Weekend Rewind: Pete Falcone

As part of the 1982 Weekend Rewind we spoke to Brooklyn native and former Mets pitcher, Pete Falcone (1979-1982) about growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, how he learned to pitch and more.

As part of the 1982 Weekend Rewind we spoke to Brooklyn native and former Mets pitcher, Pete Falcone (1979-1982).

Falcone talked about growing up in New York as a Yankees fan, how he learned to pitch playing stickball, and his time in New York with the Mets (including the 1982 season).

Falcone’s tenure with the Mets was difficult. The team scored fewer runs, drew fewer fans, won fewer games and changed ownership. We talked to Falcone about all those experiences and more.

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Listen to the podcast for the full interview or check out these select segments from the interview transcript:

@MetsRewind: Were you a Mets fan as a kid?

Falcone: Honestly, no. My dad was a big Yankees fan, so as far back as I can remember in the, in the late 50s and the early ‘60s, he just preached the Yankees. So I grew up with being a Yankees fan, and until I became of age to really follow the team.

@MetsRewind: One of the neat things I read about you is that as you grew up, you learned that knuckle curve that you threw playing stickball in the New York streets. Is that correct?

Falcone: Yes … I believe Don Sutton went to the Hall of Fame, throwing that pitch, you know, but I threw a legit knuckle curve that you cannot learn with a baseball. There were others that did it with a tennis ball … I played so much as a kid that during the summertime I wore out two or three pairs of sneakers, but really that's where I learned how to pitch was in those days.

I had a good arm but that summer I started trying to do this with a baseball. So, I started throwing it … The next thing you knew, it clicked. I threw pretty hard and my ball moved. But that pitch was just unhittable for a high school player.

@MetsRewind: You were drafted by Minnesota in ’72, but didn’t sign, by the Braves in January ’73. You didn't sign then. You were drafted by the Giants again in June ‘73 as the fourth overall pick, and you finally signed. Why did you pass on Minnesota in Atlanta at that time?

Falcone: I felt like I was just too immature. I was only 17, 18 years old. All I ever knew was Brooklyn. I don't know why. I think at the time the high school coach was there with me and we asked for more money … I believe the Minnesota scout was really angry … I spoke to the Braves, and he offered me a couple of thousand dollars to sign. It was even less than what Minnesota offered. I went back home. I went to work. I was working at a place called Pathmark Supermarket.

I find myself in a place called Great Falls, Montana playing in rookie ball. It was called a Pioneer League. I remember there was only four teams in the whole league. There was our team, the Billings team, Ogden, Utah, and an Idaho Falls. It was four teams, Dodgers, Giants, Royals, and Angels. After the season started, I'm in the bullpen and I'm noticing, man, everybody here is great in baseball. You know, when you, when you come out of the city, then you go play minor league baseball. You find out everybody there is a standout. I'm playing with guys like Jack Clark. I'm seeing these guys throwing the ball like 95 miles an hour. Whoa. This is something.

@MetsRewind: What was the experience of pitching at Candlestick Park like?

Falcone: I can honestly say it did not affect me as a pitcher. When it was cold, you wore long sleeves, you wore a jacket in the dugout. For pitchers, it was good in that weather. It wasn't good for the hitter, but it was a very strange place. A fly ball could go up in the air at third base and come down at second base … the third baseman or first baseman could not give up on it. It was cold. During the day it was beautiful. It got cold at night.

@MetsRewind: I read a quote by West Western who, I'm not sure if he was your manager or a manager in the minor leagues, but he was quoted as saying this, If he's not a phenom, he's pretty close to it. He pitches like a 10 year veteran. When you get compared to Sandy Koufax and comments like that, what impact does that have on a young pitcher?

Falcone: This is something here. I was so naive. as a rookie. I was in a bubble. I didn't even belong on the team. I went to the spring training as the Giants that year as a non-roster player, I just happened to excel at the right time in the right place. You could say I was lucky.

For me, I had nothing to lose, but to be totally be myself. I do believe, looking back, that there was a lack of maturity in me to even understand that yet. You're flying around, you're eating good food, you're playing in front of big crowds … when you're a young kid, you make some stupid mistakes off. I made some mistakes off the field.

By the ‘77 season, I had completely lost confidence in myself. Little by little, I felt myself wanting to isolate myself more from other players. I would go to my hotel room at night and never bothered nobody, feeling insecure. And this was a lack of confidence that came on me like the, a slow leak of a tire .... I didn't think I can get anyone out .

@MetsRewind: So how did you get past that? What did it take to get your confidence back?

Falcone: I had to go through it. There is no mentor. You're your own mentor back in those days. We had one guy on the team: Lou Brock is the one guy everybody would look to.

When I got to New York Mets I didn't even know what I was as a pitcher. But Joe Torre and the Mets organization back then was very patient with me … that was kind of a surprise to you getting traded from the Cardinals to the New York Mets. That was the lowest point. Joe (Torre) liked me, and the Mets organization believed in me. I was walking on eggshells … I didn't know what was up anymore … from ‘78 to about ‘82, the Mets were the punching bag of the National League … it was tough to be a met back then. We had great fans, honestly, which was incredible to me when they showed up.

The mentality of the city on our team was these guys are a bunch of losers … but they had no idea how hard we played. But a lot of that frustration was built around the fact that they let Seaver go just a couple years before you got there and then just dismantled the team piece by piece.

@MetsRewind: Was it difficult for you to get revved up for a game when you look in the stands and no one's there?

Falcone: Yeah. Sometimes for the players like the electricity of the fans. I told people this story too, another story that I know that year in 79, towards the end of the season, you're playing. I walked to the mound that day and I looked at the stands from the from the rubber, and I'm telling you, if there was three people sitting in the stands … All I saw was ushers sitting in one spot and some of the guys that passed out the popcorn and peanuts in another spot, policemen walking around, but there was no fans in the stadium.