The Daily Show: Ears Edition - Jon Stewart Shows His Love for the New York Mets

Episode Date: February 11, 2024

If there's one thing to know about Jon Stewart, he's one of New York's biggest Mets fans. He starts off at the desk covering the unexpected firing of former Mets manager, Willie Randolph. Plus, Jon sits with former Mets players David Wright, Matt Harvey, and Mookie Wilson. He chats with David and Matt about the state of the team and reminisces with Mookie about the 1986 Mets team and the legacy he's left. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, the weekly show. It's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go, but how many of them come out on Thursday?

I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart, wherever you get your podcast. You're listening to Comedy Central. You've ever been fired? I've been fired. I've been fired a lot. I've been fired from bakeries that I worked at. I've been fired from women's clothing stores. I was once fired by my brother.

My brother fired me from a war. But one thing that's never, I was fired by Stripogram once. One thing that's never happened to me is that I've been fired at 3 o'clock in the morning 3,000 miles away from where I live. Willie Randolph, the New York Mets manager, my beloved Mets! This guy, okay, the Mets suck, fine. But they could have fired Willie Randolph at any point over the last year. So what they do is they wait before he takes a trip to Los Angeles. They fly him all the way out to Los Angeles.

He wins the game and then they fire him that night at 3 o'clock in the morning. You don't get, when you get a call at 3 o'clock in the morning, that's for sex. That's not for being fired. He did not deserve that. But he's classless. Here's how bad it is, this is the New York Post. Tiger Woods. They didn't even have time to put Willie Randolph being fired. Classless. I mean, maybe they flew him out to Los Angeles because they thought, well, we're going

to fire him, he should at least get his frequent flyer miles. I don't know. Bastardos. And this is the worst part. We have a tape of the call of him being fired. You cannot believe who they got to fire him. Hey Willie, it's Mr. Met. Good morning. Oh, and guess what? You're fucking fired, so pack up your crap, get the fuck out of the club. Alex, give me your shit.

What, you want to meet the Mets? Why don't you miss the Met? I'll meet you in a fucking pockin' lot, you bum. Or another thing, keep your dirty mitts off of Mrs. Met. You're, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and to, and, and, and to, and to, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and the, and the the the the the thi, and the the the the thi, and to to to to to to to to the to the to to to the the thi, and the the thi, and, and, and, and, forget about it, how you don't. Not right. Willie didn't deserve this. I guess tonight, the third baseman for the New York Mets, his charitable organization, the David Wright Foundation is hosting its third annual Do the Right thing gala, taking place right here in New York City on November 15th. Please welcome to the show. David Wright!

David Wright! David! Great! Great! Great to see. Come and sit. Great to see you. Always a pleasure. I was hoping. A true Mets fan.

A true Mets fan since 1948 or whatever. I was hoping that we would beets fan a true Mets fan since 1948 or whatever I was hoping that we would be doing this interview under more pleasant circumstances the world series having ended you being crowned world series champions. It was not to be nex year seriously 2008 okay and if I heard it here first and if I put money on that like I did this year. If I was allowed I'd pay you back. I really appreciate that. What, what, you know, the Mets, what does it feel like? You're a great young player. My guess is you stay off the horse juice, you're going Hall of Fame.

For now. Are you on the horse juice? Absolutely not. Who's on the horse juice on your team? You know, this is a, the Mets were ahead by seven games with 17 to go and and didn't make the playoffs. What, are you still feeling that? Are you, nightmares? Have you bounced back? The next day do you still think about it? You know it's it's one of those things where, you know it's tough to say right now? But I think in th th th th th th th th th th th th th. th in th in th in th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the th. their, in their, in their, in their, their, in their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their, their. their. their. their, their. their. their, their, their, their, their. their, their, th. th. te. te. te. te. te. today, the. the. their, the their, their, their, it's one of those things where, you know, it's tough to say right now. But I think in the long run, hopefully, it helps us out. You know, it built character. It learned how to deal with adversity, you know, throughout those last two weeks. I mean, we were getting ripped pretty good and we learned to easy this year. It would have been the wrong move. I'm 24 years old, what would I had to look forward to? That's exactly right. You're 24 years old, you hit over 300,

you hit 30 dingers, you stole 30 bases, you signed a huge contract. I want to be you. That's what makes me so angry. There's been some talk in the city and this has got to be hard because in entertainment it's similar to that they talk about people taking over your job. Alex Rodriguez opted out of his Yankee contract. It's third baseman. They say oh maybe the Mets will go after you're the Mets third baseman. Do you call them up and go hello? You know it's just seeing the way the Bowson the winners of World-it th. th. th. th. th. th. thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi thi the thement is thement is the the the thement is the the thememem. It's the entertainment it's the entertainment it's the the the the entertainment the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the th. It's them it's thement is is thememememememem. It's thememememem. It's themem. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. the an entertainment the an entertainment the an entertainment theat. theateatea. theatea' theateatea' the an entertainment the an entertainment th way that Boston celebrated, seeing the winners of World Series, first and foremost, I want to win. So am I saying that I would change positions for a guy like Alex Rodriguez?

If the front office called me and said, hey, look, we want to make this team better, and I would absolutely want to sit down and listen. But right now, I am the third baseman in New York Mets and I'm going into the 2008 season prepared to be the third base. What if they call you when they say, hey, what about John Stewart maybe playing third base? I'm all in. You're all in for that. I say no A-Rod, and I'll tell you why. He seems like athe Dick Cheney of baseball.

And I don't mean that, in that he, nobody seems to like what he's doing. And by the way, you don't have to comment on that. Does he watch the show? No, no, OK. He definitely doesn't. But no, it seems like he's a bad chemistry guy. And chemistry is important. 52 home runs are important too. Last time I checked. That could be a lot of chemistry. Okay, I see what you're saying. Do you think the Mets end up signing a

lot of these high-profile pre-agents or you're happy with the way things... I think we got a good young core group of guys. Right. I think, you know, pitching side, obviously, that kind of fell apart down the stretch. We could use another big bat, so maybe through the outfield. But you could use some pitching, am I right? Let me show you something. I was at a playoff game. The New York Mets versus the St. Louis Cardinals. Do we have tape ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta ta the tape tape the tape tape the tape the the tape the tape the thape thape thape that. Do we have th. that. Do we have that. Do we have that. Do we have that. Do that. Do that. Do the that. Do thap that thap that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. that. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the. the the see, I was one of the ones booing.

Were you actually booing? You see, I was one of the ones booing in the background. Have you had the experience yet of 45,000 people booing you? In April this year. Did you really? Yeah, I got off to booing in the back. Have you had the experience yet of 45,000 people booing you? In April this year. Did you really? Yeah, I got off to a slow start this year.

Derek Jeter's been booed in New York, so it's kind of a write-up passage. So that's what I tell myself. In a lot of ways, when you look at David Wright, Derek Jeter, John Stewart. Thank you. Except I may be the only one of you guys who can't reach home plate with the ball. You didn't get to warm up. Yeah, that's exactly right. That's what it is. And I'm decrepit. Offseason, do you go out, do you start play the scene, enjoy the fruits of your labor, or is it all strictly business? Well, you know, after the end of the end of the end of the end of the end of the end of the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the, the, th. th. the, the, the, the, I, I, I'er, I'er, I'er, I'er, I'er, I'er, I's, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, enjoy the fruits of your labor, or is it all strictly business? We know after the end of the year, the way it ended, you have a bitter taste in your mouth, you want to get going for next year.

Obviously, being 24 years old, I like to go out, have a good time every now and then, but it's basically business. It's getting ready for coming by. I'm a huge Mets fan. I wish you're a great player and a great guy and you know just take take me with you. Absolutely. Thank you. David Wright everybody. Hey everybody, John Stewart here. I am here to tell you about my new podcast, The Weekly Show, it's going to be coming out every Thursday. So exciting. You'll be saying to yourself, TGID. Thank God it's Thursday. We're going to be talking about all the things that hopefully obsess you in the same way that they obsess me. The election. Economics. Earnings calls. What are they talking about on these earnings calls? We're going to be talking about ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. And I know that I listed that fourth, but in importance it's probably second. I know you have a lot of options as far as podcasts go,

but how many of them come out on Thursday? I mean, talk about innovative. Listen to the weeklytonight for my money. He is the most exciting pitcher in the game today. He's the face of the New York Metropolitan's please welcome to the program. Matt Harvey. Yeah. It's a good man. Oh, for God's sakes. Look at the tip. Oh, for God's sakes.

Look at this. Oh, for God's sakes. Look at this. Come on. This is, uh, this is perfect. It's exactly my size. Yeah. And that it can function as a shirt and pants for

me. Thank you so much. I'm thrilled to have you on the program. Yeah, thanks, you're, oh, Jesus, come on. What are you doing? This thing, just get it on there. Perfect. Just. Perfect. Just... Just... If it gets thirsty, just give it a little water.

Perfect. You got it, you got to protect the moneymaker, my friend. There you go, nicely done. Let me ask you a question. You're, how old are you? 26. You're 26 years old. You've got in New York City. We have not seen a player of your ability. Let me let me ask you a question. You're you're how old are you? 26. You're 26 years old. You got in New York City, we have not seen a player of your ability.

In many years, maybe you know, Dot Good. Darland, Darry back in the mid-80s, the last time that we experienced, I guess what some people would call, it's been so long. Success. What is that, does it feel like a responsibility? What does it feel like? Is it just all excitement? Are you enjoying yourself? I think it's excitement. I think for us and the whole staff, I think we're excited about the future, we're excited about now. And I think the most important thing is to focus on what we're doing now. And, you know, we're not looking to next year or the year after we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, we're, th, th, th, th, th, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, try, try thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th th th th the, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thin, thin, the the thin, the the the the the thi the the the the the the the the th important thing is to focus on what we're doing now. And we're not looking to next year, the year after we're trying to win now. In a moment. You haven't been hurt before, like many met.

Is it, does it feel strange? Do you feel the pessimism of the Met fan? The Met fan is a, we are a beaten creature. I think, I think, uh, I saw an article today tod tod tod tod tod tod tod tod tod tod think I saw an article today about how I should be pitched until I'm abused almost. So I think for... Pitch until you're abused? Yeah, pretty much. Why? Because they think you'll leave?

Yes. Because you're with the Mets. Yeah. How do you think? It is the Mets. Here's my thought. You dominate the league for like two years and then they trade you for a milking goat and some magic beans. Because that is generally the way that they handle excellent ball players. I guess. You know, I would say, you know, the team now is what, 2721. If you told a Met fan, the New York Mets are going to be 27 and 21 at the beginning of the season at this point, I think anybody would have taken that.

But the way the young arms have pitched, it almost feels like it could be more. It could be better. How's it feeling in the clubhouse? I think we definitely feel like we should have won a few games that we didn't. But you know, we're close. I think the Nationals obviously had a slow start and then came up. Oh, they've been playing. They've been playing some pretty different. Is it frustrating for a pitcher?

You would have a game. You get these a couple times. You throw eight shut out. the offense maybe gets you a run and and then or they don't get you a run. Does that feel frustrating to put in that type of performance? But the hitting lags behind. Is there a split between offense and and pitching in the clubhouse? Or do you guys just kind of try and pick each other up and everybody's got patience with everybody else? I think it's a patience thing. I think I could say maybe two years ago. I think I might the the their you you you you you their you their you their you their their their their their their their their their their th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. their. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. the the the the the the the the th. the the the the thi. the the. the the the. the theea. the the they. they. they. they. they. they. theea. thea. thea. thea. the. patience thing. I think I could say maybe two years ago I think I might have gotten, you know, upset and and you're only 24 now you're 26. Big, big difference. It's a huge difference. Especially with, you know, just keep it, but please, you don't know, this loose sight could very much damage that

hell I don't want anything to happen to you. You're my future. You know I'm leaving the show, you're all I have left. I know you got to, well we were talking I was like, gotta get you out and take some BP or something. Me? Yeah. That would in no way be a dream come true. Absolutely good. Is it competitive with the other young pictures? You got Syndagard out there. This kid's a beast. He's what, 23? 22? 22. Throws shut out ball and he hits a home run. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. I think my face, I saw it on Twitter a bunch of times. I think the face that I had after the home run was just shocked. Yeah, I mean it was. It's crazy. You, de Grum, darno, this is a really young core. Do you feel like you can change the culture of a team that's suffered? It's a lot of pressure to put on, you know, you got the Yankees cross town, you got all

these other things. Do you guys talk about that? Or it really is just about, man, let's go out, let's have fun, let's remember why we love this year especially I think coming into spring training we had one goal and that was to win and I think we all believe that I think it was a lot different than in years past spring trainings and you know we've carried that to mostly every game so I think for us being a young staff I think we try and bring a lot of energy to the clubhouse. I'm so excited you know I'm to bring my whole family down the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the game. the the th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. th. I's is is th. I's is th. I's is thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm thi. I'm th. I'm th. I's is is is is. I's is. I's is. I's is. I's is. I's is. I's. I's. I's. I's. I's. I's. I's. I'm th. I'm th. I'm t. I'm t. t. t. t. t. ty. try. th. th. th. th. th. th. I'm th. th. I'm th. I'm clubhouse. I'm so excited, you know, I'm gonna bring my whole family down. We love going to the games, we love watching the team,

and you guys have given us a reason to be very hopeful for the first time a long time, and I really do appreciate it. And you're a beast out there. I look forward to my guest tonight. On New York Mets Legend, his new book is called Mookie, Life, Baseball, and the 86 Mets. Please welcome to the program, Mookie Wilson! to you here.

All right, great. Thank you for being here. Thanks for having me. There's really the last time in many years that I can actually say that to in New York Matt. It's been rough times. It's been so rough time. This really was, you know, you write about 86.

Yeah. There is something truly indelible about a championship season that makes it worthy of remembrance. What was it about the 86 team when you guys won the World Series? Besides the dramatic fashion, you wanted it. I think it's the characters. I think that we're a group of individuals that wasn't afraid to be themselves. And I think you need more of that in sports. More of that? Yes. But you were, you know, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the 86, the the the the the the the the the the thi, thee, thi, thi, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thee, thi, thi, thee, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. themselves. And I think you need more of that in sports. Actually. More of that? Yes.

But you were, you know, the 86 team had Doc Gooden, Darrell Strawberry, Keith Hernandez. Gary Carter, but you were a beacon of maturity in that. That's good. Don't you think? You were the one guy. Everybody loved and nobody ever worried about. You always thought Keith Hernandez, at some point, six in the morning,

somebody's gonna be like, where's Keith? Mookie Wilson never had that issue. No, I think the team, we had this group over here that was really outgoing. A lot of people called the scumbunch, you know. Then we had this other group over here that was really, you know, Gary Carter's, you know, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, thu, thu, thu, thi, thi, and thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, tho, tho, tho, thoom, thu, thu, thu, thu, thu, thuuuil, thuuuuu..... thuuuuuuu, thu, thu, thu, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, thi, and, and, thi... And, and, and, and thi. And, thi. And, thi. And, thiiiiiiiiiiii. And, thi. And, thii. And, thia. And, thi. And, thi. And, th other group over here that was really, you know, Gary Carter's, you know, Ron Darling's, guys like that. Then had those guys in the middle, you know, like myself and Raphael Santana that kind of, you know, kept it all together.

And that chemistry. Yes. And it brings up an interesting, so everybody is talking about this Donald Sterling, this relationship between a racist owner. Sports really is an unusually, almost paternal situation with the owner. They can ship you out to another city. Did the players feel that relationship? I think it's always, it's gonna be that weird relationship between players and management.

Knowing that management does have the last word. Sometimes it doesn't matter how well you play it's all about relationship between the player and ownership. Now this basketball situation is really, really different. We have a lot of racist remarks and here he owns a team that's about 80% black. Right. That's kind of weird. That's weird. But it weird. That's weird. But it's always, you find in these leagues, the owner is typically white, the athletes, typically

African-American, the athletes who are African-American had to fight to be allowed to play, and even now still have to fight for rights. This idea that, okay, you know, you're allowed to leave after seven years, but you have to put in this amount of time. Do you think this is, could be a turning point in that relationship? I don't think so. I think that sports has survived. I mean, let's, over the years, as much as we've tried to mess baseball up, we haven't,

with strikes and all that all the rules you want to, but until you change the attitudes of people, you're going to have this kind of idiocy. No matter what you do, it's just going to happen. As a player, how do you handle that, you know, these guys are in the midst of a playoff run? Now you've played in New York, there's a tremendous amount of media. They. A tremendous amount of media media media media media. their. their. their. their. they're. they're, their. they're, their. their. their. their. their, their, th. their, th. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. their, their, their, thi, thi, thi, th. th. th. th. th. th. th. It, th. It, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, th. It's, thi. It's is is, thi. It's is, thi. their, their, their, their, their, their, thin. their, their, their, their, their their thin. their, their. their, their, their, their, their, they're the same in Los Angeles. Is it even possible for an athlete at that high level to still compete with this type of emotion under the surface? Well, first of course, the athletes deal with pressure every day. Every day to go out in the field is all about what you do that day. And this is no different.

They're not playing for the honor. They're playing for their own self-respect. And I've heard things about, well, should the ball, the team boycott, you know, and not play? That serves no real purpose. I'm able to defeat the purpose of you being there. Playing basketball at the NBA level, that's a great, great honor. And to let some idiot, you not let theeolate theolate theolate theolate theolate theolate theolate theolate thease thease thease the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the the the, the, the, their, their, their, their, their, the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the thi, the thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, thi, theanan, thean, thean, thean, thean, tean, tean, tean, tean, tean, tean, thean, thean, the not let you fulfill the potential that your team has. I think you'd be doing yourself for disservice and in the league itself.

Do you see what I mean about you having the maturity? Look at me. I'm ready to fly off the handle, just walk away from the game and you brought me back. You know, it's all. Here's what I think should happen. Yes. The Clippers rally around the the the the the the thuier. thier. th. thier. thier. thier. thier. thier. thier. thier. thier. thi. thi. thi. thi. to to th. to to to to th. to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be to be thi. Yes. I is. I is. I is. I is. I is. I is thi. I is. I is thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. I thi. thi. the the the the thi. the tip. the tip. thi. thi. thi. thi. thi. toe. toe They play unbelievable basketball for the next month. They win the NBA championship. And in the locker room, in the jubilation, the trophy is handed to them.

Donald Sterling is right there. And they get the tallest guy. Let's go and play Griffith. He's about 6.11. And he just holds the trophy up like this and Donald Sterling just has the, can't get it, and done. They don't let him have it. Do you still, are you still able to get together with some of the fellas and reminisce about it, you know, tragically Gary Carter of College passed away, great character guy?

Are you able to get together and still sort of revert back to form from the 80s and have a great time together. We don't want to go back. No, I know. We don't, we don't. But we do get together and when we do his, there's one big reunion and we talk a lot and we lie a little bit too. You know, that's what reminiscing is all about. And who would have thought that would be the last championship the M M M M Mets ever ever ever the it's an absolute pleasure to see it and to have you here on the show. Get yourself, Mookie, one of the greats.

Mookie Wilson, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by searching the Daily Show, wherever you get your podcasts. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at 11 10 Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on Fairmount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast. John Stewart here. Unbelievably exciting news. My new podcast, The Weekly Show.

We're going to be talking about the election, economics, ingredient to bread ratio on sandwiches. Listen to the weekly show with John Stewart wherever you get your podcast.