Jacob deGrom spent nine years calling Citi Field home, so it had to feel strange Friday night to warm up in the outfield while wearing a gray uniform with the giant block letters TEXAS across his chest.
At 6:45 p.m., high above his head, the memories came rushing back, displayed on the massive videoboard for the entire ballpark to savor all over again. Whether it was the shaggy-haired deGrom or the clean-cut Jake, the common thread was dominance, the strikeouts piling up with each passing frame.
As those fantastic memories began to fade, the closing of deGrom’s two-Cy Young Award stay in Flushing, the opening chords of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Simple Man” again blared over the Citi Field loudspeakers.
And the crowd cheered for their former hero, prompting deGrom to pause his throwing session a