Just like his playing days, Keith Hernandez delivered during Mets' number retirement ceremony

The Keith Hernandez number retirement was a long time coming but, as it turned out, more than worth the wait. From a fired-up crowd at Citi Field roaring with every introduction to Hernandez delivering a speech with his trademark charisma, Saturday’s ceremony seemed to hit every right note in paying tribute to a franchise icon.

The surprise was that No. 17 kept his emotions in check as he thanked or cited family members, former teammates, his currently TV boothmates, and Mets’ fans everywhere during a 10-minute speech.

At his press conference before the ceremony Hernandez had teared up as he talked about how much he appreciated the comments from former teammates that he’d read in newspapers and on websites this week, and momentarily had trouble speaking.

In doing so he looked at SNY’s Gary Cohen in the audience and joked, “I’m never going to make it, Gary.”

He did, though. Perhaps it was simply the setting, on the field, in the spotlight, performing for a big crowd. That’s always where Hernandez was at his best as a player, rising to the occasion so many times.

As Hernandez himself had said beforehand, when asked about what he thought the moment would be like, “It will be like old times. I’ll just be wearing a suit instead of a uniform.”

And that’s kind of how it felt. Hernandez seemed very comfortable, playing to the crowd at times by exaggerating certain words or phrases to get a reaction, even joking about how the ’86 team came perilously close to losing to the Boston Red Sox before finally prevailing to win the World Series.

“We thought we’d make a little more interesting for the fans,” he said with a chuckle, getting a huge roar.

In short, it was a speech with more than a touch of his “I’m Keith Hernandez” persona, which made it feel especially authentic.

Yet it was clear beforehand how much emotion he’d been dealing with all week, as various family members flew in from all around the country to share the moment with him.

To that point, Hernandez said he’d gotten a text at 3:40 a.m. on Saturday from someone, waking him up, and he hadn’t been able to get back to sleep.

“I was nervous about the speech I have to make,” he said. “I’m a great procrastinator, so I had put off writing it until this morning.”

When asked if the speech would compare to being nervous about a big at-bat, Hernandez was quick to say no, it would be nothing like facing Bruce Hurst in Game 7 of the World Series, when he delivered the two-run single that started the Mets on their way back from a 3-0 deficit.

In doing so Hernandez spoke of that famous at-bat in detail, recalling the sequence of pitches, that he choked up an extra inch on the bat after falling behind in the count, believing Hurst would try to jam him inside, and how his anticipation of the pitch paid off in allowing him get the bat head to an inside fastball for a single to left-center.

In other words, everything fans love about Hernandez.

In his speech, meanwhile, he re-lived his trade to the Mets from the St. Louis Cardinals in 1983, how much he hated it at first, but how it became the best thing that ever happened to him.

For while he was mentoring a young team, Hernandez said Saturday that “all those young guys rejuvenated my career. I was a little listless (after the ’82 championship in St. Louis), I needed another goal. Those guys inspired me and rejuvenated me.”

Much of that has been chronicled in the days leading up to the ceremony, including a column I wrote, but what stood out Saturday was just how touched Hernandez was by so many of his former teammates paying tribute to him as the man responsible for teaching them how to win.

“That means everything to me,” he said.

What was new on Saturday, meanwhile, was the connection Hernandez, as well as Buck Showalter, made between the past and present.

Hernandez made a point during his speech to compliment the current Mets, most of whom, if not all, were in the dugout watching the ceremony.

“I love to watch this team,” Hernandez said, gesturing toward the dugout. “This team comes out and battles, they play hard and comport themselves with professionalism. It is a treat. You should support them like you did us in the ‘80s.”

The crowd roared and Showalter, on the field as part of the ceremony, no doubt appreciated it. He had indicated during his pre-game press conference that he expected his players to watch Hernandez get his due.

“I want our guys to understand the rich history of our ballclub,” Showalter said.

In fact, the manager likely had something to do with the players all lining up from first base to the dugout to shake hands with Hernandez as he came off the field. As such it was a classy gesture and more evidence that with Showalter as manager and Steve Cohen as owner, this is indeed a franchise that is beginning to embrace its history more than ever.

That’s something Mets’ fans have desperately wanted over the years, and at Citi Field it was clear by their roaring approval of many on-field moments that they were starving to show their appreciation, just as they had for the Tom Seaver statue unveiling at the home opener.

Hernandez too made that point before the game, noting, “This is really special to me. We’re 60 years of history now with the Mets, and there are only five people up there. I’ll be the sixth. That means a lot.’’

He was speaking of the retired Mets’ retired numbers that are displayed at the top of Citi Field: Casey Stengel, Gil Hodges, Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza, and Jerry Koosman.

Finally, after his speech, Hernandez and everyone else watched as the No. 17 was unveiled along with those others, making it official as the crowd roared one last time.

To top it all off, Hernandez threw a first pitch from first base (painted gold), where he won 11 Gold Gloves, down the baseline to his brother Gary, who caught the pitch wearing the glove Keith wore during the ’86 season and post-season.

The perfect ending to a pitch-perfect ceremony.