Steven Matz had a debut for the ages on Sunday for the New York Mets. He pitched seven and two thirds innings for the victory, and became the first pitcher in major league history to knock in four runs at the plate in his major league debut. You would think a debut like that would lead to big time honors, like having a sandwich named after you. But Matz has had a sandwich named after him since 2009.
Matz is from Long Island, and the Se-Port Deli in East Setauket had featured “The Matz” ever since Matz signed his first pro contract. The sandwich has: “chicken cutlet, melted jack and cheddar cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, topped with pepper house dressing on a toasted garlic hero”. Mike Gavin of Newsday was at the deli to do a story on the sandwich, when totally by chance, Matz walked in with teammate Jacob deGrom.
Owner Wisam Dakwar was behind the counter making a Matz Monday afternoon when he heard a commotion and turned to look at the line of customers. Matz, who enjoyed a highly successful major-league debut with the Mets on Sunday, and teammate Jacob deGrom had walked in. (…) “We had an off day today so I called Jacob to see what he was doing,” Matz told Newsday. “We came out to Long Island, figured I’d show him the town a little bit.”
I was at Se-Port Deli doing a story on the hero named after Mets pitcher Steven Matz. Who walks in but Matz himself pic.twitter.com/VDq7FpVJMl
— Mike Gavin (@MikeGavin7) June 29, 2015
Now here’s the crazy part: Matz goes into a deli with a sandwich named after him … then orders another sandwich!
Matz went with the Boone, which has chicken cutlet, melted American cheese, bacon and Russian dressing on a roll. (…) “That’s the most standard one, so that’s what I went with,” said Matz, who also ordered his usual cup of Se-Port iced tea. “But it’s cool to have my own hero. It’s been up there for a while.”
He could have just ordered his own sandwich for the benefit of the media who just happened to be there. But the man likes his American cheese and Russian dressing. So at least Matz is true to himself. He keeps pitching (and hitting) like he did in Game 1, he can order and eat whatever sandwich he likes.
Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
