The New York Mets will induct Lee Mazzilli and Bobby Valentine into the Mets Hall of Fame on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field, the club announced as it opens a three-game series against the Miami Marlins.
The weekend class includes Carlos Beltrán as the third member, though Beltrán’s number 15 retirement and induction are scheduled for September; Mazzilli and Valentine’s ceremony is set to precede Saturday’s 4:10 p.m. ET first pitch. The first 15,000 fans through the gates receive a Bobby Valentine Disguise giveaway, and the first 15,000 fans also receive a Mazzilli/Valentine players pin; Friday’s game, which began at 7:10 p.m. ET, will be followed by Fireworks Night.
The Mets open the weekend at 23-33, five games behind the Marlins (26-31) in the standings, and 4.5 games out of the third National League Wild Card. The numbers matter: the team is staging a Hall of Fame salute while still trying to climb back into the playoff conversation late in May, and fans will see both the ceremony and the on-field effort in close succession.
On the mound for the series: Freddy Peralta was scheduled to start for the Mets on Friday night against Max Meyer for Miami; Saturday’s game pairs Christian Scott for New York with Tyler Phillips for the Marlins; Janson Junk was scheduled to start for Miami on Sunday, which begins at 1:40 p.m. ET. Those matchups turn the weekend into more than a nostalgia event — each game also carries incremental importance for two clubs trying to narrow the wild-card gap.
Context: Mazzilli and Valentine join Beltrán in this year’s Mets Hall of Fame class, a trio that bridges eras of the franchise. Beltrán’s ceremony in September remains separate, leaving this weekend focused on two figures whose ties to the team stretch back decades. The club has coupled the inductions with standard ballpark draws — giveaways, fireworks and a schedule of starters — to turn a late-May homestand into a full weekend experience.
The friction is obvious on the field. Honoring franchise figures is part ceremony, part message to the fan base, and part reminder of a franchise history that has not yet yielded sustained contention this season. The Mets will parade two inductees onto the Citi Field diamond while trying to make up 4.5 games in the wild-card chase; the Marlins, at 26-31, are five games out of that same spot, so every out this weekend has a background hum of playoff math.
Practical details for attendees: Saturday’s ceremony will take place before the 4:10 p.m. ET game; the club staged giveaways for the first 15,000 fans and promised fireworks after Friday’s 7:10 p.m. ET contest. Fans watching at home should tune in early Saturday to catch the induction formalities and then watch for the pitching matchup between Christian Scott and Tyler Phillips, with Sunday’s matinee finishing the series.
The one clear open question heading into the weekend is procedural: the Mets have confirmed the inductees and the dates, but the club has not released a full list of ceremony elements or the specific achievements that will be highlighted for Lee Mazzilli when he walks out to his old position. That detail — which clips of his career will be shown, who will speak on his behalf, and how the club frames his place in franchise history — is the thing to watch Saturday afternoon, with a larger, related moment to come when Carlos Beltrán’s number 15 is retired in September.
