Mitchell Wiener, the beloved IS 238 assistant principal who died May 17 after contracting swine flu, had always considered baseball a focal point of his life. He was a Mets fanatic, a Little League coach, a dad who drove son Jordan, a pitcher, to countless youth baseball games.
Even in his room at Flushing Hospital Medical Center, 18-year-old Jordan’s potential start in the PSAL ‘B’ playoffs on Thursday, May 21, was a topic of conversation.
“My mom told me, no matter what happened, she wanted me to pitch this game,” Jordan said.
So Jordan informed his coach, Mike Mulstay, that he wanted to take the mound on May 21, just one day after his father’s funeral. With Mulstay’s approval, and with dozens of supporters from Jordan’s Robert F. Kennedy High School looking on and cheering loudly, he did so — and he pitched a no-hitter.
“My head was full of thoughts of him,” Jordan said. “His spirit is with me. I know he’s watching me.”
“This was probably the most impressive performance in our school’s history,” Mulstay said. “He’s just an amazing kid. He showed amazing character.”
Jordan, a senior at RFK, has been dominant all season, accumulating a 0.68 ERA over 31.1 innings, but the no-hitter he pitched on May 21 was something out of fiction. He struck out 14 out of the 15 Prospect Heights hitters he faced, with an infield grounder the exception. The one baserunner he allowed — the result of a dropped third strike — was quickly erased on a pickoff.
That the lanky left-hander’s performance lasted only five innings was the result of a mercy rule, invoked when Kennedy scored the 10th run of its 10-0 victory. A pair of three-run homers by Nicolas Patino and Romine Mohammed highlighted the offense. Moments after securing the final out, Jordan, teary-eyed, took a few long hugs from teammates.
“This is a very close group. They’re not only teammates, they’re friends,” Mulstay said. “They wanted to [win] for him.”
The spirit on the bench and in the audience at Kissena Park was a warm one, with “MVP” chants increasing in volume after each of Jordan’s strikeouts. Players wore painted-on inscriptions of “MW” on their baseball caps. Extended members of the RFK family attended and crowded around the backstop, offering support.
“It’s a small school, so it’s a lot of close-knit people — same as when I went there,” explained Mike M., a 2005 alumnus who declined to offer a last name.
“I came just to watch Jordan pitch,” said Daniel Medina, an RFK junior.
Their strong support will undoubtedly continue on Tuesday, May 26, when Kennedy faces Alfred E. Smith High School at Kissena Park in the second round.
