There’s so much to this story to discuss. Some bkgrnd:
Matt Harvey was an up & coming star, pitching for the Mets btwn 2012-‘18. Known as “The Dark Knight,” he was as much a fixture in the NY nightlife scene as he was on the list of top pitchers in MLB.
After the Mets he played for 4 other teams – one of them the Angles, where he was teammates w Tyler Skaggs, the pitcher we lost to overdose a few of seasons ago.
In the trial currently going on related to the Skaggs death, Harvey received a subpoena & was granted immunity from prosecution to testify abt what was going on w Skaggs & team execs at the time.
Harvey in his testimony, this Tuesday, admitted to cocaine use while playing for the Mets. He also said he received Percocets & shared them w Skaggs when they were teammates.
For some maybe this wasn’t a surprise given Harvey’s nightlife encounters & erratic play.
But…here’s what happened the next day (yesterday) – Terry Collins, Harvey’s former manager w the Mets got on the NY talk radio/newspaper scene & shared (in what appeared to be a CYA) went on, on his watch:
“Again, it’s Matt, & one time he talked about, ‘I should just kill myself.’ You try to deal with it the best you can. We certainly tried to get him help, get him some assistance. Now, there were some other things that went on where I saw some depression & stuff that made you very concerned about his mental health that popped up…I turned it over to the appropriate people, & after that, you don’t know what else you can do.”
This guy aired Harvey’s personal diagnoses & suicidal thoughts he’d shared w his manager yrs ago. That’s unacceptable…for any boss/employer.
We wonder why more public figures don’t ask for help/share things w their management – THIS is a big reason why. I wish we were at a place in 2022 where MH/diagnosis/suicidal thoughts were “no big deal.” But we aren’t there yet.
If this type of privacy isn’t respected, help seeking takes a nose dive. This kind of airing personal info must be condemned – strongly.
Being w former NBA’er Mike Sweetney last nt, he said flat out that’s NOT a coach/manager’s right to share (see pic in stories).
