Goliath vs. Goliath

On a sunny day in late March, Michael Matteo, Jr., lounged on a grassy berm beyond the right-field fence at Clover Park, a minor-league stadium set amid the sprawling strip malls of Port St. Lucie, Florida, about an hour up the interstate from the tony confines of Palm Beach. On the field, a New York Mets split squad was comfortably beating the St. Louis Cardinals in a spring-training matchup. The temperature was in the low seventies, cool for South Florida; that morning, the stadium’s elevator attendant took comfort in knowing that at least the cold weather wouldn’t frizz her hair. Back in Brooklyn, where Matteo lives, it was “thirty-five degrees and raining,” he said, sounding pleased. In the bright Florida sky, a few contrails fluffed into clouds. Matteo, who wore shorts and a commemorative ’86 Mets jersey, had taken off his shoes.