Mets honored by BBWAA NY Chapter with multiple awards
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NEW YORK -- Ethan Wilson, a longtime Mets employee who recently underwent emergency brain surgery, was named a co-winner of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America New York Chapter’s Arthur and Milton Richman “You Gotta Have Heart” Award, presented annually to a member of the baseball community who has overcome significant adversity.
Wilson will be a co-recipient of the award alongside longtime New York Post and New York Daily News reporter Peter Botte, who had much of his lower leg amputated due to a severe bacterial infection. Botte recovered to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding last month.
Those two joined a group of Mets honorees that also included Francisco and Katia Lindor, who won the Joan Payson and Shannon Forde Award for community service, and Howie Rose, who won the William J. Slocum and Jack Lang Award for long and meritorious service. Lindor earned his community service award on the heels of winning the Roberto Clemente Award, Major League Baseball’s highest off-field honor. Rose, who retired in September, previously won the “You Gotta Have Heart” Award in 2023 after overcoming bladder cancer.
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In addition to those honorees, Bo Bichette won the Ben Epstein and Dan Castellano “Good Guy” Award as a player who best helps the media perform their jobs. And Steve Bieser won the “You Could Look It Up” Award, given to a person never previously honored by the chapter. Bieser won for his pinch-running antics in the inaugural Subway Series in 1997, which prompted Yankees pitcher David Cone to commit a run-scoring balk.
Wilson, one of the longest-tenured Mets employees who has worked in their media relations department since 1999, was released from the hospital late last month following weeks of rest and rehab. Following his surgery, the Massachusetts native received an outpouring of well wishes, including a video from former Patriots superstar Tom Brady. Lindor also visited Wilson while he was in the hospital.
“We all love Ethan,” Lindor said during the World Series in St. Petersburg, where he received the Clemente Award. “Ethan, he's one of the core people in the organization, and I needed to go see him. … That, to me, is giving back. He has helped me a lot, along with the PR department, to sit here and answer questions.”
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During that visit, Lindor met and spent time with Wilson’s sister, who was helping him during his hospital stay.
“She said that she has a whole different family that she didn’t know she had in the Mets organization, which I thought was beautiful,” Lindor said. “I just talked to him. I checked up with him and how his rehab is going, and I told him to hurry up and get out, and that we need him next year.”
Mets hire former Kershaw batterymate
The Mets have hired longtime Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis to their Major League coaching staff as their strategy coordinator, a source told MLB.com. While the club has not confirmed the hire, Ellis will effectively replace quality assurance coach Danny Barnes, who left the organization in October.
Ellis, 45, is best known for being Kershaw’s personal catcher for large swaths of his 2008-16 tenure in Los Angeles. Following his playing career, Ellis took a position in San Diego’s front office.
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The Mets, who recently promoted Mariano Duncan to an assistant coach position, still have one job left on their staff to fill. They continue to search for a hitting coach to replace departed program director Jeff Albert.