Yo Mets Remembered: Hurler Number Retired
AP (Orange, Connecticut) -- At a ceremony much less attended than a particular IM Softball Championship ring presentation just two months earlier, the #20 of Yo Mets starting pitcher Nick Mirto was retired. The event, coming on the heels of the Yo Mets championship season during which Mirto posted an impressive 9-0 record with an ERA of 2.56 and two strikeouts, did not lack in pomp or circumstance.
Family, friends, the local media and a domestic cat that apparently goes by the name "Shadow" attended the event, at which Mirto used four tacks to attach his #20 orange-sleeved jersey to the wall in his suburban Orange, Connecticut home. Mirto, clad in suit and Softball Championship ring, said, "All I really wanted to do was beat Phi Tau. That kid who I struck out on their 'B Team' was talking a lot of smack throughout the whole game and if his fraternity beat me in that softball game, I wouldn't be able to live it down."
Mirto, known for his reckless play, hustle and running mouth, was able to temper his emotions and field his position well, often snaring comebackers or diving headlong and spiking balls after final outs. While many opponents saw Mirto's outlook as cocky, the wired hurler often kept up the spirits of his Yo Mets bretheren during difficult times.
"All I wanted to do was win, man," a tearful Mirto proclaimed during the ceremony. "I felt just about as happy as Jon Reiner following his intramural hockey championship."
The ceremony was not the first highly publicized event for members of the championship squad since the celebration the Friday before finals week. Since the Yo Mets victory over Phi Tau, the talent-laden squad has received endorsement deals, talk show spots and some have even been spotted in the tabloids. Most notably, the June 2005 Issue of People Magazine revealed stud second baseman Jeffery Ryba canoodling with starlet Lindsay Lohan at a New York hotspot. Other brushes with fame included President/CEO/General Manager Alex Friedman's well documented talk show circuit and Mike Zimmerman's endorsement deal with TPX. However, yesterday's event was the first publized sighting of the Orange, Connecticut native. Aside from being seen at a few local watering-holes, Mirto has kept a low profile while studying for the LSATs, reading voraciously and watching a ton of baseball.
Family, friends, the local media and a domestic cat that apparently goes by the name "Shadow" attended the event, at which Mirto used four tacks to attach his #20 orange-sleeved jersey to the wall in his suburban Orange, Connecticut home. Mirto, clad in suit and Softball Championship ring, said, "All I really wanted to do was beat Phi Tau. That kid who I struck out on their 'B Team' was talking a lot of smack throughout the whole game and if his fraternity beat me in that softball game, I wouldn't be able to live it down."
Mirto, known for his reckless play, hustle and running mouth, was able to temper his emotions and field his position well, often snaring comebackers or diving headlong and spiking balls after final outs. While many opponents saw Mirto's outlook as cocky, the wired hurler often kept up the spirits of his Yo Mets bretheren during difficult times.
"All I wanted to do was win, man," a tearful Mirto proclaimed during the ceremony. "I felt just about as happy as Jon Reiner following his intramural hockey championship."
The ceremony was not the first highly publicized event for members of the championship squad since the celebration the Friday before finals week. Since the Yo Mets victory over Phi Tau, the talent-laden squad has received endorsement deals, talk show spots and some have even been spotted in the tabloids. Most notably, the June 2005 Issue of People Magazine revealed stud second baseman Jeffery Ryba canoodling with starlet Lindsay Lohan at a New York hotspot. Other brushes with fame included President/CEO/General Manager Alex Friedman's well documented talk show circuit and Mike Zimmerman's endorsement deal with TPX. However, yesterday's event was the first publized sighting of the Orange, Connecticut native. Aside from being seen at a few local watering-holes, Mirto has kept a low profile while studying for the LSATs, reading voraciously and watching a ton of baseball.
