This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
NEW YORK -- Late last May, as the Mets languished double-digit games under .500, manager Carlos Mendoza was driving home from another difficult night at the stadium when his oldest son, Adrian, spoke up.
Sensing his father was upset, Adrian said: “You wanted to be a big league manager.”
Mendoza reconsidered his perspective.
“I said, ‘You’re right,’” he recalled. “And then I used that as an example. I was like, ‘Hey man, in life, you’re going to go through ups and downs. This is the dream job, right? But here we are, dealing with adversity. That goes to show you that growing up, it’s not always going to be easy.’ So I kind of used that to teach them about life.”
It wasn’t the first lesson Mendoza had instilled in his sons, 14-year-old Adrian and 11-year-old Andres. Nor would it be the last.
Since Mendoza became manager two offseasons ago, his children have been his shadow. They hang around the complex during Spring Training, fielding fungoes from their father after team workouts. They attend almost every home game during the regular season and sometimes show up on the road, shagging fly balls in the outfield and hanging around the clubhouse.
In a job that demands constant time, stress and attention, Mendoza has kept his sons close enough to maintain his duties as a father.
Asked what having them around means to him, Mendoza replied: “Everything.”
“It’s been a blessing the way I see it, the way we see it as a family,” Mendoza said. “And even when they’re not here at the ballpark, getting home, it’s different if they were [living elsewhere].”
Rather than have his sons stay home in Florida through the end of the school year, Mendoza and his wife, Francis, enrolled them in online classes. During homestands, the boys typically finish their lessons in the morning before driving with their father to Citi Field. They spend the rest of the day enjoying life in the big leagues.
“It’s a privilege, and that’s something that I keep telling them -- that very few people get the opportunity to grow up the way they are in a big league clubhouse,” Mendoza said. “You’re learning a lot, good and bad. You’re growing up around adults. But it’s cool for them to see the everyday grind -- superstars, what they go through behind the scenes, so they get to experience that.”
When Mendoza was introduced as manager in November 2023, Adrian and Andres were there alongside him at a Citi Field press conference. When the Mets stumbled out to a poor start last season, the boys were there to help their father through it. When the team recovered to make it all the way to the National League Championship Series, the entire family was on hand to celebrate.
More highs and lows are sure to come this year. Through it all, Adrian and Andres will be present.
“It’s hard to describe how much it means for me,” Mendoza said, “to have my kids and my wife with me all the time.”