New York Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez testified today that he used "massive amounts of cocaine" during the second half of the 1980 season and played a game under the influence of the drug. Testifying at a federal trial of a suspected drug dealer, Hernandez said he didn't remember which game he played while drugged--only that it was in the second half of the season. "That was the year I was crazy," Hernandez said. "That was the year of my greatest use." -LA Times, September 6, 1985

Good for TC making light of the issue two days later.

"We're going to make sure Matt gets on the plane today. We'll get him on board." -Terry Collins [Twitter]

I case you were wondering if Terry is excited about the playoffs.

"I'm peeing my pants right now." -Terry Collins [Twitter]

To cleanse our palates before the Mets first playoff series in 9 years, here’s some comedians talking about being Mets fans.

"The essence of comedy is failure and things not working out and the guy slipping on a banana peel. That’s the Mets. I can’t imagine somebody who has a sense of humor being a Yankee fan." -Michael Price, a writer and co-executive producer for The Simpsons [Wall Street Journal]

"The names—Marv Throneberry, Choo-Choo Coleman. They were funny from the start." -Bill Maher [Wall Street Journal]

"When you’re a comic and you start out, you’re literally a laughingstock. People aren’t laughing with you—they’re laughing at you. All of us new comics are humiliated. That is similar to what the Mets were in 1962." -Bill Maher [Wall Street Journal]

"Being a Mets fan goes right in line with that. It’s forever the underdog and forever the outsider, and I think every comedian at their core felt that way when they were a kid. No comedian grows up feeling like Lou Gehrig. They grow up feeling like, if they’re lucky, Ron Swoboda." -Hank Azaria [Wall Street Journal]

"I almost can't handle how well the Mets are doing. I have no idea where to put my negativity now. Oh wait, I'm also a Jets and Knicks fan." -Hank Azaria [Twitter]

SiteBot FacePalm of the Week

"Matz is as brittle as Planters peanut brittle. Hope he doesn’t suffer another sleeping related injury like a stiff neck between now and the playoffs. This guy is made of glass not flesh and bones." -Mozsanity

AA Quote of the Week

"Damn this break us way to long. Still almost 3 days before they finally play." -Stickguy

"I still like this better than the length of the break we had at this point for the last 9 years." -#22